Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Sociology

Advisor

Nancy Foner

Committee Members

Gregory C. Smithsimon

Jeremy R. Porter

Philip Kasinitz

Subject Categories

Migration Studies | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies | Race and Ethnicity

Keywords

Colorblindness, racism, ethno-racial inequalities, anti-racialism, residential segregation, Sweden

Abstract

Ethnoracial Inequality in Egalitarian Sweden: Swedish Exceptionalism and Racial Legacies investigates the persistence of ethno-racial disparities in Sweden, a country often celebrated for its humanitarianism, egalitarianism, and tolerance. I explore several key questions: How do ethnic and racial minorities, as well as majority Swedes, perceive and understand race and ethno-racial inequalities in a country that does not officially recognize race? What sociohistorical legacies and institutionalized practices have contributed to contemporary ethnoracial inequalities in Sweden? And for ethnic and racial minorities, what are their day-to-day experiences of racism? Combining analysis of governmental data and in-depth interviews as well as exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial regression analysis, my study reveals how ethno-racial inequalities permeate various aspects of Swedish society, including identity formation, the labor market, residential arrangements, and everyday conversations and interactions, even after the decline of de jure racism. The research questions the central role of Swedish exceptionalism in shaping the country’s racial landscape, allowing Swedes to claim their nation’s racial innocence and moral superiority compared to other European countries like France and nations like the United States, where colonialism and race are seen to matter in highly significant ways. However, the narrative disguises, indeed ignores, structures of superiority toward non-White, non-European, and non-Christian people. In challenging the commonly accepted narrative of Swedish exceptionalism, I suggest that race has been and continues to be an essential factor in Sweden, shaping both its history and current landscape at individual and state levels. The silence surrounding race in this context not only masks minorities’ lived experience of race but also downplays the extent of racial inequalities. This, in turn, obscures society’s responsibility to protect against structural discrimination and racism. Consequently, colorblindness in Sweden tends to justify ethno-racial inequalities and sustain ethno-racial hierarchies, rather than addressing or eliminating them. This study challenges the “color-blindness” ideology and “race-neutral” policies in Sweden, uncovering how racial grammars have developed and become embedded in the Nordic region in ways distinct from the U.S. and other Western European countries, while still being an indispensable part of global racial dynamics. Furthermore, it offers a nuanced understanding of why Sweden’s ostensibly generous and inclusionary immigration policies have not led to immigrants’ full social, economic, and spatial integration. By doing so, this research recognizes that political aims emphasizing diversity, inclusion, and equity can unfortunately go hand in hand with actual policies that support and reinforce racial and ethnic inequalities. Ultimately, the Swedish case reveals the diverse—subtle and covert—forms that racism can take in a broad range of societies, highlighting the need for future studies that seek to make previous “blindness” to racism and ethno-racial inequalities visible.

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