Multiculturalism

Working with migrants can challenge the usual expectations and routines of the workforce in welfare institutions. Bureaucrats respond differently depending on their own background and they can resort to different coping strategies, such as, ‘othering’ their migrant clients. Organizational pressures such as integrating new public management processes add to these challenges and can result in existential insecurity amongst bureaucrats; their ontological security is challenged which can have a knock-on effect on their work, that of the institutions they work for and outcomes for their migrant clients.

What does postcolonialism refer to when talking about the Nordics? The arts may be the foremost field where we can learn about Nordic postcolonialism…

The historical duchy of Schleswig was divided following two plebiscites in 1920. Ever since, South Schleswig has formed the northern section of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, whereas North Schleswig forms the Danish border region of South Jutland. National minorities were left behind on both sides of the border. Thus, a minority of people who live in southern Denmark identify as German, and a minority of German nationals south of the border identify as Danish. History helps to explain how identity transgresses national boundaries in the region.

Despite the public debate since 1980s presenting Islam in Denmark as a new phenomenon, it has for centuries played a central role as ‘the other’ when Danes have sought to explain their collective identity. It is true that many Danish Muslims arrived as a ‘guest workers’ in the boom years of the 1960s and stayed on. They were followed by their families and later refugees, although guest workers and refugees have by no means all been Muslim. Going further back, Islam and Muslims have been a part of Danish history for more than a millennium. Historically, the relationship between majority and minority populations and varying beliefs and social norms has always encompassed both opportunities and challenges. This remains the case today, and while elements of Danish society welcome the dynamics of the relationship, public debate frequently problematises it.

Rinkebysvenska or Rinkeby Swedish is a contemporary urban vernacular (CUV) which has developed in multi-ethnic urban areas of Sweden including a suburb of Stockholm called Rinkeby. This speech variety is mainly used by young people in addition to other languages and language varieties depending on context, and its use is reflected in rap and fiction.

The church as a social caretaker became less common throughout the 20th century as the Nordic welfare state increasingly took over this task. Churches which engage in social activities are arguably reclaiming this role, such as the increasing number of churches in the Danish People’s Church engaging in intercultural activities. These local activities often counter national political anti-immigration sentiment and the tendency to make the welfare state inaccessible to outsiders. They also exemplify the challenges facing the modern church: the need to reflect local conditions on the one hand and the state on the other.

Immigration has been described as one of the policy areas where Denmark, Norway and Sweden have differed most since 1995. In 2018, Denmark was amongst the most restrictive countries in Western Europe, Sweden the most liberal and Norway somewhere in-between. These differences can be explained, at least to some extent, by divergent approaches to national identity and party political dynamics in each country. Increasing politisation of immigration and integration has occurred in all three countries, but has been more marked in Denmark.

A member of the Finno-Ugric language group and thus related to Finnish, Sami consists of three branches, sufficiently different from each other to be considered as separate languages.

The term multiculturalism is treacherously ambiguous. Sometimes it refers to the mere fact of cultural diversity, but usually it means a degree of respect and political recognition of cultural difference within a polity, in other words a kind of ideological stance.