I am Associate Professor at the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies at Södertörn University. My fields of research are migration, whiteness, education, welfare, transnationalism, youth and ethnographic approaches - with a special focus on issues relating to the structuration of everyday life in a globalised world, social positioning, intertextuality, identification and racialization.

My latest research project – Transnationalism and belonging in the Baltic Sea region among descendants of Polish migrants in Sweden (2018 – 2023, funded by the Baltic Sea Foundation) – investigated various aspects of growing up in Sweden with Polish parents. Using critical whiteness theory, constructivist class analysis and postmemory analysis, the project sheds light on several underexplored research areas such as e.g. the special position as adult children of migrants who pass as white are assigned in Sweden, how they make class as well as the lived aftereffects of transgenerationally transmitted traumas related to the Second World War and the communist era in Poland. The outcome of the project (eight articles) can be found under the heading Peer-review Articles and Book chapters below and most of the articles can be downloaded free of charge. A summary of the project's results (and a list of the articles) can be found at https://ostersjostiftelsen.se/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2017-0028-scientific-final-report-annrunfors.pdf External link.

I have conducted research since the late 1980ies, including a number of projects that investigated how employees in welfare institutions - such as social care, pre-school and primary and secondary schools - dealt with issues relating to immigration and diversity in their work. I received my PhD in Ethnology from Stockholm University in 2003, with a thesis titled Diversity, Oppositions and Marginalizations - a study of how immigrantness is formed in school. This is an ethnographic study of public schools in multi-ethnic Swedish urban spaces and analyses diversity management and unintentional marginalisation processes in these formal education settings. In addition to the thesis a number of articles was published.

My postdoctoral research includes the projects Social positioning among youth in stigmatised urban spaces (funded by the Swedish Research Council) and Globalisation, welfare institutions and life choices for the young (funded by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research). These projects investigated life strategies, self-positioning and identity building among youths in stigmatised urban spaces in contemporary Sweden - most of them children of migrants. They resulted in a book, Toleransens intoleranta baksida (The intolerant downside of tolerance), as well as a number of articles, as e.g. What an ethnic lens can conceal: The emergence of a shared racialised identity position among young descendants of migrants in Sweden in Journal of Ethnic and Migrations Studies, 2016.

Since 2011 I hold a position as Senior Lecturer at Södertörn University, where I have been teaching and supervising in Ethnology at both graduate and postgraduate levels as well as on the degree programme in The Intercultural teacher education. Besides research I have organised research seminars within the Södertörn ethnology and coordinated the multidisciplinary parts of the Master programs at the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies.

During 20015 - 2018 I have be in lead of two research projects. The first one is Mobile Welfare in a Transnational Europe: An Analysis of Portability Regimes of Social Security Rights, TRANSWEL (funded by NORFACE). This is a large scale, international project concerning transnational intra EU welfare management and its conditions, where I have been the head of the Swedish research team. TRANSWEL examines and compares eight EU member states with regards to welfare regulations and discourses of welfare belonging that might encourage or discourage welfare access and portability but also with regards to mobile EU citizens own experiences of transnational welfare management, https://transwel.org External link, opens in new window..

The second project is What your DNA sequence does not tell you - Identifying parameters for the communication of genetic information on rare diseases (KISh). This is a medical humanities project in cooperation with natural scientist at Karolinska Institutet, taking interest in the information challenges arising from the fast development of DNA sequencing technologies and studying professionals view on different ways of communicating genetic information as well as patients perceptions and management of genetic information.

As initially mentioned, I, since 2018, have worked with the project Transnationalism and belonging in the Baltic Sea region among descendants of Polish migrants in Sweden. In 2022 I retired.

PUBLICATIONS

Monographies

1. 2012. Runfors, Ann. Toleransens intoleranta baksida. 18 svenska ungdomars verklighet. Stockholm: Forum för levande historia. https://www.levandehistoria.se/sites/default/files/material_file/skriftserie-14-toleransens-intoleranta-baksida.pdf External link, opens in new window.
2. 2003. Runfors, Ann. Mångfald, motsägelser och marginaliseringar. En studie av hur invandrarskap formas i skolan. Stockholm: Prisma. (Diss).
3. 1995. Ronström Owe, Runfors Ann och Karin Wahlström. "Det här är ett svenskt dagis" - en etnologisk studie av dagiskultur och kulturmöten i norra Botkyrka. Tumba: Invandrarminnesarkivet, serie A:12.
4. 1993. Runfors, Ann. "För barnens bästa" - Lärarperspektiv på andraspråksinlärning. Tumba: Invandrarminnesarkivet, serie R:5.
5. 1993. Lövgren Karin och Ann Runfors. Exotiskt eller oetiskt? - Vårdpersonal talar om sitt arbete med invandrarpatienter. Tumba: Invandrarminnesarkivet, serie D:2.
6. 1990. Runfors, Ann. "Här gör vi generatorer" - arbete, tradition och förändring på ABB Generation. Västerås: Västmanland läns museum.

