Anders Neergaard

We are Sweden Democrats because we care for others: Exploring racisms in the Swedish extreme right

During the last decades there has been an upsurge in research on xenophobic populist parties, mirroring their political successes. In the Swedish context, characterised by neoliberal restructuring, issues of ‘race’, citizenship and belonging have been important elements of the public debate. These issues have unfolded in parallel with the presence of a neo-Nazi social movement and the emergence of two new parliamentary parties in which cultural racism has been central. Research has especially focused on the xenophobic content and how to relate these parties to the wider research on party politics in western liberal democracies. While there have been some studies focusing on gendered differences in voting and activism highlighting the peripheral role of women, there are still very few studies analysing the worldview of women active in these parties, and the role of gender as metaphor, identity and policy within these parties. Inspired by feminist, postcolonial and Marxist research, the authors of this article are interested in analysing the worldview of women activists. The material is composed of 20 in-depth interviews with female Sweden Democrat politicians complemented by party texts and participant observation. The aim of the article is to explore how women within a Swedish version of these parties, the Sweden Democrats, name and reflect upon their experiences, especially focusing on how a care rhetoric is used in their narratives. These women have chosen to represent a racist party (although they do not see themselves or the party as racist). What inspires them? What visions of gender evolve from their worldview?

Social capital and wage disadvantages among immigrant workers

This study investigates the characteristics that affect access to social capital for employees in a single industrial firm in Sweden, and the impact of their social capital on their monthly salaries. The results demonstrate that being a member of a stigmatised immigrant group is associated with a substantial social capital deficit. This deficit arises because immigrant workers are embedded in social networks that constrain their ability to acquire valuable social resources or are excluded from social networks with valuable resources. Another finding is that the average salary earned by members of stigmatised immigrant groups is lower than that earned by native-born workers. The observed wage gap cannot be explained by ‘human capital’ variables. However, when social capital variables were taken into account, wage gaps noticeably shrank, which indicates that part of the wage disadvantage experienced by immigrants is likely to represent the impact of unequal access to social capital.

‘Black skull’ consciousness: the new Swedish working class

Many of the immigrant workers who came to Sweden from the sixties onwards, and their children, are stereotyped as ‘black skulls’. They are seen as silent, passive and mired in ‘traditional’ cultures, a stereotype that also pervades the trade union bureaucracies which are closely tied to the dominant Social Democratic Party. But interviews with activists in the FAI, a network of immigrant union activists, reveal a new ‘black skull’ consciousness in which the stereotype and insult of passivity have been turned on their heads. A new consciousness and analysis of Swedish racism has emerged — one which ultimately seeks to transform the whole way in which trade unions operate.

Violence, racism and the political arena : a Scandinavian dilemma

Over the last thirty years, issues of citizenship and belonging have been at the core of Scandinavian politics (Razack 2004). There has also been a resurgence of extreme right-wing and racistmovements and political parties (Deland et al. 2010;Hübinette& Lundström 2011). Hegemonic understandings that create boundaries between enemy and friend, as well as hegemonic notions and representations of who the enemy really is, are often easily found when societies are in crisis. An illustration of this was the quick media reaction following the bombing and massacre in Oslo, Norway, on 22 July 2011. Almost all fingers (of political analysts, “terrorist” experts, journalists, academic scholars) pointed towards different constructions that began with al-Qaida terrorists and ended in a continuum on the presence of communities/citizens with Muslim backgrounds in Norway. A considerable time before it was widely recognized, and often with minor reservations and doubts, the responsibility was firmly placed upon the Muslim Other. The interpretations on offer were diverse, from Norway’s involvement in Afghanistan to the inability of the Norwegian Social Democratic government seriously to acknowledge the threat of terrorism (read “Muslim” terrorism) and to the Muslim-Norwegian community itself. These explanations, systematically presented by the media, began with references to September 11 in their emphasis on the clash of civilizations thesis. The news that the Oslo terrorist was not of Muslim origin forced “experts” rapidly to switch tracks. How could anybody do such a thing? It can be argued that it is human nature to respond to what is generally classified as evil (genocide, mass murder, etc.) with such a question, a question that is a form of resistance to

Social capital, status and income attainment in the workplace

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of social capital in the workplace. To be more precise, we ask whether access to social capital is associated with differences i ...

Social capital and the educational achievement of young people in Sweden

Based on Bourdieu’s conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital – that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.

Theorising Racism : Exploring the Swedish racial regime

Abstract Sociologists Bonilla-Silva and Baiocchi (2001) assert that sociologists, protected by a myth of neutrality and objectivity, follow the understandings of racism in their analysis of inequality as relegated to a secondary status, either according to the Marxist tradition as the superstructure or within a Weberian framework as a form of status difference. The aim of the article is to put the study of racism, a fundamental principle of social organisation in modern society, at the centre of social theory. The aim is also to develop a productive dialogue with the traditions of Critical Race Theory (CRT), neo-Marxism and Black feminism; traditions that we will argue are highly relevant for the analysis of the Swedish racial regime.

Crisis of Solidarity? : Changing Welfare and Migration Regimes in Sweden

Europe is in crisis. In recent years, there has been a rise of xenophobic parties in a number of European countries. While arguing that there is indeed a European crisis, this article focuses on the Swedish take on the crisis. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of migration, from a Swedish vantage point. This orientation has particular significance since Sweden has traditionally been extolled as defending human rights and multiculturalism by opening its doors to refugees – the so-called Swedish exceptionalism. Reality, however, is quite different and former policies are contested, raising the question whether this signals the end of this exceptionalism. In Sweden, ongoing processes are transforming the core social fabric of what was previously known as the Swedish model. It is potentially a bellwether for the transformation of a previously inclusive democratic society into something quite different, in which ‘the Other’ increasingly plays a defining role.

Perceptions of Discrimination in Recruitment and the Workplace

Previous Swedish studies show that, due to stigmatization and discrimination, immigrants occupy inferior positions in the labor market. This article investigates the extent to which natives and immigrants perceive discrimination of immigrants establishes the discrepancy between concrete and abstract attitudes about discrimination, and evaluates the assimilation hypothesis and the consciousness hypothesis as alternative explanations of perceived discrimination by immigrants. Data for this study came from a survey of individuals employed by the Malmö municipality. The results show that, concerning abstract attitudes, natives hold largely the same opinion about discrimination against immigrants as do immigrants themselves, and that there is a significant difference between concrete and abstract perceptions of discrimination among natives and immigrants. But immigrants embrace stronger positions than do natives on the prevalence of discrimination in the workplace. With one exception, our results tend to be more in line with the consciousness perspective.

Speaking up, leaving or keeping silent : racialized employees in the Swedish elderly care sector

When encountering problems and dissatisfaction in the workplace, employees may choose between three strategies: voice; exit; or silence. Using survey data and interview material from a study of employees in an elderly care organization in Sweden, this article investigates the workers’ perceptions of the eligibility and prospects of these strategies and which individual characteristics and situational factors might affect them. The focus is on racialized workers (operationalized through their region of birth) who, according to earlier studies, are less likely than other employees to choose voice behaviour. Contrary to some earlier studies, the results here attribute such a propensity to the importance of power differences across ‘racial hierarchies’ rather than to differences in cultural values. Individuals in this (racialized) category have a lower occupational status, earn less and experience less favourable relationships with their managers.