Jonathan Ngeh
Department of Sociology, University of Umeå, Sweden
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Published in: Inter: A European Cultural Studies : Conference in Sweden 11-13 June 2007
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 25:46, p. 433-442
Published: 2007-11-27
ISBN:
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
Cross border migration can easily result in exclusion when it produces an “undesired” immigrant population. Many scholars exploring this problem in Sweden argue that it is racism. I use the analytical framework for analysing racism by Anthony Marx to shed some light on this argument. This is important because Sweden has a reputation as a champion of equality and it is only recently that claims about racism have surfaced in the country. Anthony Marx views racism as a dynamic process that develops from a combination of institutional/structural forces and the actions of agents. He also considers racism to be historically embedded and tied to developments of the modern nation state. I use his framework to analyze social relations between “native Swedes” and immigrants from Africa. I argue that the discourse of the nation state and the significance of boundary marking have created a sense of belonging in Sweden which portrays immigrants from many non-European countries as the Other. In addition; these immigrants appear to be the exclusive targets of institutionalised practices of exclusion. However; their actions have not yielded a uniform racial identity from below and as such inhibits the consolidation of the process.
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