The Imagined versus the Real Other : Multiculturalism and the Representation of Muslims in Sweden
(2003) In Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology- Abstract
- Are Muslims so different from other citizens in Sweden, that they have to live in segregation and be separated from the rest of society? What is a Muslim, and who is to define this category? In this thesis, the author presents the main actors in this discussion and their ideological positions. The multiculturalist ideology is hegemonic in Sweden on issues concerned with cultural diversity, and intellectuals in various fields of knowledge subscribe to the main moral dictates of this ideology. In the thesis, it is claimed that the use of multiculturalist ideals when dealing with the Other masks essential cultural and social aspects and processes, and that the hegemony of multiculturalism, as in all ideological systems, is reproduced through... (More)
- Are Muslims so different from other citizens in Sweden, that they have to live in segregation and be separated from the rest of society? What is a Muslim, and who is to define this category? In this thesis, the author presents the main actors in this discussion and their ideological positions. The multiculturalist ideology is hegemonic in Sweden on issues concerned with cultural diversity, and intellectuals in various fields of knowledge subscribe to the main moral dictates of this ideology. In the thesis, it is claimed that the use of multiculturalist ideals when dealing with the Other masks essential cultural and social aspects and processes, and that the hegemony of multiculturalism, as in all ideological systems, is reproduced through various material and symbolic affirmations and sanctions. Actors who criticize the ideology run the risk of being classified as racists, and consequently excommunicated from the community of ideologically right-minded citizens. The statements in this hegemonic multiculturalist discourse about what is and ought to be when it comes to Muslim integration are contrasted to empirical data gathered through anthropological fieldwork in Rosengård, a Muslim neighborhood in Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden. The author shows that the discourse, which is guided by multiculturalist ideals, leaves out important fields of knowledge which are crucial to an understanding of Muslim integration. The hegemony of multiculturalism, it is argued, is an obstacle to understanding multicultural society. The unintended consequences of good intentions, inherent in the multiculturalist ideology, may actually contribute to excluding Muslims from fully participating in Swedish society. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Är muslimer så annorlunda jämfört med andra medborgare att de måste leva segregerade och separeras från resten av det svenska samhället? Vad är en muslim och vem skall definiera denna kategori? I den här avhandlingen presenteras huvudaktörerna i diskussionen och deras ideologiska synsätt. Den mångkulturalistiska ideologin är hegemonisk i Sverige när det gäller frågor som rör kulturell pluralism; intellektuella i olika maktpositioner delar ideologins grundläggande moraliska värderingar. I avhandlingen argumenteras för att om förståelsen av den Andre är grundad i den mångkulturaliska ideologin så döljs viktiga kulturella och sociala aspekter kring integration. Den mångkulturalistiska ideologiska... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Är muslimer så annorlunda jämfört med andra medborgare att de måste leva segregerade och separeras från resten av det svenska samhället? Vad är en muslim och vem skall definiera denna kategori? I den här avhandlingen presenteras huvudaktörerna i diskussionen och deras ideologiska synsätt. Den mångkulturalistiska ideologin är hegemonisk i Sverige när det gäller frågor som rör kulturell pluralism; intellektuella i olika maktpositioner delar ideologins grundläggande moraliska värderingar. I avhandlingen argumenteras för att om förståelsen av den Andre är grundad i den mångkulturaliska ideologin så döljs viktiga kulturella och sociala aspekter kring integration. Den mångkulturalistiska ideologiska hegemonin kan reproduceras socialt, som i alla ideologiska system, genom olika materiella och symboliska bekräftelser och sanktioner. Aktörer som kritiserar ideologin är alltså utsatta för risken att klassificeras som rasister och därmed att uteslutas från gruppen av moraliskt rättänkande medborgare. Påståendena i den mångkulturalistiska diskursen om hur det är och bör vara när det gäller muslimers integration, kontrasteras i avhandlingen mot empiriska data som samlats in under ett antropologiskt fältarbete i stadsdelen Rosengård i Malmö. En viktig poäng i avhandlingen är att diskursen om islam i Sverige, som är organiserad med hjälp av mångkulturalistiska ideal, utelämnar centrala kunskapsområden som är nödvändiga för en förståelse av muslimers integration. Den mångkulturalistiska hegemonin förhindrar sålunda en förståelse av problem i det mångkulturella samhället. Problemet med detta är att de goda intentioner som är inbyggda i den mångkulturalistiska ideologin, istället för att bidraga till muslimers integration, bidrar till att exkludera muslimer från fullt deltagande i det svenska samhället. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/20977
- author
- Carlbom, Aje LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Wikan, Unni, Sosialantropologiskt institutt, Univ of Oslo
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Islam, Multiculturalism, Muslims, Integration, Ideology, Hegemony, Discourse, Enclavization, Segregation, Institutionalization, Nationalism, Culture, Difference, Representation, Islamism, Religious rights, Fundamentalism, Individual rights, group rightsights, Sociology, Sociologi, Islam, Integration, Segregation, Nationalism, Representation, Islamism, Fundamentalism
- in
- Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology
- pages
- 234 pages
- publisher
- Department of Sociology, Lund University
- defense location
- Carolinasalen, Lund University
- defense date
- 2003-09-26 13:00:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUSADG/SAAN03/1010/SE
- ISSN
- 1101-9948
- ISBN
- 91-7267-154-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 110031df-6a38-494c-9df3-4684a0c4c727 (old id 20977)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:33:53
- date last changed
- 2021-12-20 14:54:47
@phdthesis{110031df-6a38-494c-9df3-4684a0c4c727,
abstract = {{Are Muslims so different from other citizens in Sweden, that they have to live in segregation and be separated from the rest of society? What is a Muslim, and who is to define this category? In this thesis, the author presents the main actors in this discussion and their ideological positions. The multiculturalist ideology is hegemonic in Sweden on issues concerned with cultural diversity, and intellectuals in various fields of knowledge subscribe to the main moral dictates of this ideology. In the thesis, it is claimed that the use of multiculturalist ideals when dealing with the Other masks essential cultural and social aspects and processes, and that the hegemony of multiculturalism, as in all ideological systems, is reproduced through various material and symbolic affirmations and sanctions. Actors who criticize the ideology run the risk of being classified as racists, and consequently excommunicated from the community of ideologically right-minded citizens. The statements in this hegemonic multiculturalist discourse about what is and ought to be when it comes to Muslim integration are contrasted to empirical data gathered through anthropological fieldwork in Rosengård, a Muslim neighborhood in Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden. The author shows that the discourse, which is guided by multiculturalist ideals, leaves out important fields of knowledge which are crucial to an understanding of Muslim integration. The hegemony of multiculturalism, it is argued, is an obstacle to understanding multicultural society. The unintended consequences of good intentions, inherent in the multiculturalist ideology, may actually contribute to excluding Muslims from fully participating in Swedish society.}},
author = {{Carlbom, Aje}},
isbn = {{91-7267-154-8}},
issn = {{1101-9948}},
keywords = {{Islam; Multiculturalism; Muslims; Integration; Ideology; Hegemony; Discourse; Enclavization; Segregation; Institutionalization; Nationalism; Culture; Difference; Representation; Islamism; Religious rights; Fundamentalism; Individual rights; group rightsights; Sociology; Sociologi; Islam; Integration; Segregation; Nationalism; Representation; Islamism; Fundamentalism}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Department of Sociology, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology}},
title = {{The Imagined versus the Real Other : Multiculturalism and the Representation of Muslims in Sweden}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4421698/1693275.pdf}},
year = {{2003}},
}