Peer-reviewed Edited Volumes

1. 2019. Boundaries of European Social Citizenship – EU Citizens’ Transnational Social Security in Regulations, Discourses and Experiences .Eds: Amelina, Anna, Emma Carmel, Ann Runfors & Elisabeth Scheibelhof. Routhledge: London & New York. https://www.routledge.com/Boundaries-of-European-Social-Citizenship-EU-Citizens-Transnational-Social/Amelina-Carmel-Runfors-Scheibelhofer/p/book/9781032088082 External link, opens in new window.

Edited Volumes (other)

1. 1996 Sjögren, Annick, Ann Runfors & Ingrid Ramberg (Eds.). En "bra" svenska? Om språk, kultur och makt. Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum.
2. 1994. Ramberg, Klas och Ann Runfors. (Eds.). Bildning och nöje – Om IOGT- och ABF-bibliotekariers erfarenheter. Stockholm: Nordiska museet.
3. 1992. Runfors, Ann (red). "Utan städare stannar Sverige". Stockholm: Nordiska museet.

Peer-review Articles and Book chapters

1. 2024. Runfors, Ann. Place attachment and translocal ties: adult descendants of Polish migrants in Sweden. I: Migration and Families between East and North of Europe: Translocal Lifelines. Laura Assmuth, Marina Hakkarainen, Marit Aure & Pihla Maria Siim (red.). Oxfordshire: Routledge. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-53815 External link.
2. 2023. Runfors, Ann.. The political as the personal. Postmemory among descendants to Polish migrants in Sweden. Ethnologia European, 53(1):1-21. OPEN ACCESS https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.4771Länk till annan webbplats. External link.
3. 2023. Runfors, Ann. Hemmets betydelse för skolambitioner. Utbildning som ideal plikt och trygghet. I: Det komplexa uppdraget. Kulturanalytiska perspektiv på skola, förskola och fritidshem. Zackariasson, Maria, David Gunnarsson & Elisabeth Wolllin (red.). Stockholm: Studentlitteratur AB.
4. 2022. Runfors, Ann. Har den svenska vitheten krympt i den etno-nationalistiska tvätten? In: Polarisering och samexistens: kulturella förändringar i vår tid. Eds: Zackariasson, Maria, Öhlander, Magnus & Pripp, Oscar. Tullinge: Boréa Bokförlag. OPEN ACESS. http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1676874/FULLTEXT01.pdfLänk till annan webbplats. External link.2022.
5. 2022. Saar Maarja, Sojka Bozena & Runfors, Ann. Welfare Deservingness for Migrants: Does the Welfare State Model Matter? Social inclusion.Special issue:Transnational Social Protection: Inclusion for Whom? Theoretical Reflections and Migrant Experiences.10(1):239-249. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v10i1 External link.
6. 2022. Runfors, Ann. Challenging the hierarchies of Swedish whiteness: Negative experiences and undesired effects of passing as white and Swedish. Kulturella Perspektiv – Svensk etnologisk tidskrift, 31(2020). OPEN ACCESS. https://publicera.kb.se/kp/article/view/1975Länk till annan webbplats. External link.
7. 2021. Runfors, Ann. En levd social position och en sfär för igenkänning. i Frihet! Politik! Systerskap! Vänbok till Beatriz Lindqvist. Kim Silow Kallenberg, Jenny Ingridsdotter & David Gunnarsson (red.). Huddinge: Södertörnshögskola).https://www.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:1588493/FULLTEXT02.pdf External link.
8. 2021 Runfors, Ann, Saar, Maarja & Fröhlig, Florence. Policy Experts Negotiating Popular Fantasies of 'Benefit Tourism' Policy Discourses on Deservingness and Their Relation to Welfare Chauvinism [Elektronisk resurs]. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies.Tillgänglig på Internet: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-4614 External link, opens in new window.6
