The term ‘race’ in Swedish is rarely used, but if it is, for example in scientific contexts, it is used in quotation marks to signal that it is not an accepted term. The term thus has a somewhat different meaning in Swedish compared with, for example, the use of the term race in the USA. The concept of race has been declared invalid by contemporary science as it lacks scientific evidence, but despite this, people today are attributed different values based on these ideas. Racism, however, is thus very present in contemporary Sweden. Although the concept of race is ‘empty’, it is important to make differences in society that are based on the notion of race visibly, as it is present.
In this understanding race does not exists, but racism does. This can be shown in the Swedish society where in theory everyone has equal rights and opportunities, but not in practice. Government reports show that there is a difference between immigrants or non-whites and Swedes or whites. It has also been shown that Swedish citizens born in Sweden but still tend to be categorized as immigrants in everyday speech, because they have immigrant parents. The notion is that these individuals belong to ‘a different culture’, have a ‘different ethnicity’ and often have a ‘different skin color’. ‘They’ are thus neither in nor outside the categories ‘we’ and ‘Swedes’.
Ethnicity is a concept that has had a great impact and is widely used in various explanatory models in Swedish research within social science. It is used to explain differences between people in terms of behavior and characteristics. Thus, Ethnicity, like race, is about dividing individuals into groups to discuss the characteristics of different groups. Ethnicity is as ‘empty’ a concept as race, but is ‘politically correct’, and has nevertheless come to be used extensively. The difference is that ethnicity has its origins in culture and not racial biology. Ethnicity should therefore be used with caution.
There is a self-image in Sweden and a tendency to avoid the concept of race and racism. Recognizing the existence of racism would damage Swedish identity and therefore racism is neglected and/or denied. The concept of ethnicity to explain differences between people and to some extent phenomena such as xenophobia and racism is common today by scholars and in general. Replacing race with other terms has become more common among racists and xenophobes as well, but it is the same concept but in different words.
Why do Swedes not talk about racism? This became clear when I examined a social studies textbook for the Swedish upper secondary school. Race and racism as phenomena were discussed, but without using the terms. In one paragraph it was described how immigrants have more difficulty entering the labor market and taking part in the Swedish welfare state, but structural racism was not mentioned. I think this has to do with what was described above. In some kind of zeal for goodness, desire for political correctness, and shame values that are considered ‘un-Swedish’ are a part of Swedish society. This has resulted in racist expressions being more difficult to identify and thus more difficult to combat.
Bibliography
Eliassi, B. (2017) Conceptions of Immigrant Integration and Racism Among Social Workers in Sweden, Journal of Progressive Human Services, 28:1, 6-35, DOI: 10.1080/10428232.2017.1249242
Ericsson, Martin, (2016), Historisk forskning om rasism och främlingsfientlighet i Sverige: en analyserande kunskapsöversikt, Stockholm: Forum för levande historia.
Fredrickson, George M., (2005), Rasism: en historisk översikt. Lund: Historiska media
Hübinette, Tobias (2017), ”Den färgblinda antirasismen slår tillbaka”, i: Hübinette, Tobias (red.), Ras och vithet: Svenska rasrelationer igår och idag, Stockholm.
Karlsson, Lars-Olof (2011) Arena 123, Stockholm.
Sernhede, Ove (2022) ”Etnicitet” i Christofer Edling & Fredril Liljefors (red.) Ett delat samhälle- Makt, interektionalitet och social skiktning. Stockholm.
Wasniowski, Andréaz,, (2017), ”Rasismens former – om vetenskapligt och ideologiskt tänkande”, i: Hübinette, Tobias (red.), Ras och vithet: Svenska rasrelationer igår och idag, Stockholm.
Raewyn Connell is an Australian sociologist who in an article from 1997 criticized the sociological canon, i.e. what is usually referred to as the ‘classical theory’. If you open just about any book aimed at undergraduate students in sociology, you will likely read about Karl Marx, E´mile Durkheim, and Max Weber, whom Cornell describes as ‘the founding fathers’. Because of this, classical theory focuses on class, alienation, and industrialization. These elements have been and are important for European development.
