The causes of and solutions to juvenile delinquency and social unrest amongthe youth in so-called Swedish multi-ethnic urban areas are frequently represented inpublic-institutional discourse as related to migrant parents. These are, the authors argue,consequently exposed to policies for ‘activation’, ‘responsibilisation’ and ‘normalisation’.

The paper focuses on current debates on youth in deprived suburbs in Sweden. In the article, interviews withrepresentatives of different organisations involved in managing the situation of suburban youth are analysed. One recurring theme in the interviews is problem discourses representing the parent as a problem. Departing from Foucault´s understanding of governmentality, we analyse the construction of problems, problematization, and solutions, as depicted by the interviewees. The main problematizations are the deficiency of urban space, dysfunctional family relations and parents as passive and culturally different. On the basis of such problematizations the interviewees propose solutions in various ways fostering the parents to become responsible and active subjects, who have internalised current norms and values. In the article, these problematizations are set in genealogical perspective, through relating them to other historical discourses: namely the Philanthropic discourse of poor relief and the policing of families during the late 19th  century and the discourse of problematic suburban youth in the 1980s. These different historical situations illustrate both similarities and differences in the problematizations of the early 2000s. With adopting this genealogical approach we do not claim  that history repeats itself unchanged, but rather we wish to investigate how historical discourses are re-­‐activated and acquire new meanings in new historical epochs. An important conclusion in the article is that the way of developing solutions to the problems of suburban youth in the early 2000s tends to focus on the transformation of individual parents, while structural dimensions get out of focus. What appears is a desire to foster parents and thus to produce a certain kind of subject, namely an active, responsible and cooperative individual, involved in the local community. Such a desire isboth similar and different from the desire found in the late 19th Century and in the 1980s.

Dagens mångkulturella Sverige har många olika religioner, samfund och kulturer, som måste fungera tillsammans även i de svenska skolorna. Sverige har skrivit under olika dokument vi ska hålla oss till, men vad händer när dessa dokument krockar? Hur hanterar vi det? I Sverige har vi skolplikt men även religionsfrihet, och vi har insett att dessa två begrepp kan krocka med varandra. I dagens skola är religionsundervisning konfessionslös, ändå vill föräldrar befria sina barn från delar av undervisningen för att det går emot deras tro. Det är sedan rektorns uppgift att godkänna denna önskan av befrielse eller inte. Vad säger rektorerna om denna frågan och hur tolkar rektorerna begreppen synnerliga skäl och enstaka tillfällen?

Normalizing problematized youth by governing their parents: From structural explanations to family-centred solutions The current article explores the ways that organizational representatives outline the causes of and propose solutions to the problematic behaviour of youth living in, what is described as, an immigrant neighbourhood in a Swedish city. The empirical material, consisting of interviews with representatives from various organizations (such as the police, schools, social services and NGOs) as well as field observations, has been analyzed using the theory of governmentality. The causes of problematic youth behaviour are related to disadvantaged immigrant urban space, unemployment, unstable home situations and family relations, and parents’ deviant norms, knowledge and culture. In the discourses about causes and solutions, a recurring frame of reference is the issue of immigration in general and parent’s migrant background in particular. In spite of the complexity of the proposed causes, the pronounced solutions are directed towards the fostering of immigrant parents, the establishment of zones of communication and early prevention. Hence, the prevailing solutions are permeated by discourses of activation of parents.

Den här boken ger en introduktion till dagens forskning om ras och vithet i ett svenskt sammanhang. I tolv kapitel undersöker forskare från olika ämnesområden och med olika metodologiska ingångar hur de båda begreppen ras och vithet hänger samman med Sverige, svenskar och svenskhet.

Boken är indelad i två avsnitt. Kapitlen i den första delen undersöker i första hand historiska fenomen och frågeställningar. I del två analyserar författarna debatter och förhållanden som rör dagens svenska vithet och samtida svenska rasrelationer.

Forskningsfältet svenska kritiska ras- och vithetsstudier är fortfarande relativt nytt. Den här antologin visar att fältet växer och att det i dag pågår forskning om ras och vithet inom flera olika kultur- och samhällsvetenskapliga discipliner.

Boken är avsedd för studenter på universitet och högskolor.

The article focuses on current debate on troubled youth, living in socio-economically deprived suburbs in Sweden, and particularly discourses on problems of alienation, crime, arson and anti-social behaviour among youth. In the article, interviews with the representatives of different organisations involved in managing the youth problem are analysed. One recurring theme in the interviews is problem discourses representing the parent as a problem. Departing from Foucault´s understanding of governmentality and the formation of subjectivity, we analyse the construction of problems, problematization, and conceivable solutions, as depicted by the interviewees. The problematizations recurring in the interviews are the deficiency of urban space, dysfunctional family relations and parents as being passive and culturally different. On the basis of such problematizations the interviewees propose solutions in various ways fostering the parents to become responsible and active subjects, who have internalised current norms and values. Other central solutions emerging in the interviews are the development of various forms of communicative skills as well as a range of pre-emptive measures targeting the parents. An important conclusion in the article is that this way of developing possible solutions to the problems of suburban youth tends to focus on the transformation of individual parents, while structural dimensions get out of focus. What appears is a desire to foster parents and thus to produce a certain kind of subject, namely an active, responsible and cooperative individual, involved in the local community.

Method

The study’s problem complexes are investigated using the qualitative methodological approach. In a large city of Sweden, individual and focus group interviews with representatives for local institutions (schools, social service and police), those active in organizations and civic initiatives. In total 19 interviews have been conducted and over thirty hours of interviews have been analysed. The area where the fieldwork has been conducted demonstrates low school results, high mobility amongst the population and in school-classes, large number of recipients of social welfare and inhabitants with immigrant background, high unemployment rates (40-90%) as well as proportionally large percentage of population under the age of 25.

Expected Outcomes

On the basis of such problematizations the interviewees propose solutions in various ways fostering the parents to become responsible and active subjects, who have internalised current norms and values. Other central solutions emerging in the interviews are the development of various forms of communicative skills as well as a range of pre-emptive measures targeting the parents. An important conclusion in the article is that this way of developing possible solutions to the problems of suburban youth tends to focus on the transformation of individual parents, while structural dimensions get out of focus. What appears is a desire to foster parents and thus to produce a certain kind of subject, namely an active, responsible and cooperative individual, involved in the local community.