Cultural Diversity A Glimpse Over the Current Debate in Sweden

A year and a half ago, the Swedish government decided 2006 to be The Year for Cultural Diversity (Agenda för Mångkultur, 2005). The general purpose, according to the directive, is to facilitate the possibilities for all citizens to participate in all aspects of the cultural life by enhancing appropriate arenas for different traditions (Agenda för Mångkultur, 2005). This policy decision was not a surprise to both observers and participants of the diversity debate. There has been a growing interest in the virtues of diversity for business effectiveness and success (mångfald.com), heightened scrutiny of institutional and organizational life by the mass media, and legitimizing debates by political parties which had always had some form of concern for diversity, if not for its own sake, at least for capitalizing on the legitimacy of diversity politics in the expectation of local and parliament elections next September. The proclamation of 2006 as a Year for Cultural diversity thus comes naturally from the broadened debates and organizational programs, each actor trying to get legitimacy by using the concept of cultural diversity to suit the demands of the times. Indeed, cultural diversity has become a priority agenda for any legitimate actor, at least in terms of programs and polices, if not in action. Moreover, the coordinator of the 2006 Cultural Year consistently promised in the mass media that this would be “the starting point”, and not merely a celebratory performance (VK, 28 October 2005; DN 3 January 2006). Already, what are called as the Cultural diversity consultants had worked since 2003 in eight counties as a partial preparation for this year, and to raise the consciousness of relevant actors in the field of culture and cultural institutions, especially those financed by state money. Private cultural associations, however, are invited to participate during the diversity year but they were not invited to co-design the contents of the diversity year. This paper is concerned with describing the concept of diversity as used by the different actors in this context, and also examines the background that has led to the decision of the Cultural Year. An implicit concern is scrutinizing whether in fact this year would be a starting point for more deeply engaged diversity programs and actions or a symbolic act of window dressing. The concerned actors base the paper on accounting the background to the Diversity debate in Sweden, and the different expected programs and agendas. As such, the paper is based on analysis of documents and agendas, interviews with different actors and two multicultural consultants at the county level. Additionally, the author also participated in a couple of seminars and conferences and video-filmed some of the speeches by different presenters to capture the patterns of the debate/discourse on Cultural diversity. Implicit discussion is whether the current interest on diversity may lead to its institutionalization in the Swedish society organizations (Scott 1995, Hamde, 2002), or it simply is a ‘traveling’ idea to appear occasionally and then occur in fashion-like manner as many management ideas (Czarniawska & Joerges, 1996). As pointed out in the sub-title this paper brings provides only a mere glimpse at the huge subject and the debate.: Actors, cultural diversity, institutionalization, multicultural consultants, multicultural year, Swedish debate

Mind in Africa, Body in Europe: The Struggle for Maintaining and Transforming Cultural Identity - A Note from the Experience of Eritrean Immigrants in Stockholm

This paper describes how individuals and groups who had crossed ‘physical, national boundaries’, and who live in a different social context make sense of their lives make sense of their lives by re-constructing their identities - of the sense of who they are, and who they want to be, which is an ongoing process. This is done by narrating the experiences of African men and women who live in Sweden and who struggle to both maintain their cultural identity and at the same time change aspects in their culture due to the context in which they find themselves. Maintaining cultural identity and transforming aspects of that identity therefore constitute the main thrust of the paper. Some of the ways through which immigrants claim to maintain their identity are practices and routines that they repeatedly and consistently perform as if these were uniform both in the host country and in the country of origin. But it is exactly within this premise that ‘maintaining’ an identity is defined in this paper. However, the routines, or practices may have different meanings or significance to different actors, different audience, and especially for the main beneficiaries, in a particular context. In this paper, I will narrate how ‘maintaining’ cultural identity is understood and practiced by Blin (Eritrean) immigrants in Stockholm, Sweden, when they solemnly perform a cultural rite called blessing (gewra) in weddings. The paper is based on a participant observation of weddings from 1992 to 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden, when the Blin speaking people perform the blessing rite, enjoy doing it, show to the audience how they maintain ‘who they are’, and perhaps symbolically confirm their unity with the Blin community. The main actors are the elderly and the bridegroom, both sine qua non if the rite is to get its legitimacy. Thus, the blessing rite is an example of being Eritrean in Sweden for its performers. The concept of identity and identity construction has become an important concept to deal with such demands for ‘maintaining’ and 'transforming' identities. Even though maintaining identity is encouraged in the Swedish social policy, transformation of that identity comes through demands that are widely accepted as modern values, such as egalitarianism, gender equality and individualism – leading to issues of diversity at different levels. If one strictly defines the meaning of the blessing rite, one can find that the meaning sometimes may not be consonant with the so-called modern values but that the people then provide symbolic significance to the rite.Blessing rite, Blin community, Culture maintenance, Identity construction, Immigrant