Expertise
Anton Ahlén is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Migration and Integration Research (CMIR) at the Stockholm School of Economics.
His research focuses on migration and integration policy, public opinion, welfare states, and migrant rights. He received his PhD from Uppsala University in 2022 with a dissertation on family migration policies across advanced democracies, and was awarded the Maria Ioannis Baganha Distinguished Dissertation Award by IMISCOE in 2023.
Prior to joining CMIR, Anton held a postdoctoral position at the Department of Government at Uppsala University, where he was involved in several research projects, including Varieties of Attitudes to Family Migration (VoFAME), Protecting Irregular Migrants in Europe: Institutions, Interests, and Policies (PRIME), and the Migration Policy Database (MIGPOL) within DEMSCORE.
Organizational Affiliations
Highlights - Output
Journal article
Universalist attitudes to family migration in Germany, Italy and Sweden
by Anton Ahlén, Karin Borevi, Lutz Gschwind, Jonas Hultin Rosenberg and Johan Wejryd
First online publication 2026-07-09
European Union Politics
European family migration policies increasingly impose economic, linguistic, and legal requirements on residents seeking reunification with family members abroad. Based on a conjoint experiment in three European Union member states, this article examines public attitudes towards this policy trend. Contrary to expectations, the respondents do not support conditioning reunification on residents’ status or attributes. Resident family members’ economic resources, work experience, language skills, and legal status exert minimal influence on respondents’ preferences for allowing family reunification. These findings indicate that, while conditionality is a central feature of contemporary migration policy, it does not reflect public sentiment regarding residents’ opportunity to reunite with family members living abroad. The study uncovers a new and significant opinion–policy gap, which has not been noted in migration studies so far.