Between Belonging and Exclusion : A Case Study of Tied Movers and the Informal Work of Integration in Stockholm

Sammanfattning

This thesis contributes to the sociology of migration by examining how civic inclusion is negotiated by tied movers, immigrant spouses who relocate primarily for a partner’s career. In Sweden, where integration ideals are strong but unevenly realized, tied movers often face systemic labor market barriers and symbolic exclusions that limit their civic participation. Using a qualitative online survey of members of the Fika Ladies, an informal network of predominantly tied movers in Stockholm, the study explores how participants engage with the Swedish civil sphere. An abductive thematic analysis reveals that tied movers pursue integration through three overlapping strategies: mastery, change-making, and selective belonging. Selective belonging emerges as a flexible, emotionally calibrated response to the challenges of misrecognition and mobility. Informal networks such as the Fika Ladies provide critical support yet also reflect broader social hierarchies that affect who feels central and who remains peripheral. These findings extend the emplacement concept and complicate normative models of civic inclusion by showing how belonging is negotiated through agency and constraint.