Framing Integration : A Comparative Analysis of Municipal Policy Documents in Malmö and Eskilstuna, 2010–2025

This thesis examines how integration is framed in municipal budget documents, and how these framings change over time. The study addresses two research questions: how integration is understood and framed in the municipalities of Malmö and Eskilstuna, and how national and institutional discourses are reflected in municipal governance over time. The analysis is based on the budget documents in three different years, 2010, 2015 and 2025. The theoretical framework draws on framing theory, primarily Erving Goffman, complemented by Bacchi’s ”What’s the Problem Represented to Be?” (WPR) approach as an analytical tool. The results show that the framing of integration becomes less explicit over time in both municipalities, shifting from clearly defined integration policies toward more implicit and institutionalized forms of governance. While both municipalities follow this general development, differences remain in how integration is framed. Malmö primarily emphasizes social and structural problem formulations, whereas Eskilstuna increasingly frames integration as an organizational and administrative challenge. Furthermore, the findings indicate that municipal framings do not fully reproduce a national requirement-based integration discourse, but rather reflect selective local interpretations.