Philip Lalander

Philip Lalander is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at Linnaeus University, Faculty of Social Sciences. He leads the Social Work and Migration research group and co-founded the Linnaeus University Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies.

• Research Focus: Ethnographic studies on vulnerable populations, particularly unaccompanied refugee minors and marginalized drug users, analyzing power structures, welfare regimes, and social justice.
• Teaching: Social work at undergraduate and master’s levels, specializing in research methods, sociological theory, and critical social work pedagogy.

Key Projects include Global Social Work and Human Mobility (EU network) and Living in Transit (secondary migration after asylum rejection). His work critiques neoliberal welfare policies and explores hope as both a human need and a tool of state power.

Publications span books, refereed chapters, and critical anthologies. His Social Work and Migration group investigates inclusion/exclusion dynamics, while his earlier Heroin User Trilogy (2003-2016) examines drug use through ethnographic lenses.