New Book from Stefan Lund, Anna Lund, and Ali Osman
We’re happy to share a new book by our colleagues Stefan Lund, Anna Lund, and Ali Osman: Education and Civil Repair.
Abstract
What happens when schools can no longer bind society together? In an era of growing segregation, this book explores how Swedish schools and municipalities work to counteract inequality and foster civil inclusion. Through detailed case studies of school closures, mergers, and new openings, the authors trace how local actors try to achieve 'civil repair' – to strengthen equality and rebuild cohesion through education. Drawing on rich ethnographic research, the book reveals the tensions between policy ideals and on-the-ground realities in a marketized school system. These findings speak not only to Sweden but to broader challenges in education systems across Europe and North America.
About the Authors
Stefan Lund is Professor at the Department of Education, StockholmUniversity. His research interests revolve around educational policy, schoolchoice, school culture, and the ways modes of incorporation are enacted inracial and ethnically diverse educational practices. He has published bookswith Palgrave Macmillan: Immigrant Incorporation, Education and the Boundariesof Belonging (2020) and School Choice, Ethnic Divisions and Symbolic Boundaries(2015), and his work has appeared in Journal of Education Policy, British Journalof Sociology, and Ethnic and Racial Studies.
Anna Lund is Professor at the Department of Sociology, StockholmUniversity, and a faculty fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology, YaleUniversity. Cultural-sociological perspectives and ethnographic methodscharacterize her research. Her current research interest concerns how modesof incorporation are performed in Swedish schools and theatres. She is aco-editor, with Jeffrey C. Alexander and Andrea Voyer, of The Nordic CivilSphere (Polity Press, 2019), and her work has appeared in journals such asPoetics, Ethnography, and the British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Ali Osman is Professor at the Department of Education, StockholmUniversity. He is conducting research on the relationships between policiesand practices across different educational settings and their impacts ondifferent categories of migrants. His current research focuses on thesignificance of place in the educational transitions of children with immigrantbackgrounds. He has, for instance, published in the British Journal of Sociologyof Education (2024), Nordic Studies in Education (2021), and the InternationalJournal of Contemporary Sociology (2021).
Lund, S., Lund, A., & Osman, A. (2026). Education and Civil Repair. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. Retrieved Jul 12, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529257700
Table of Contents
Introduction
School Crisis and Composition Effects
Beliefs and Actions in a Superdiverse Elementary School
The Struggle of Constant Change
A Failed Attempt at Civil Repair
School Leadership, Empowerment, and Civil Repair
For a Critical Pedagogy of Multicultural Incorporation
Conclusion
Afterword: Choosing Hope
