Scandinavian societies have historically, and problematically, been understood as homogeneous, when in fact they have a long history of ethnic and cultural pluralism due to colonialism and territorial conquest. After World War II, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway all became destinations for an increasingly diverse stream of migrants and asylum seekers from war-torn countries around the globe, culminating in the 2015–16 “refugee crisis.” This multidisciplinary volume opens with an overview of how the three countries’ current immigration policies developed and evolved, then expands to address how we might understand the current contexts and the social realities of immigration and diversity on the ground.

Drawing from personal experiences and theoretical perspectives in such varied fields as sociology, political science, literature, and media studies, nineteen scholars assess recent shifts in Scandinavian societies and how they intertwine with broader transformations in Europe and beyond. Chapters explore a variety of topics, including themes of belonging and identity in Norway, the experiences and activism of the Nordic countries’ Indigenous populations, and parallels between the racist far-right resurgence in Sweden and the United States.

Contributors: Ellen A. Ahlness, Julie K. Allen, Grete Brochmann, Eric Einhorn, Sherrill Harbison, Anne Heith, Markus Huss, Peter Leonard, Barbara Mattsson, Kelly McKowen, Andreas Önnerfors, Elisabeth Oxfeldt, Tony Sandset, Carly Elizabeth Schall, Ryan Thomas Skinner, Admir Skodo, Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, Sayaka Osanami Törngren, Ethelene Whitmire

Eric Einhorn is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Sherrill Harbison is a senior lecturer emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she was director of Scandinavian studies for twelve years. Markus Huss is an assistant professor of German in the Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies, Finnish, Dutch, and German at Stockholm University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements / Eric Einhorn, Sherrill Harbison & Markus Huss
1. Introduction / Eric Einhorn, Sherrill Harbison & Markus Huss

The Politics of Immigration
2. Immigration to Scandinavian Welfare States in the Time of Pluralism / Grete Brochmann
3. Folkhemmet: “The People’s Home” as an Expression of Retrotopian Longing for Sweden Before the Arrival of Mass Migration / Andreas Önnerfors
4. Racing Home: Swedish Reception of Black/White Identity Politics in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election / Benjamin R. Teitelbaum
5. Racist Resurgences: How Neo-Liberal and Anti-Racist Lefts Make Space for the Far Right in Sweden and the United States / Carly Elizabeth Schall

On the Ground
6. Coming to Terms with Belonging: Unemployed Migrants and Sociocultural Incorporation in Norway / Kelly Mckowen
7. Crisis and Pattern During the 2015-6 “Refugee Crisis” in Sweden / Admir Skodo
8. Contesting National Identity as a Racial Signifier: Mixed-race Identity in Norway and Sweden / Sayaka Osanami Törngren and Tony Sandset
9. Managing Multicultural Tenants: Rental Agreements and Feminist Qualms in Auður Jónsdóttir’s Deposit and Vigdis Hjorth’s A House in Norway / Elisabeth Oxfeldt
10. Swedish Identity and the Literary Imaginary / Peter Leonard
11. The Issue of Land Rights in Contemporary Sámi Literature, Art and Music / Anne Heith
12. Afro-Swedish Renaissance / Ryan Thomas Skinner

Inheritance
13. Within our Borders: Sámi Mobilization, the Scandinavian Response, and World War II / Ellen Ahlness
14. Denmark in Miniature: The Interplay of Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Exoticismin Copenhagen’s Tivoli / Julie K. Allen
15. “Musicians Find ‘Utopia’ In Denmark”: African American Jazz Expatriates / Ethelene Whitmire
16. Finnish War Children in Sweden after World War II and Refugee Children of Today / Barbara Mattsson

17. Afterword / Sherrill Harbison