John Brauer
John Brauer Position: Senior Lecturer School/office: School of Behavioural, Social and Legal SciencesEmail: am9obi5icmF1ZXI7b3J1LnNl
Phone: +46 19 302147
Room: L2302
About John Brauer
About John
John Brauer is a qualified social worker who successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in social work 2022. The thesis concerned labour market policies, focusing on local governments’ efforts to increase employment rates among social assistance claimants.
Research
John Brauer´s research can be divided into two over-arching strands. The first concerns employment and poverty. Since 2024 he is principal investigator of a project funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE). The project, on which he collaborates with Katarina Hollertz (University of Gothenburg) and Lisa Wallander (University of Lund), concerns work-capacity assessments. During 2026-2028 John is working on a Nordic comparison of the labour market integration of social assistance recipients funded through a starting grant provided by FORTE. Lastly, from 2026, John studies work disability traps within Swedish social insurance and social assistance for people with mental health issues.
The second strand concerns area-based and preventive social work. It includes a project concerning the changing role of Swedish public libraries caused by a pressured welfare state. Within this strand, John Brauer investigate collaboration between public libraries and other public as well as non-public organisations when facing visitors in severe social depravation, together with Sofia Lindström Sol and Jenny Johannisson, University of Borås. During 2024-2025, John Brauer will be principal investigator of a project funded by Allmänna Barnhuset where these issues will be studied through a national survey. Since 2024, John, together with colleagues, collaborates with the municipality of Örebro on an analysis on a programme aimed to coordinate interventions in local areas. During 2025-2026, this analysis is funded by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). Lastly, John is part of UTOPIZE, a Horizon-funded project concerning citizenship participation within planning, which will begin during 2025.
Teaching
John Brauer teaches at the social worker-program at Örebro University.
Collaboration and assignments
John Brauer coordinates the research group Vasa and is a member of Aktiv, a research environment that gathers scholars from four universities.
John Brauer engages in issues of social innovations by representing Örebro University in a regional partnership that gathers regional and municipal representatives as well as civil society organisations. He is also member of the scientific advisory board for a national centre on social innovations funded by the ESF.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Articles in journals
- Brauer, J. (2025). Austerity through rescaling and layering in the Swedish welfare state. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 107 (3), 292-306. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2025). Possibilities and limitations in the planning and provision of local ALMPs in rural settings – perspectives from municipalities in northern Sweden. Planning Practice & Research, 1-17. [BibTeX]
- Bennich, M. & Brauer, J. (2025). Should social workers (learn to) care? How educational reforms affect the social work profession. Nordic Social Work Research, 1-14. [BibTeX]
- Dall, T. & Brauer, J. (2024). Guest editorial: knowledge, skills and values in welfare to work services with vulnerable clients. Nordic Social Work Research, 14 (2), 163-171. [BibTeX]
- Jönsson, A. , Panican, A. & Brauer, J. (2024). Skiftande rättigheter i fattigvården: En jämförelse mellan den skäliga levnadsnivån för äldreförsörjningsstöd och ekonomiskt bistånd. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, 31 (3-4), 447-467. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2021). Labour market policies on a sub-national level. SN Social Sciences, 1. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. , Johansson, B. & Bruhn, A. (2021). Social Representations in Street-Level Bureaucracies: Production and Reproduction of Knowledge Within Public Administration. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 25 (2), 99-122. [BibTeX]
Articles, book reviews
- Brauer, J. (2024). Book review: “Social Work, Social Welfare, Unemployment and Vulnerability Among Youth”. Nordic Social Work Research, 14 (2), 236-238. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2023). Ny bok: Salmonsson, Göran & Spross, Linn (2021). Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, 30 (3), 785-788. [BibTeX]
Chapters in books
- Brauer, J. (2025). Socialpolitik. In: Daniel Silander; Mats Öhlén, Svensk politik och EU: Hur svensk politik har förändrats av medlemskapet i EU (pp. 119-137). Stockholm: Santérus Förlag. [BibTeX]
- Angelin, A. , Vamstad, J. & Brauer, J. (2025). Sveriges växande problem med icke-mottagande: Om konsekvenserna av att allt fler människor faller utanför skyddsnätet. In: Fattigdomsrapporten 2025: Från välfärdssamhälle till välgörenhetssamhälle (pp. 38-43). Stockholm: Sveriges Stadsmissioner. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. & Germundsson, P. (2022). Att förstå samverkan utifrån teorin om sociala representationer. In: Åsa Hedberg Rundgren; Charlotte Klinga; Mikael Löfström; Linda Mossberg, Perspektiv på samverkan: Om utmaningar och möjligheter i välfärdens praktik (pp. 131-150). Lund: Studentlitteratur AB. [BibTeX]
Conference papers
- Brauer, J. (2019). Social representations of unemployment and activation work among street-level bureaucrats. Paper presented at 3rd Conference on Street-level Research in the Employment and Social Policy Area, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 11-13, 2019. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2018). Professional Autonomy or Organizational Control in Collaboration Management. Paper presented at XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, Canada, July 15-21, 2018. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2018). Professional Representations: a Theoretical Possibility in the Sociology of Professions. Paper presented at XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, Canada, July 15-21, 2018. [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2017). Collaboration in unclear policy settings. Paper presented at 2nd Conference on Street-level Research in the Employment and Social Policy Area. Copenhagen, 21-22 June 2017. [BibTeX]
Doctoral theses, comprehensive summaries
- Brauer, J. (2022). Labour Market Policies: Structure and Content, Space and Time. (Doctoral dissertation). (Comprehensive summary) Örebro: Örebro University. [BibTeX]
Manuscripts
Reports
- Johansson, B. & Brauer, J. (2023). En utvärdering av projektet ”Din väg” – ett arbetssätt för att aktivera unga med en kriminell livsstil som varken arbetar eller studerar. Örebro: Örebro University (Working Papers and Reports Social work 32). [BibTeX]
- Brauer, J. (2019). Utvärdering av Kom-jobb: En kvalitativ och programteoretisk utvärdering av Kom-jobb i Örebro kommun. Örebro: Örebro University (Working Papers and Reports Social work 18). [BibTeX]