Changes in migration control during the neoliberal era: surveillance and border control in Swedish labour immigration policy

In 2008, Sweden introduced the most expansive migration policy in the OECD. The reform combines neoliberal elements with old forms of labour control in a new way. In this paper, I compare the immigration policy of 2008 with that of 1954-1972. Labour immigration from 1954 to 1972 occurred in a radically different historical context than the current market-liberal one. One important change between the two periods concerns the surveillance of migrants residing in Sweden. During the earlier period, state authorities conducted thorough surveillance of migrants residing in Sweden. The 2008 immigration policy involves private actors surveilling in a way that is unprecedented since the end of the Second World War.