The Construction and Negotiation of Social Identities Following a School Desegregation Initiative in Sweden

Abstract

Swedish schools are highly segregated along the lines of non-im/migrants and im/migrants and their descendants. In this study we explored the processes involved in the negotiation of social identities following a school desegregation initiative in Sweden, aimed to create schools with more heterogeneous student bodies. We conducted 58 interviews with students and school staff at the closing and receiving schools, before and following the initiative. Drawing on identity theories at the intersection of macro- and micro-levels, we a) descriptively explored the identity labels at each level, and b) analyzed how these identities were negotiated in relation to prevailing power hierarchies. Results showed macro-level identities related to nationality, background, and overarching norms and narratives, while micro-level identities included labels related to “old” and “new” schools/classes/friends, to in-groups based on differences in language proficiency, academic levels, and social needs. The initiative triggered identity negotiation for all students. However, while students already attending the receiving schools mainly negotiated identities at the micro-level, the dispersed students had to (re)negotiate their identities in relation to both the macro- and micro-levels. Thematic analyses showed four themes of macro-micro negotiations: rejection, accommodation, positioning, and conditioning, where identities at one level restricted possible identities at the other level.