The familiar canon embodies an untenable foundation story of great men theorizing European modernity. Sociology actually emerged from a broad cultural dynamic in which tensions of liberalism and empire were central. Global expansion and colonization gave sociology its main conceptual framework and much of its data, key problems, and methods. After early-20th-century crisis, a profoundly reconstructed American discipline emerged, centered on difference and disorder within the metropole. The retrospective creation of a “classical” canon solved certain cultural dilemmas for this enterprise and generated a discipline-defining pedagogy, at the price of narrowing sociology’s intellectual scope and concealing much of its history (Cornell, 1997).
This leaves little room for analyses of, for example, race and gender. But not because race, gender and sexuality were not central issues in sociology at this time, but because they have been ignored. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1901 that the color line was “the problem of the 20th century”, which was not an uncommon statement at the time. Cornell argues that we need to revise the sociological canon: “Sociology can be introduced to students not as a story of ‘great men’”. She argues that it cannot be undone but needs to be replaced by our own history, because these theories were constructed in a colonial world.
These ‘founders’ are still used by Connell and others. They are theories that travel with us in time, which is precisely what makes them classic, and therefore they are important to retain, states Michael Coroway. He argues that whether the sociological canon should be retained or completely revamped is a current debate in the field. He criticizes Connell´s previous arguments and highlights the value of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim as a sociological canon. There are certainly important and applicable theorists like Du Bois who need to be emphasized more, but not at the expense of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. It is not possible to ‘just’ add Du Bois to the existing canon. It would mean rebuilding a canon based on completely new relationships and a new review of all these theorists. It would thus require a recalibration of all of them. When Marx was added to the canon, Weber and Durkheim were not removed but were re-read with ‘Marx’s glasses’ and put in dialogue with each other.
It is precisely under the premise that a canon is relational that the biggest question mark over a change is raised. It is thus a dialogue between theories. Du Bois has written important and significant works such as The Philadelphia Negro (1899) and The Souls of Black Folk (1903), but although he has made important contributions, he is not automatically a candidate for a place in the canon. The inclusion of Du Bois could be the fall of the canon, but it could also enhance it with a broader content on race, colonialism, and imperialism. However, this would require a great deal of effort and review, but also not to focus too much on Du Bois’ early texts where he, for example, had difficulties relating to Durkheim. In his later works, he engages in dialogue with Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. In conclusion, Coroway believes that the canon would benefit from the addition of Du Bois for greater inclusion but needs to be done with caution.
Bibliography
Burawoy, M. (2021). Why is classical theory classical? Theorizing the canon and canonizing Du Bois. Journal of Classical Sociology, 21(3-4), 245-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X211036955
Connell, R. W. (1997). Why Is Classical Theory Classical? American Journal of Sociology, 102(6), 1511–1557. https://doi.org/10.1086/231125
Is a debate in Sweden that originates from the tradition of racial biology research conducted in Uppsala in the early 20th century. This ‘research’ has resulted in preserving Sámi remains, documentation, and information about Sámi in archives and universities. The debate centers on whether Sámi associations demand that objects and remains be returned to their original locations, while on the other hand, universities want to preserve them for research.
Carolina Rediviva is the university library in Uppsala and restores material from the Institute of Racial Biology that was founded in 1921 by the Swedish parliament. If you know how to request this material is available for the broader public. The archive includes letters, reports, diaries, and different accounts from the institute and its board, publications from the institute, and more. It also includes an archive of about 12,000 photographs taken by the racial biologist Herman Lundborg between 1916 and 1935. Lundborg wrote The racial characters of the Swedish Nation published in 1926.
Image 1: Cover and archive box
Source: Lundborg, Herman, 1926, The racial characters of the Swedish Nation.
This ‘scientific’ structure includes images of people. Lundborg starts by describing ‘the Nordic type’, but not by using photographs. The people exhibited in this category are famous and known for their beauty, knowledge, and greatness. The ‘non-Nordic types’ are portrayed differently first it is photographs of contemporary people, and secondly, they are elderly and badly worn people that represent this category—an intention to show a clear hierarchy.
