Balancing Care and Control: Exploring the Everyday Practices and Dispositions of Train Hosts as Unofficial Border Agents in the Øresund Region

Abstract

Situated in the ambiguous position as agents of both care and control, train hosts find themselves constantly engaging in balancing acts related to their professional role as frontline workers. This dynamic is especially relevant in cross-border regions where train hosts arguably assume the role of unofficial border agents. This thesis explores the professional practices and personal dispositions of train hosts in the cross-border region of Øresund and asks if and how they are positioned as border agents. Thus, acknowledging the key role that the everyday practices of various actors play for the construction and effects of borders today. This qualitative study draws on a thematic analysis of nine semi-structured interviews with train hosts, complemented by participant observation on the train. The five key themes of (1) developing a professional habitus, (2) balancing conflicting demands, (3) navigating ambiguous authority, (4) engaging in cooperation, and (5) performing borderwork, were identified through an iterative abductive analysis of the data. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and utilizing the theoretical tool of framing, provides insight into how train hosts navigate the demands of their role. The findings highlight how train hosts’ bodily, routine dispositions and situational sense-making co-produce practices of everyday bordering.

Popular Abstract

Being both Nordic neighboring countries and members of the European Union, Sweden and Denmark are connected in many ways. One example of this is the Øresund Bridge – celebrating its 25th anniversary this year – which physically links the countries with each other. At the same time, both Sweden and Denmark follow a broader European and global trend of imposing stricter control of their borders. Here, most people associate border control with harsh laws and regulations along with highly equipped border police and customs officers. However, our understanding and experience of borders is the result of a much broader array of actors’ ways of talking and behaving. One example of these everyday actors is train hosts, who are the focus of this master’s thesis. Here, I am exploring the routines, behaviors, attitudes, and emotions of train hosts in the Øresund Region. This is an interesting group to focus on because of three main reasons. First, train hosts’ professional role entails a level of ambiguity as their responsibilities include both controlling and caring for the train passengers. Second, while able to exercise some control over the passengers, train hosts’ level of authority is inferior to actors like the border police. Third, train hosts working on the Öresund trains have a unique professional setting as they repeatedly cross an international border in their daily work. Having this as background I explore how train hosts act as these everyday border actors based on their individual traits and professional role. To answer this, I have interviewed nine train hosts and shadowed one on their work shift on the train. The analysis reveals that a central part of train hosts’ role is balancing between care and control, service and security, cooperation and working alone, as well as having and lacking authority. It also shows how train hosts use different strategies to manage these tensions based on their professional background and how they interpret the present moment. Through these subtle actions train hosts contribute to ordinary people’s experience of the Swedish-Danish border. These findings are important because they add to our understanding of how unofficial border agents’ day-to-day lives are not only affected by the border but shape it in return.

• author: Kettula, Ella Linnéa
• supervisor: Mikael Klintman
• organization: Graduate School
• course: SIMZ11 20251
• year: 2025
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: Street-level bureaucracy, frontline workers, bordering, border regions, balancing acts, professional habitus, framing
• language: English
• id: 9211120
• date added to LUP: 2025-09-19 13:33:35
• date last changed: 2025-09-19 13:33:35