Camilla Hällgren

Working harder to be the same : everyday racism among young men and women in Sweden

Despite Swedens international reputation for human rights and democratic values, racism within Swedish schools is a relatively new issue, emerging only with the increased ethnic diversity of Swedish schools in recent years. This paper is thus one of the first Swedish interview studies on the perceptions of young men and women in Sweden from both minority and majority ethnic backgrounds about their everyday experience of racism and prejudice. What, for instance makes them believe, as the study found, that they need to work much harder than other young people to become ‘full members’ of Swedish society? While many of the young peoples experiences are similar to those in other countries, it can be seen that Sweden, despite its international human rights record, is not exempt from racism and xenophobia within its own national boundaries. Greater effort therefore needs to be expended, it is argued, on counteracting and challenging these tendencies, particularly in the school system.

Youth culture and net culture : Online social practices

The globalization of our society has changed the social culture of young people forever. In this day and age, this online social culture is growing in size, shape, and complexity and the need for f ...The authors suspect that the young perspective has been left out when online risk and safety are discussedin contemporary research. The aim of this chapter is to give a critical approach to this ma ...

Youth and Contemporary Learning

The aim of the chapter is to problematize the concept of learning and common views on transformed conditions for learning; have contemporary digital media reformed the processes of learning and if ...Modern advancements in technology have changed the way that young people use interactive media. Learning from such methods was not even considered until recently. It is now slowly defining the land ...

Interactive media use and youth : Learning, knowledge exchange and behavior

The aim of the chapter is to problematize the concept of learning and common views on transformed conditions for learning; have contemporary digital media reformed the processes of learning and if ...Modern advancements in technology have changed the way that young people use interactive media. Learning from such methods was not even considered until recently. It is now slowly defining the land ...

Young People and Online Risk

The globalization of our society has changed the social culture of young people forever. In this day and age, this online social culture is growing in size, shape, and complexity and the need for f ...The authors suspect that the young perspective has been left out when online risk and safety are discussedin contemporary research. The aim of this chapter is to give a critical approach to this ma ...

The Web, Antiracism, Education, and the State in Sweden

This thesis seeks to provide an insight into three phenomena: the condition of racism in Sweden, the complexity of identity, and the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in classroom settings. It also offers an analysis of how such phenomena combined in the development of a specific educational resource, the Swedkid project (2001-3) which aimed to develop an anti-racist website (www.swedkid.nu) for students and teachers in Swedish schools. A case study approach was used for the analysis in the thesis, in which the Swedkid project was viewed as an instance of web-based, anti-racist educational resource development. This instance (or case) provided a prism of opportunity for learning about ‘race’, ethnicity and the role of ICT in the classroom. The case study embraces a number of sub-studies (Papers I-V and Appendix 1) which explore independently and in combination, how the website was developed and received, the Swedish national context, intercultural and anti-racist work in education, racist experiences of young people, and ICT as part of anti-racist work in the classroom. Three sets of findings (or themes) emerged from the study: namely, the existence of racism in Sweden, that young people’s conception of identity is complex and that the Swedkid website constitutes a significant anti-racist intervention. The overall aims of the research were to: - utilise the Swedkid project as a learning opportunity - explore the Swedish context for the project - investigate and develop an understanding of racism and ethnicity in Sweden generally and in education in particular - investigate experiences of racism among young people, and - explore how ICT can support anti-racist work in classroom settings Three research questions were also posed in the research: - How can ‘race’, ethnicity and experiences of racism be understood in Sweden generally, in education and among young people? - How can ICT support anti-racist work in classroom settings? - How useful were the approaches taken and the methods used in the project? A variety of methods of data gathering were used which include systematic literature searches, interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations plus a project logbook. Three theoretical clusters were particularly helpful in the analysis; relating to globalisation, racism and new technology (e.g. Castells, Jansson, Pred, Essed, Ladson-Billings, Delgado & Stefancic, Aviram & Tami). The research suggests an uneven picture in Sweden generally, and among Swedish young people in particular. While there have been some conscious and planned strategies to eliminate racism and discrimination, and high ambitions and good intentions from policy-makers and teachers in terms of recognising inequalities of schooling and counteracting racism, there is also a continuing picture of hostility, difficulty, denial and insecurity within education and more generally. The study also illuminates the complexity of identity and knowledge transfer, between locally-situated individuals and the different levels of global, European, national and local. It is suggested that the formation of identity is a process which involves viewing someone as ‘the other’ and can be transferred into a racist discourse and as such, used as a basis for legitimizing exclusion. However, responses to the Swedkid website suggest that engagement with other, wider identities (in this case, the characters on the website) can provide the possibility of intervention in stereotypical perceptions and expansion of notions of identity. It is also suggested that the Swedkid website can be used successfully in supporting anti-racist work in classroom settings, although dependent on the skills and commitment of the teacher. The advantages of using ICT for Swedkid lie in the possibility of visualisation and simulation, hence, it provides virtual experience of complex phenomena. The website can thus work as a springboard into informed rather than common-sense or everyday discourses of racism/anti-racism, with virtuality enhancing the classroom work of the teacher. Overall, studies presented in this thesis illustrate how a combination of ICT and anti-racism can offer opportunities for challenging commonsense views of racism and ethnicity, provide counter-stories as evidence that racism exists, and thus offer alternative perceptions and viewpoints on this topic in education and elsewhere.