Carly Elizabeth Schall

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University

Carly Elizabeth Schall received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin in 2012.  Her dissertation, now a book manuscript under review, addressed the relationship between homogeneity, heterogeneity and the welfare state in Sweden in the 20th century. The central question is whether or not ethnic homogeneity is ‘necessary’ for the welfare state – either at the welfare state’s point of origin or in its later development. By tracing the development of political discourse on welfare state reforms and immigration, I find that homogeneity and heterogeneity matter principally because elites – Social Democratic elites especially – make it matter.  In Sweden, immigration is always at all times conditioned by social democracy, as both a set of policies and as a hegemonic culture. Immigration and the welfare state are entwined, but not in a straightforward way:  when the welfare state is good for immigrants, immigration is good for the welfare state, and vice-versa. Carly has also worked on issues of social citizenship in the European Union and on multiculturalism and the creation of a new “national day” in Sweden.

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