Zenia Hellgren

My research is essentially about the policies and practices of inclusion or exclusion in ethnically diverse societies and their implications for inequalities and access to social membership. 

I am a sociologist with an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach, combining perspectives from, primarily, sociology, social anthropology, and political theory. My research aims to be transformative both at the academic and societal levels, and I often collaborate with policy-makers and organized civil society to extend the impact of my work beyond academia.

Through the lens of inclusion, I approach central issues involving migration and ethnic diversity from different though interrelated perspectives in my research projects and publications. These include the opportunities and challenges for constructive integration processes, with a particular focus on racial discrimination and the strategies against it; precarious work and undocumented migration; and the barriers and opportunities for empowerment and agency of migrants and racialized groups in European societies. 

I specialize in qualitative research methods, guided by an inductive and ethnographic methodology. In recent years I have designed and led several Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects, including the current EU-funded project ​REACT: Research-Action against Antigypsyism and Anti-Muslim Discrimination: An Intersectional Approach to Deconstruct Institutional Racism in Schools. 

I often apply a structure-agency approach by examining the interplay between institutional contexts and different groups of actors or stakeholders, who may uphold, negotiate, or challenge institutional practices and power structures. I overall apply an intersectional perspective in my research and teaching and am particularly interested in the relationship between class, race/ethnicity, and gender. Based on this perspective, I have conducted extensive research on everyday, subtle forms of racism and discrimination, structural and institutional racism/discrimination, and the coping strategies and capabilities of female migrant domestic workers.