ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the complexity that is associated with the doula ­mission. It provides an empirical contribution that relies on interviews with ­culture interpreter doulas, midwives, physicians and managers of the relevant doula project as well as communication officers and participant observations at a training session for culture interpreter doulas. The chapter describes the welfare-state context for the doula project, with emphasis on the migration policy development in Sweden from the 1970s onwards. It discusses the Sweden's welfare responses to international migration, and how these policies affect migrants' conditions in the Swedish welfare state. The chapter focuses on welfare responses to international migration, in the intersection of national welfare institutions, local practices and migrants, the analysis connects to several key issues concerning contemporary challenges for social work in a globalized world. It highlights how projects aimed to provide equal welfare to all citizens, regardless of ethnic and linguistic background, simultaneously produce processes of inclusion and exclusion.