The study presented in this paper focuses upon conceptualisations of language and identity in the institutionalised arena that emerged in the post-Second World War period with the specific intention of teaching Swedish to adult immigrants in the nation-state of Sweden. Our analysis focuses upon the development of the educational programme ‘Swedish for immigrants’ over time. Our specific interest relates to how categorisations are framed and what, if any, kinds of labels – pertaining to language and identity – emerge in national and local policy documents from the 1960s onwards. Taking a sociohistorical perspective as a point of departure, our analyses indicate discursive changes with regards to the categories and aims of the educational programme, making certain identity positions more accessible than others at specific times. Focusing upon categories from sociohistorical perspectives helps to reveal the social organisation and institutional means that enable society to process citizenship issues. The complex relationship between the empowerment of the immigrants, on the one hand, and the need for integration or assimilation into society on the other, becomes visible through the analysis of empirical data that spans half a century.