"Approaches to refashioning refugee and immigration policies: Canada and Sweden compared"

Nord, Douglas C. (1997) "Approaches to refashioning refugee and immigration policies: Canada and Sweden compared". In: UNSPECIFIED, Seattle, WA. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper examines the recent debate over the direction of Canadian and Swedish immigration policies. It focuses its attention on both public and private discussions regarding the types of new immigrants to be welcomed to these countries. It considers the relationship between how Canadians and Swedes conceive of their own societies and their respective willingness to admit new members into them. The argument put forward is that changing opinion regarding the desirability of a multicultural society is having a profound impact on contemporary immigration policy and thinking in both Canada and Sweden. The paper begins with a brief overview of past patterns of Canadian and Swedish immigration policies and sentiments. It looks at attitudes both before and after major policy reforms of the 1960s and 1970s. It considers these in the light of the concurrent development of public conceptions of Sweden and Canada as "multicultural societies." The study then moves on to discuss immigration policy formulation during the 1980s and 1990s. It examines government efforts to highlight both "economic" and "social" dimensions of immigrant and refugee reception. It also considers public reaction to such initiatives. In this latter regard, some comparison is made to present public attitudes within the other countries in North America and Europe.

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