Image 2: ‘Nordic Types’
Source: Lundborg, Herman, 1926, The racial characters of the Swedish Nation.
Although this is horrible enough, there are also pictures of naked Sámi preserved at Carolina Rediviva from the department. These photographs show real humans but without names, that everyone can access through a form on the university website. This certainly raises the question of whether this material should be available to the public. Such material is important to preserve for research and therefore needs to be available. Especially in a country like Sweden which has had a tradition of neglecting Swedish colonialism in the writing of history and is therefore needed to provide a truthful story. Uppsala University also argues that the material must be available because the Institute of Racial Biology was a government agency, which means that administrative documents must be public and governed by Swedish law Arkivlagen (1990:782). From the perspective of the Sámi population, relatives live with the knowledge that there may be photographs, and other documentation of their elderly relatives available to the public.
Bibliography
Fur, Gunlög and Hennessey, John L., 2020, ”Svensk kolonialism, Sverige och kolonialism eller svenskar och kolonialism?” Historisk tidskrift 140:3.
it was a significant period in german history: the genocide of tens of thousands of individuals in german southwest africa following a revolt against colonial governance by the ovaherero and nama people. over a century later, a feature film delves into the violent actions carried out by germany in present-day namibia, shedding light on this dark colonial history for the first time, in that format. the director – lars kraume – aims for measures of men to raise awareness among everyday germans about this tragic chapter of their history. he stateted that “germany has denied its colonial past for 120 years, […] most people are unaware germany even had a colonial past, let alone anything about the brutality of it – it is not even taught in schools” (connolly 2023).
in the film, alexander hoffmann (leonard scheicher), a fictional young ethnologist sets out on a research expedition to the german colony of southwest africa, where he initiates the collection of human skulls for his “racial research”. during this endeavour, he observes the genocide carried out by the “deutsche schutztruppe,” the military unit responsible for upholding the german empire, against the ovaherero and nama tribes from 1904 to 1908. however, beyond merely observing these atrocities, the ethnologist progressively transitions into a perpetrator himself.
terminologies such as “moral decay” (tschierse 2023) or “moral degeneration” (connolly 2023) are quite common in reviews and media coverage regarding the character of hoffman making for a character with a bizarre image of an innocent german who just happened to be part of a genocide, something like hanna arendt’s “hanswurst”.
kraume emphasised that due to germany’s role as a perpetrator during this period there is no redeeming quality to the character. “create a film about genuine heroes wherever you find them, but it is impossible to fabricate a german hero.”
kraume sees hoffmann as a mirror of the german society, “they have chosen to flee – [reminiscent in …] how we continually handle africa, evading acknowledgment of the atrocities we have inflicted on the continent, and disregarding their issues as if they are unrelated to us” (connolly 2023).
the director tries to discover how the genocide was made possible shaped by “colonial mentality” (assheuer 2023). interesting is that the colonial mentality was also used to avoid blame by the very first apology by a german official toward the overherero and nama victims (arens 2024). the film is however attempting to show the spirit of modernity and social-darwinism prevalent in the wilhelminan era in germany. therefore, the film has been described as: “it lets us stare into our own abyss” (ttt 2023).
kraume uses the protagonist to show how easily one can become caught up in the dealings of a state even when you initially opposed them (assheuer 2023), thus he wants to portray the only position he can. but at the same moment, it might just be seen as a mechanism to avoid guilt and responsibility.
the film has further been criticised for pushing racism and genocide on a level of personal failure and away from a structural coloniality critique. thus, a viewing is made possible that rids germany and germans nowadays of any responsibility (kelly and malonda 2023). making for a similar argument and guilt aversion as the german government in its proposed joint declaration with namibia concerning the genocide (arens 2024).
after the premiere at the berlinale film festival of 2023, an open letter by the schwarze filmschaffende (black filmmakers) was sent to influential figures in the german cultural industry, it criticised the prevalent anti-black racism in films shown at the festival that year, including der vermessene mensch. the main points were that the genocide was only a secondary plotline rendering the victims mere extras leading to the humanising of the perpetrators whilst denying it to the victims, while simultaneously recreating images that have the potential to re-traumatise without holding educational potential (schwarze filmschaffende e.v. 2023: 4-5). the film fails even to point towards the resistance on the side of the ovaherero and nama dismissing historically important figures such as hendrik witbooi and samuel maharero (fanizadeh 2023) – making the stamen by kraume that film about heroes should be made when they are present frankly bizarre.
