A mask for the hegemonic

One of the first things I was told when I came to Sweden is that “this used to be a very homogeneous country”. There was a lingering nostalgia in this statement, similar to what many grown-ups feel about their childhood, a time in which life and the surrounding world seem much more simple. Later on, I was surprised to discover that Sweden has five official minority languages: Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani Chib, Sami and Yiddish. That’s a lot of official minority languages for a country that is considered to have been homogeneous until recent times

Part of the problem is that no one is able to point out when such period of homogeneity started or ended. Was it homogeneous before the Roma and the Jewish communities began settling in the country in the 16th and 18th centuries? Or maybe after thousands of religious dissenters fled to America in the 19th century? How does any thought about Sweden’s homogeneity reconcile with the fact that the Sami are an indigenous people? No matter how far back I look in time, I just can’t find the homogeneous Sweden I’ve been told about.

I am starting to believe that the picture of a homogeneous Sweden is less a historical fact than the result of a political project. There is little doubt that the long social democratic rule of the country (1932-1976) shaped many of the distinct features of contemporary Sweden. One of the key elements of that period was the vision of Sweden as Folkhemmet, “the people’s home”. Sweden was imagined then as a home to which everyone contributes and is equally worthy, thus promoting a culture of trust, consensus and solidarity. This vision was conceived as a way to achieve greater social justice and ultimately to overcome the class system. The establishment of the folkhem, however, was done at the expense of toning down differences and leaving minorities out of the picture.

At a time in which the class gap is widening in Sweden, I have no intention of deriding the egalitarian ethos of the past. The aspiration to live in a society with social justice as one of its core values is as relevant now as ever. I am also of the opinion that we should focus on those things that unite us, instead of those that divide us, but building consensus in an increasingly diverse and multicultural country cannot be done at the cost of denying difference, or ignoring those who depart from the norm. The homogenic is usually a mask for the hegemonic.

A positive stance towards diversity has made important inroads into the Swedish mainstream, and yet, for some reason, the idea of an idealised homogeneous past still hovers over this debate. Breaking with this conception and acknowledging the diversity that has always been around would probably help us to see the present in a very different light.