Eric Einhorn, Sherrill Harbison, and Markus Huss’s edited volume Migration and Multiculturalism in Scandinavia (2022) provides a systematic look into the research assessing the recent demographic, political, and cultural shifts in Scandinavia and how these shifts are intertwined with the broader transformations in Europe and beyond. The editors, Erich Einhorn, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, and Sherill Harbison, Senior Lecturer Emerita, are from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Markus Huss is an Assistant Professor of German in the Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies, Finnish, Dutch, and German at Stockholm University.
This book is divided into the three following parts: ‘The Politics of Immigration,’ ‘On the Ground,’ and ‘Inheritance.’ The opening chapter focuses on the political actors in Scandinavian countries and how they renegotiate, reject, and transform the current immigration policies developed in the Scandinavian welfare states or Nordic Model as immigration became increasingly non-Western and economically precarious. A deeper analysis in the chapter by Andreas Önnerfors (p. 60), which belongs to the part 1, focuses on the anti-immigration rhetoric of the right-wing populist party Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats), and the usage of the concept of folkhemmet (the people’s home). Moreover, the chapter by Benjamin R. Teitelbaum (p. 80) is discussing the relation between Swedish and American racial politics. He is trying to answer the question of how Swedes hesitate to acknowledge domestic racialization and the chapter is constructed very informatively to understand the creation of a ‘color-blind’ Swedish society.
The second part provides more ‘On the Ground’ research in comparison to other parts of the book and offers an exciting selection of empirical research through interviews with central actors such as immigrants who are receiving unemployment benefits, Afghan asylum seekers, mixed-race Swedes, and Norwegians. In addition, the chapter by Peter Leonard (p. 191) dwells on contemporary artistic materials, primarily Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic novels that focus mainly on majority–minority relations and immigrants. Another chapter by Ryan Thomas Skinner (p. 217) comprehensively explains the Afro-Swedish social and cultural renaissance in contemporary Swedish society. In addition, Anne Heith (p. 205) portrays concrete examples of the struggle between the Scandinavian state and the Sámi indigenous people by looking into cultural materials like poems and songs.
The final part of the book, called ‘Inheritance,’ explains the historical experiences of ‘otherness’ in the Scandinavian region by looking into fascinating examples of how Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens are the representation of Orientalist symbols (p. 260) and how African American jazz musicians found a safe work environment during the 20th century in Denmark (p. 281).
It is essential to evaluate other research that has been done to assess how this new edited volume is contributing to already existing literature. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate two edited volumes, Debating Multiculturalism in the Nordic Welfare States (2013) and Diversity, Inclusion, and Citizenship in Scandinavia (2011), written before in order to analyze what Migration and Multiculturalism in Scandinavia offers the reader different from them. The edited volume by Kivisto and Wahlbeck (2013) is one of the vital works in the field of multiculturalism research in Scandinavia. It asks a similar question to Einhorn, Harbison, and Huss: can the goals of the welfare state and multiculturalism coexist in harmony? Kivisto and Wahlbeck’s (2013) volume lacks coherence among the chapters, which focuses on more theoretical and policy-based examples when analyzing multiculturalism and lacks to offer the reader a systemic view of multiculturalism in Scandinavia from various empirical historical stories.
Another critical study from the field of Diversity, Inclusion, and Citizenship in Scandinavia (2011) written by Bengtsson, Strömblad and Helén Bay (2011) sheds light on the traditionally homogeneous welfare states of Scandinavia’s struggle to develop as democratic societies in the era of globalization. The book tries to show how migration from all parts of the world challenges the idea of traditional Scandinavian social citizenship. But unfortunately, it is inadequate to analyze the real experiences of immigrants and minority groups; instead, it focuses on the policy and political level. In contrast to these studies, Migration and Multiculturalism in Scandinavia (2022) always keeps the reader curious about what makes Scandinavia so different in terms of everyday diversity by questioning the idea that Scandinavian welfare states are homogenous. The book presents plenty of comparative perspectives on the cultural politics of national identity and belonging. Moreover, through taking a more comprehensive approach from other literature in the field, the book contributes to Scandinavian studies on multiculturalism and migration from a consequential range of disciplines and perspectives for the readers. The volume creates an engaging read with personal stories like, for instance, Kelly McKowen’s (p. 115) chapter on migrants coming from distressed parts of Europe such as Portugal, Lithuania, Poland, and Serbia, where work is increasingly precarious. McKowen’s chapter illustrates the story of these immigrants who came to Norway to live the ‘so-called Norwegian dream’ but find themselves unemployed.
The book succeeds in bringing a new perspective with its collection of stories about Afro-Swedish Renaissance and African American jazz musicians who reside in Denmark. Ryan Thomas Skinner’s (p. 217) and Ethelene Whitmire’s (p. 281) separate chapters locate the presence of Afro-Swedish and African Americans in the contemporary public sphere in Sweden and Denmark, challenging the idea of a ‘color-blind’ and homogenous notion of a welfare state.
A key contribution of the book is how it uses the theme of ‘otherness.’ The chapter written by Julie K. Allen (p. 260) powerfully portrays elements of Orientalism by looking into how Denmark’s famous amusement park showcases both Danish cosmopolitanism and Danish nationalism. The Tivoli’s oriental image scape with Islamic minarets and Chinese lanterns shows Denmark’s relation to the ‘other.’ Allen is illustrating an essential point: that unless the Tivoli’s guests carry the fantastic hybridity of the park to the city streets, the harmonious multicultural Denmark model will remain a fantasy (p. 279).
What seems to be missing from the book is a more ample discussion of the diverse migration groups and minorities living in Scandinavia. While the book acknowledges that ethnic and cultural pluralism in Scandinavia has a long history, it lacks critical actors who are challenging this pluralism. In this regard, several remarks must be made on the conclusions and suggestions put forward in the book. In the afterword section, these immigrants are only mentioned in Brochmann’s (p. 312) terms, ‘new immigrants’ that moved to Scandinavia in the 1970s and 1980s. Sweden has had many Turkish, Kurdish, and Iranian immigrant groups since the 1960s. Sweden had signed labor force agreement with Turkey in 1967 and 1980, and asylum seekers were heading to Sweden (Baser & Levin 2021). There are 47,060 ethnic Turks, and more than half live in Stockholm (Baser & Levin 2021). Moreover, there are 121,019 Swedish-Iranians residing in Sweden, and 40,883 individuals were born in Sweden with at least one Iranian-born parent (Khosravi 2009). Furthermore, Norway has recently experienced an inflow of Polish migrant workers. According to Statistics Norway (2023), there are 108,255 Poles in Norway, and they make up 2.10% of the Norwegian population; it has, in a short time, become the most significant ethnic minority in the country (Fisher 2021). The book lacks to display the current diversity of migrant groups in Scandinavia and how they are contributing to multiculturalism and the disappearance of the idea of ‘color-blindness.’
Overall, this concise book effectively contributes to a more profound understanding of multicultural elements in Scandinavia. The volume brings together researchers from a variety of fields. The book is intrinsically interdisciplinary. However, the book would benefit from a timelier analysis of migrant groups. This book is highly recommended to academics from diverse fields like sociology, political science, literature, and media studies. It would also be an excellent resource for political science, sociology, anthropology, literature, and media junior researchers who are on the path to an academic career and curious about Scandinavian politics and multiculturalism.
Competing Interests
The author has no competing interests to declare.