that presentation is rather common for german media engagement with the colonial past, usually drawing on the explorer and adventurer genre in connection with glorifying “civilising mission” (weber and weber 2020: 104). the film also fails at the portrayal of the historical events, relying on a one-dimensional account of it that lacks accuracy. it has been described as “a crude eurocentric narrowing” (fanizadeh 2023).
the only non-white actor who is afforded a role that gives her distinct features as a character is kezia kunouje kambazembi played by girley jazama who was also central to the promotion of the film and was showcased as an ovaherero woman whose ancestors were targeted by the german troops. it was however done to an extent that far exceeded her role and did leave the aftertaste of tokenism.
natasha kelly a german anti-racism activist and academic schooler was commissioned in 2021 to make an anti-racism assessment of an early script of the film, already then criticising the plotline as romanticising, far removed from reality and too much centred around the white characters (kelly and malonda 2023).
lars kraume justified the use of said perspective as a result of his position as a white german and that it would also be inappropriate for him to tell a story of ovaherero and nama resistance. he also used that to account for the passivity of the non-german characters. he further sees the film as one part of many to work against colonial amnesia in germany thus it is supposed to hold up a mirror to the german society (deutschlandradio 2023).
one of the producers added that the film aimed to bring the topic into public consciousness as well as explore the part science and universities played in the genocide (haikali and dobson 2023: 404). the idea of the film was to first tell the story and enable namibian and especially ovaherero and nama filmmakers to tell further stories, thus functioning as a gateway for funding and publicity.
the reception in namibia was also good but as there were only two screenings in windhoek, exes to the film were limited hindering any wide reception (ibid.: 109).
the question must be asked then why the film funding went to kraume and not to, let’s say ovaherero and nama directors to tell the story or why at the very least he didn’t co-direct the film with more suitable storytellers. girley jazama who is also a producer and screenwriter even expressed willingness to tell her family story (renk 2023). the unwillingness of kraume to step back or share power might be seen in line with that “most black namibians have no safe space, agency or resources to express stories of colonial oppression and atrocity inflicted on them from own perspectives and for imagining or rather telling alternative narratives” (haikali and dobson 2023: 407).
kraume said that jazama was involved, but it is hard to allocate creative inspiration, thus she is not listed as a writer in the film (deutschlandradio 2023). it was reported that other than girley jazama only one overerero was involved in the filming process, namely a costume designer (tschierse 2023).
during the above-mentioned anti-racism assessment of 2021, it was already suggested to the director to have a more diverse writers’ room to accurately tell the story and give the black characters agency. a suggestion specially made regarding the character of kezia kunouje kambazembi and the long-standing problem of white men portraying racialized women, rendering them passive objects as is the case in the film (kelly and malonda 2023).
many ways could have been explored to avoid the problem the film holds and could actually work against colonial amnesia.
the schwarzen filmschaffenden thus conclude that: “the racist murders and brutalisation of black bodies in white-majority societies are due in large part to the dissemination of such images that reinforce the belief that the lives of black people do not matter” (schwarze filmschaffende e.v. 2023: 5).
haikali, joel and dobson, stephen. 2023. understanding liminality and intangible difficult heritage through film. the historic environment: policy & practice (14)3: 402-414.
kelly, natasha and malonda, achan. der vermessene film — kolumne malonda feat. natasha a. kelly. veto mag. https://veto-mag.de/achan-natasha/. published 2023.04.18, accessed 2024.03.24.
renk. 2023. „der vermessene mensch“ ein interview mit der hauptdarstellerin girley charlene jazama. renk magazin. https://renk-magazin.de/der-vermessene-mensch/. published 2023.03.24, accessed 2024.03.26.
weber, heloise and weber, martin. 2020. colonialism, genocide and international relations: the namibian–german case and struggles for restorative relations. european journal of international relations 26(1): 91-115.
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