Problematizing Multiculturalism: Race and the Integration Experiences of Swedish Women of Color
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PROBLEMATIZING MULTICULTURALISM: RACE AND THE INTEGRATION EXPERIENCES OF SWEDISH WOMEN OF COLOR By KOKILA U. MENDIS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 ©2017 Kokila U. Mendis To my father, Dr. Asoka Mendis II, who inspired me to become Dr. Mendis III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and input of my father, Dr. Asoka Mendis, who taught me from an early age to think critically about the world, who helped me frame this dissertation and many of the papers that came before and who read and edited every chapter of this work at least once. Without him, there is no dissertation. I am eternally grateful to my mother, Dananthi Arnott, my stepfather, Adam Arnott, my stepmother, Catherine Buck, and my sister, Kenzie Arnott, for their continued emotional support, encouragement, humor and advice that has helped me navigate through the trials and tribulations of graduate school. I would not have been able to complete this dissertation without the substantial assistance of two very loving grandmothers and benefactors, Patricia Mendis and Shirley Arnott, who ensured that finances would not stand in the way of earning my doctorate and who have unconditionally supported me in all my academic and personal endeavors. I am of course indebted to my doctoral advisor, Dr. Leslie Anderson, for believing in my project from day one, for her helpful feedback, for holding me to deadlines, for reading my chapters within days, sometimes hours, of receiving them, and for her encouragement, support and wisdom that has helped me navigate through the many stages of obtaining a master’s and Ph.D. I also thank my committee, Dr. Alin Ceobanu, Dr. Conor O’Dywer, Dr. Dan O’Neill and Dr. Leslie Thiele, for their guidance and mentorship throughout graduate school. I also owe thanks to the American Swedish Institute and the University of Florida Center for European Studies for funding the research and language training required to complete this work. A special thanks goes to my participants for trusting me with their words and stories. The women I met represent a very bright future for their country and I left my time in the field filled 4 with admiration and hope. In particular, I am forever grateful for one participant, who would like to remain anonymous, for introducing me to many incredible women, for taking me to official party offices in the Riksdag and for arranging interviews for me with parliamentarians. Most of all, I thank her for genuinely caring about my work and my wellbeing during my time in the field. I feel immensely lucky to have met her. Finally, I would be remiss in thanking the two people who have kept me sane, happy and healthy through this whole process. That my best friend Amanda Garcia and I graduated from high school, started UF as undergraduates and are now graduating with our Ph.Ds. together exactly ten years later means that I never went without companionship, humor and commiseration through all my formative years of education. My husband Jacob Lafo is my biggest encourager who always believes and convinces me that I can do whatever I put my mind to. I could not ask for a better partner with whom to begin my post-doctoral life. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................10 Preface ....................................................................................................................................10 Multiculturalism .....................................................................................................................13 What is Multiculturalism? ...............................................................................................14 Backlash to Multiculturalism ..........................................................................................16 Blanket Bans ....................................................................................................................18 Public Discourse ..............................................................................................................21 Multiculturalism without Culture ...........................................................................................23 Voice and Representation ................................................................................................26 Race Rather than Religion ...............................................................................................28 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................29 2 EPISTEMOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................31 Who can know? Who can speak?: Standpoint Feminism and Intersectionality .....................31 Subjectivity and Narrative: A Methodology ...........................................................................40 Structural Analysis as Secondary Methodology .....................................................................42 Why is Structure Important? ...........................................................................................43 The Three Forms of Capital that Contribute to Socio-Economic Mobility .....................45 Methodological Caveat ....................................................................................................46 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................48 3 WHY SWEDEN? THE POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT ...............................50 Case Selection .........................................................................................................................50 Exceptional Sweden ................................................................................................................55 Political History of Sweden: 1500 to 1900 .............................................................................60 Political Culture ......................................................................................................................66 Värdfärdspolitik: The Golden Era of Social Democracy .......................................................73 The Contemporary Swedish Welfare State .............................................................................76 Geographic Fieldwork Context ...............................................................................................79 4 DISCRIMINATION AND WHITENESS IN SWEDEN .......................................................83 The Cultural Context ..............................................................................................................83 Whiteness in Sweden ..............................................................................................................86 What is Whiteness? .........................................................................................................86 6 Nomenclature for Discussing Race .................................................................................89 The History of Whiteness in Sweden ..............................................................................91 Social and Political “Color-blindness” in Sweden ..........................................................96 Race as Identity .....................................................................................................................101 Ethnographic Fieldwork: Interviewing Swedish Women of Color ......................................103 Daily Experiences of Discrimination from Childhood to Present .................................106 Feelings of Unwanted Visibility ....................................................................................113 Proving Oneself: The One-Minute Rule ........................................................................115 The Intersectional Burden: Dubbelbestraffning or Double Punishment .......................117 The Assertion of Swedish Identity in the Face of Exclusion ................................................124 Reactions to Discrimination .................................................................................................132 5 WOMEN OF COLOR AS AGENTS OF CHANGE ...........................................................135 Agency ..................................................................................................................................135 Societal and Governmental Discourse: The External Is Internalized ...................................142 Welfare State Policies (integration and education) ..............................................................150 6 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................160 Those Still in Need of Protection ..........................................................................................164 Protections: State-Provided Narratives and Resources.........................................................172 The US and Sweden: A Comparison