Almost every time I tell them that I live in Sweden, people look at with amazement and remark that this must be fantastic. Okay, it’s a little colder, maybe people too, but everything is better in order compared to the Netherlands, I am then asked, and there is so much vast nature and freedom: look how the covid crisis was handled. It is not surprising that Sweden – along with the rest of Scandinavia – is often referred to as a dream country.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sjors Joosten studies sociology at Stockholm University.
In the Facebook group ‘Dutch in Sweden’ I see many messages from people who want to emigrate to Sweden for this nature and freedom, and the Scandinavian life itself. More recently also from farmers who asked how much Swedish (agricultural) land costs and what the (nitrogen) rules are here exactly. It won’t be as bad as in the Netherlands, will it? Since there is no longer any place for the farmers in the Netherlands to live or build a life, they seek refuge elsewhere.
It’s hard to deny that Swedish life is more comfortable in some ways. Read a handful of tweets from columnist Sander Schimmelpenninck, who invariably mentions Sweden when it comes to free childcare, extremely long parental leave (as much as 480 days, split between two), school lunches from the government, more emancipation and gender equality, and therefore fewer part-time princesses. His message is clear: in Sweden everything is better.
Shift
Of course there is a lot to write home about, I even toy with the idea of having children here. But the image of an egalitarian ideal and social-democratic epicenter that Sweden has abroad is really outdated.
Due to a shift to a neoliberal system, the collective feeling has diminished in Sweden. The country shows one of the largest and growing income and wealth inequalities in Europe (also described by Schimmelpenninck) and the gap between rich and poor appears (almost) unbridgeable.
This gap is not only economic, but – thanks to many neoliberal reforms in housing policy, the privatization of public schools and the lack of investment in already deprived neighborhoods – often parallels deepened socio-spatial inequalities in Sweden.
Spatial segregation – one of the highest in Europe – is separating the cities in particular, but also the center and the periphery from a national perspective. The diversity of the population has barely started outside the cities and there, in particular, the desire for the socio-cultural cohesion of ‘the past’ remains great.
White Melancholy
Swedish researchers Lundström and Hübinette (2020) describe this as vit melankolic (white melancholy), a longing for faded glory, the golden age where there was no need for discussion about what Swedish(ness) exactly meant, since almost everyone looked the same anyway: it was so easy to keep everyone equal.
This longing for the earlier ‘better’ times and the ‘original’ national identity are all too often mentioned in the extreme right corner: Sweden must remain Swedish and ethnicity (read: being white) plays a determining role in this.
Don’t get it wrong. Over the years, Sweden has welcomed numerous migrants and asylum seekers, especially during the Chilean Pinochet regime (1970s-80s), and during the wars in the former Yugoslavia (1990s) and Syria (2015-16). But people have no idea what to do with the growing diversity in the population. Sweden has difficulty creating an inclusive society, where ‘whiteness’ still dominates and socio-cultural cohesion is left unmanaged and somewhat neglected.
Exceptionalism
Stockholm’s urban, progressive side doesn’t get much further than calling itself ‘the international capital of Scandinavia’. An internationalism that in fact entails a Western view, with an (too) great focus on the US. A large part of the population with non-Western roots therefore does not count for ‘correct’ globalisation, they are too far removed from the (still white) majority in Sweden. Somalis in particular are the victims of this.
Swedish exceptionalism exists: you can rightly look up to the state of emancipation, childcare and parental leave. The work-life balance is one to die for. The Netherlands can learn something from that. But Sweden is also unique and exceptional in conservative socio-cultural thinking, which may be the attraction for some potential Dutch emigrants. Sweden has hardly made any progress in this area and can learn a lot, including from the Netherlands. It depends on how you look at it, but we should not continuously present Sweden as a better country.