University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2011 The aJ nte Law and Racism: A Study on the Effects of Immigration on Swedish National Identity Kevin J. Turausky University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Turausky, Kevin J., "The aJ nte Law and Racism: A Study on the Effects of Immigration on Swedish National Identity" (2011). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 551. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/551 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE JANTE LAW AND RACISM: A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON SWEDISH NATIONAL IDENTITY A Thesis Presented by KEVIN J. TURAUSKY Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS February 2011 Anthropology © Copyright by Kevin J. Turausky 2011 All Rights Reserved THE JANTE LAW AND RACISM: A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON SWEDISH NATIONAL IDENTITY A Thesis Presented by KEVIN J. TURAUSKY Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________ Elizabeth Krause, Chair _______________________________________ Brigitte Holt, Member _______________________________________ Thea Strand, Member ____________________________________ Elizabeth Chilton, Department Head Department of Anthropology DEDICATION To the Swedes, old and “new”: Du skall tro att du är verkligen något! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my thanks to the individuals and organizations whose cooperation and assistance in my research and fieldwork made this paper possible. I would like to begin by thanking my thesis committee members Elizabeth Krause, Brigitte Holt and Thea Strand for their invaluable insight and advice in the direction of my fieldwork and in the formation of this thesis. I give my profound thanks to Sigma Xi and the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s European Field Studies Program for graciously granting me the funding necessary for my fieldwork. Danica Willis, Danielle Tompkins and Lorna Murphy, fellow members of the EFS program, all deserve a warm thank you: your peer edits, research suggestions and moral support made this possible. My classmates in my Ethnographic Writing course at UMass also deserve recognition for their notes and recommendations in crafting parts of this thesis. I offer my eternal gratitude to my parents, Di and Andy Turausky, and my brother, Keith Turausky, for always having time for me, lending an ear and a keen editing eye to my endeavors. My dear friends in Sweden, Joakim Stenbeck, Yufei Tian and Therese Söderberg, whose assistance in translations and understanding of cultural nuances made my thesis so much more than what it would have been. Tusen tack! Thank you, Amanda Walker-Johnson and Jen Lundquist, whose coursework ultimately contributed to a substantial portion of the final product. My gratitude to Linköping University for hosting me as a guest researcher, Aleksandra Ålund and Magnus Dahlstedt in particular for their input into my research design. I am grateful to Mark Graham for providing me with vital research data and consultation on my fieldwork. I would also like v to thank the following organizations for their cooperation: Medborgarkontorn , Jobbtorg Stockholm , The Workers’ Educational Association (ABF), The Swedish National Pensioners’ Organization (PRO), The Sweden Democrats, The Liberal People’s Party of Sweden, The Swedish Green Party, Fryshuset, Skärholmen’s Youth House, Tuben Youth House, National Serbian Association of Sweden, Bosnian-Herzegovina Association in Sweden, Stockholm Kurdish Council, The Kurdish Association of Stockholm, Kurdistan Regional Government Nordic Representation and The Finnish Institute. vi ABSTRACT THE JANTE LAW AND RACISM: A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON SWEDISH NATIONAL IDENTITY FEBRUARY 2011 KEVIN J. TURAUSKY, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Elizabeth Krause This paper focuses on how the Swedish social code known as The Jante Law plays a role in the prevalence of racism in Sweden, both on the individual and societal levels. Its core message that no one is superior to another fundamentally contradicts racism and informs government policy, but also reinforces institutionalized discrimination. I use literature review, ethnographic observations and interviews to examine the ways in which racism is understood and experienced in Sweden. This paper also investigates how concepts of sameness and community have changed over time and how the shifting of these concepts has resulted in greater inclusiveness in Swedish society. I begin with an overview of the history of Sweden’s interactions with—and shifting attitudes towards—non-Swedes. I then discuss the origins and nature of the Jante Law and how it functions as a hegemonic system as well as promoting certain behaviors as a component of governmentality. Furthermore, I analyze the trend of new cultures and ideas entering Swedish society and how such changes are causing the Jante Law to decline. I investigate how a culturally engrained notion of being modest and inconspicuous alters overt and covert racist discourse in Sweden. Additionally, I include an ethnographic account of my experience in Sweden as well as those of interviewees of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I vii conclude the paper with a discussion of the implications for Swedish society as immigration increases while the Jante Law loses its influence over Swedish culture. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 Terminology .............................................................................................................4 Theoretical Lens.......................................................................................................6 Methods and Research Design ...............................................................................16 Ethical Considerations ...........................................................................................21 Problems and Limitations ......................................................................................23 2: CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .......................................24 Swedes and the Other.............................................................................................26 Finns .......................................................................................................................27 Kurds ......................................................................................................................34 Yugoslavs ...............................................................................................................36 3: THE JANTE LAW ........................................................................................................40 Origins....................................................................................................................41 Habitus ...................................................................................................................44 Equality ..................................................................................................................52 4: SMYGRASISM AND STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION ........................................58 Institutionalized Discrimination.............................................................................72 Lunch Room Racism..............................................................................................76 5: FAR FROM LAGOM .....................................................................................................80 An Unseen Barrier .................................................................................................81 Swedishness ...........................................................................................................87 Vicious Cycles .......................................................................................................91 ix A New Understanding............................................................................................95 Sweden’s Hierarchy .............................................................................................103 6: CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................................108 APPENDICES A: CONSENT FORM IN ENGLISH ..............................................................................112 B: CONSENT FORM IN SWEDISH ..............................................................................113 C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ETHNIC SWEDES ..............................................114 D: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR IMMIGRANTS AND NON-ETHNIC SWEDES..............................................................................................................118