Deinstitutionalization in Sweden: lights and shadows of an ongoing process from the perspective of some disability organizations

Strongly recommended by Un Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and reinforced both in General Comment n.5 (2017) and UN Guidelines on deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies (2022), deinstitutionalization has long been a goal of the disability movement and several countries have signed up to realize it and related community living arrangements, including Sweden. Starting from a recognition of the Sweden’s welfare system and related disability policies, this paper aims to critically reflect on deinstitutionalization processes. It utilizes fieldwork data from guided discursive interviews with representatives of the main Swedish disability organizations collected during an internship in the Independent Living Institute in Stockholm (ILI). Using a thematic data analysis, the work explores the reality of and the issues on deinstitutionalization and community living in Sweden and discussing on today and future’s challenges with risks for re-institutionalization.