Violence and Radicalization in a Socialist Haven: A Study of Domestic Integration Policy and Taboo Culture in Sweden

Abstract

Over the past four years, Sweden has welcomed around 300,000 migrants in a population of ten million, the highest proportion of migrants to general population of any country in Europe during this timeframe. Furthermore, influxes of immigrants from the Middle East and Central Asia have changed the ethnic composition of Sweden, which traditionally sees itself as a largely homogeneous country.

Scholars and global leaders alike tend to look at Sweden as the archetypical welcoming state that promotes multiculturalism and an open society. Yet, as Sweden grapples with how best to process and integrate the significant proportion of recent immigrants, failures in current integration policy have led to severe consequences. Among these consequences is an increase in crime in Sweden. Immigrants have committed a disproportionate percentage of this crime, especially those migrants living in ethnically segregated suburbs. This thesis aims to understand the paradoxical situation in which Sweden is both a tolerant, generous, multicultural state while also experiencing highly segregated migrant housing estates with socioeconomic and educational disparities. By looking at Swedish integration policy, de facto segregation, and Swedish taboo culture, this thesis answers why there is a discrepancy between the intent of integration policy and the reality of policy in Sweden.

I find that Swedish taboo culture, namely the social and political reluctance to mention race, culture, and ethnicity in relation to issues with immigrants, is at the core of integration failure. This cultural taboo prevents Swedish policymakers from directly addressing issues that impedes successful integration of migrants into Swedish life, ranging from work to education to simple housing opportunities. Ultimately, this thesis predicts that only if Swedish political leadership directly confronts taboo culture will integration policy that adequately addresses the issue of long-term success for migrants succeed.