9. 2021. Runfors, Ann. Navigating the Radar: Descendants of Polish Migrants and Racialized Social Landscapes in Sweden. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 11(1), pp. 65–79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/njmr.26 External link.
10. 2020. Runfors, Ann. Utbildning, målmedvetenhet och vithet. Görande av klass bland kvinnor och män med polska föräldrar. Kulturella perspektiv, 2020 (1):69-75. https://www.umu.se/globalassets/organisation/fakulteter/humfak/institutionen-for-kultur--och-medievetenskaper/forskning/kp/kp-nr-1-2-2020---for-webben.pdf External link, opens in new window.
11. 2019. Amelina, Anna, Emma Carmel, Ann Runfors and Elisabeth Scheibelhofer. Labyrinths of European social citizenship. Variations in and levels of comparison. In: Boundaries of European Social Citizenship: EU Citizens’ Transnational Social Security in Regulations, Discourses and Experiences. Eds: Amelina, Anna, Emma Carmel, Ann Runfors & Elisabeth Scheibelhofer. Routledge: London & New York, pp. 199-212.
12. 2019. Runfors, Ann and Florence Fröhlig. Discourses of Belonging in the Context of EU enlargements. A Comparative analysis of Discursive Deservingness in EU Transnational Social Security. Eds: Amelina, Anna, Emma Carmel, Ann Runfors & Elisabeth Scheibelhof. In: Boundaries of European Social Citizenship: EU Citizens’ Transnational Social Security in Regulations, Discourses and Experiences. Routhledge: London & New York.
13. 2019. Florence Fröhlig, Maarja Saar and Ann Runfors. Business contract meets social contract: Estonians in Sweden and their transnational welfare opportunities. Eds: Amelina, Anna, Emma Carmel, Ann Runfors & Elisabeth Scheibelhof. In: Boundaries of European Social Citizenship: EU Citizens’ Transnational Social Security in Regulations, Discourses and Experiences. Routhledge: London & New York
14. 2017. Runfors, Ann. Struktureringsteorin. In: Tillämpad kulturteori - Introduktion för etnologer och andra kulturvetare. Gunnarsson Payne, Jenny & Öhlander, Magnus (Eds.) Studentlitteratur AB. S. 115-132.
15. 2016. Runfors, Ann. What an ethnic lens can conceal: The emergence of a shared racialised identity position among young descendants of migrants in Sweden. Journal of Ethnic and Migrations Studies. Vol.42:11, p 1846-1863. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1153414 External link, opens in new window.
16. 2009. Runfors, Ann. Modersmålssvenskar och vi andra – Ungas språk och identifikationer i ljuset av nynationalism. In: Utbildning och demokrati: tidskrift för didaktik och utbildningspolitik. Uppsala universitet, Centrum för didaktik, vol 2, 2009. S. 105-126.
17. 2009. Runfors, Ann. Avoiding Culture and Practicing Culturalism. Labelling practices and paradoxes in Swedish schools. In: Paradoxes of cultural recognition. Eds: Alghasi, Sharam, Thomas Hylland Eriksen & Halle Gorashi. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
18. 1995. Runfors Ann och Annick Sjögren. Language, Dominance and Resistance. An Etnological Perspectiv on Teaching and Learning in an Immigrant Environment in Sweden. In: Migration – A European Journal of International Migration and Ethnic Relations. 23-24/94. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.

