DEMJ5104_nothing_to_fear_report_140217_WEBv1

6 Sweden among

6 Sweden among immigrants, constructs an essentialised and, to a large extent, deterministic understanding of culture. Since our moral values and behaviour become intrinsically linked with our cultural background, the only way for immigrants not to constitute a threat is to surrender their cultural identity and become part of the cultural Swedish national identity. The leaders of the Moderate party and Christian Democrats did not express the link between culture and values in such explicitly exclusive terms. Perhaps predictably, their speeches were much subtler in this regard. Nonetheless, the narrative of national identity and immigration that their speeches constructed made this link in an exclusive way, primarily by emphasising certain values as national values and, in the case of the Christian Democrats, making an explicit link between such values and Swedish culture, suggesting that immigrants do not share these values. For example, when discussing the value of gender equality, the leader of the Moderates said: To marry off your own daughter against her will is sometimes defended through freedom of religion. However, this is a misuse of the word freedom. To take the future away from your daughter – that is not freedom. The word honour is also misused at times. Subjugation of the youth is sometimes justified with claims that they belong to an honour culture. But it has nothing to do with honour to restrict the members of your own family and take away their rights to their life and their own life choices. On the contrary, it is dishonest and it goes against Swedish values. The final remark, that the subordination is not just morally wrong but un-Swedish, serves to emphasise that the problem with certain immigrant groups is not just their values, but their lack of Swedishness. Because a national or cultural identity is often perceived as ‘stickier’ than moral values, when someone’s failure to adhere to certain moral values also becomes their failure to embrace the national culture they may be perceived as not susceptible to change. A similar link was made by the leader of the Christian Democrats when

393 she suggested that the ‘migration crisis’ was not over yet, because Sweden faces ‘a gigantic challenge of integration’. To overcome this crisis, immigrants need to learn about Swedish culture, which she linked to values: Integration – it is about jobs of course, but also about language, culture and values. All parts are necessary. If one part is missing, exclusion will grow and we risk increasing the fragmentation of society. Learning the language and civic orientation should be mandatory for the newly arrived from the beginning. SFI [Swedish For Immigrants] should start straight away. Civic orientation should provide information on what rights, duties and responsibilities you have as a newcomer in our country. But also on our traditions, values and customs. The leaders of the Moderate party and Christian Democrats make a far subtler link between values and culture, and the suggestion that immigrants are causing a demise of Swedish values, than does the Sweden Democrats leader. The Christian Democrats leader coupled the nationalisation of values with expressions of universalism. Yet the suggestion that the way to remedy a lack of certain values is to strengthen Swedish culture contributes to an essentialist understanding of cultural difference that portrays immigrants as difficult to integrate because of their cultural heritage. This nationalisation of values, making values part of a Swedish culture and national identity in relation to perceived problems brought about by immigration, constructs an increasingly exclusive narrative of national identity. In the speeches this was often coupled with the suggestion that the nation is threatened to some extent by immigration. This was expressed most explicitly by the Sweden Democrats leader. In fact, the threat of immigration to Sweden was the main theme of his speech. He said that immigration, in particular asylum immigration, has affected the country negatively and listed several issues and problems that he claimed are caused by immigration. At the end of the speech, he spoke directly about the damage immigration has caused the nation and referred