Articles and book chapters (other)

1. 2018. Saar, Maarja, Florence Fröhlig and Ann Runfors. Welfare negotiations Among Estonians working in Sweden. Experiences, Barriers and Narrated coping strategies. Welfare State Future working paper Transwel serie #1 /2018. University of Södertörn, Sweden.
2. 2016. Runfors, Ann, Florence Fröhlig and Maarja Saar. 2016. Welfare State Future Transwel policy brief #3. March 2016. https://transwel.org External link.
3. 2016. Fröhlig, Florence, Ann Runfors and Bozena Sojka. Exploring subtle mechanisms in discourses of belonging by combining the Logics approach with Critical discourse analysis. Welfare State Future working paper Transwel serie #2 /2016. University of Södertörn, Sweden.
4. 2016. Fröhlig, Florence, Maarja Saar and Ann Runfors. Swedish and Estonian Discourses on Free EU-movement, Welfare and Belonging. Welfare State Future working paper Transwel serie #3 /2016. University of Södertörn, Sweden.
5. 2015. Runfors, Ann. Transwel Working paper serie 2015. Discourses of belonging affecting portability. University of Södertörn. https://transwel.org External link..
6. 2013. Runfors, Ann. Politik, policy och praktik. In: Nationell förskola med mångkulturellt uppdrag. Björk-Willén, Polly Grüber, Sabine & Puskas, Tünde (Eds.), Liber förlag: Stockholm.
7. 2011. Runfors, Ann. Att ges plats och att ta plats: om kulturaliserade urbana rum, unga män och konstruktion av hemhörighet. In: Andra Stockholm – Liv, plats och identitet i storstaden. Larsson, Bo och Svensson, Birgitta (Eds.) Stockholm: Stockholmia förlag.
8. 2008. Runfors, Ann. In Dialogue with Devaluation. Young people’s life choices as social positioning practices. In: Thinking with Beverly Skeggs. Olsson, Annika (ed,). The Centre for Gender Studies, Skriftserien Nr 42, Stockholm.
9. 2006. Runfors, Ann. Fostran till frihet? Värdeladdade visioner, positionerade praktiker och diskriminerande ordningar. In: Utbildningens dilemma. Sawyer, Lena (ed.). Rapport från integrationspolitiska maktutredningens forskningsprogram: SOU 2006:40. (Statens offentliga utredningar. Justitiedepartementet).
10. 2006. Runfors, Ann. Fängslande frihet. Paradoxer och dilemman i den moderna frihetsvisionen. In: Orienten i Sverige. Samtida möten och gränssnitt. Ekström, Simon & Lena Gerholm (Eds.). Lund: Studentlitteratur.
11. 2004. Runfors, Ann. "När blir man svensk?". Om hur skilda möjligheter skapas i skolvardagens samspel. In: Kunskap för integration. Om makt i skola och utbildning i mångfaldens Sverige. Borevi, Karin & Per Strömblad (Eds.). Integrationspolitiska maktutredningen: SOU 2004:33
12. 2004. Runfors, Ann. Lära sig bli invandrare? Globala och transnationella mönster i nationella former? In: Kulturella perspektiv nr 3, 2004.
13. 2001. Runfors, Ann. Etnologin i samtiden och samtiden i etnologin: om tolkningar och deras spiralitet. In: Kritisk etnologi. Blehr, Barbro (Eds.). Stockholm: Prisma.
14. 1999. Kaijser, Lars och Ann Runfors 1999. Diskurs & erfarenhet – en kommentar. In: Kulturella Perspektiv, nr 3.
15. 1997. Runfors, Ann. Att förvandla rövare till änglar. Om lärarna, mångfalden och välfärden. IN: Verktygslådan. Kulturvetenskapliga perspektiv på arbete och yrkesliv. Jansson, Sören (Eds.). Stockholm: Carlsons.
16. 1997. Runfors, Ann. Integration as a Language Issue. Processes of Inclusion and Exclusion in Swedish Suburban Schools. In: Language and Environment. A Cultural Approach to Education for Minority and Immigrant Children Students. Sjögren, Annick (ed.). Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum.
17. 1996. Runfors, Ann. Etnicitet som ideologi. IN: Boja eller befrielse? Etnicitetsforskningens inriktning och konsekvenser. Arnstberg, Karl-Olov (Eds.). Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum.
18. 1996. Runfors, Ann. Skolan mångfalden och jämlikheten. En diskussion om strukturerande principer vid hantering av olikhet. In: En "bra" svenska? Om språk, kultur och makt. Sjögren Annick, Ann Runfors & Ingrid Ramberg (Eds.). Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum.
19. 1996 Runfors Ann och Annick Sjögren. Introduktion. In: En "bra" svenska? Om språk, kultur och makt. Sjögren Annick, Ann Runfors & Ingrid Ramberg (Eds.). Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum.
20. 1996. Ronström, Owe, Ann Runfors & Karin Wahlström, "En svensk tiger" – eller "Det tydliggjorda kulturmötet": kulturmöten i barnomsorgen i norra Botkyrka. In: Invandrarpolitiska kommittén: Sverige, framtiden och mångfalden. SOU 1996:55. Bil. [B]. Stockholm: Fritze, 1996. S.47-55.
21. 1992. Runfors, Ann. Inledning. IN: "Utan städare stannar Sverige". Stockholm: Nordiska museet.

Articles (popular)

1. 2007. Runfors, Ann. Icke-svensk elev lär sig sin plats (för artikelserien Det nya folkhemmet) Svenska Dagbladet 070605.
2. 2004. Runfors, Ann. Mångfald på minerad terräng. In: Pedagogiska Magasinet, nr 3/2004.
3. 1994. Runfors, Ann. Balansakter i vårdvardagen. In: STING (Stockholms läns landstings tidning) nr 7/1994, SPRI.
4. 1993. Runfors, Ann. Exotiskt eller oetiskt? In: Vård, dec 1993, SPRI.
5. 1992. Runfors, Ann. Som man frågar får man svar. In: Samdok-bullentinen, nr4/92, Nordiska museet.
6. 1992. Runfors, Ann. Exotiskt eller oetiskt? In: Minoriteter och åldrande – en engångsskrift om äldre invandrare, maj 1992. Stockholm: Stockholms socialförvaltning, FOU-byrån.
7. 1989. Runfors, Ann. Bland jättelika maskiner och engagerade människor. In: Samdok-bulletinen, nr 46/1989, Nordiska museet.