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"Lite civilkurage måste man ändå få ha" : Sydsvenska folkbibliotekariers upplevelser av Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2010-2014

Eklund, Lovisa LU (2015) ABMM54 20151
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
Abstract
The public library is a democratic institution that belongs to all people in society. Among other things, this means that public libraries should not show any political bias and refrain from taking a standpoint in relation to any ideological group. This study investigates the problematic scenario that public librarians have encountered as a result of The Sweden Democrats’ (SD) 2010 entrance into parliament. SD is a radi- cal right party that is focused on decreasing immigration and reducing multicultural- ism. In this study I investigate how public librarians in southern Sweden perceive SD’s recent electoral gains (5.7 % in 2010 to 12.9 % in 2014) and what identifiable changes have occurred at their libraries. This paper’s findings derive... (More)
The public library is a democratic institution that belongs to all people in society. Among other things, this means that public libraries should not show any political bias and refrain from taking a standpoint in relation to any ideological group. This study investigates the problematic scenario that public librarians have encountered as a result of The Sweden Democrats’ (SD) 2010 entrance into parliament. SD is a radi- cal right party that is focused on decreasing immigration and reducing multicultural- ism. In this study I investigate how public librarians in southern Sweden perceive SD’s recent electoral gains (5.7 % in 2010 to 12.9 % in 2014) and what identifiable changes have occurred at their libraries. This paper’s findings derive from a qualita- tive study where I use the method of semi-structured interviews and the theoretical framework of new institutionalism. The results show that librarians’ experiences of SD’s impact on their workplace differ significantly. While some of the interviewed librarians did not identify any relevant changes, others expressed a variety of new circumstances including an increase in the number of utterances made by visitors that reflect an anti-immigration policy; more discussions among staff members regarding the potential risks of presenting right wing extremist literature including the history of SD; and more discussions concerning the ordering of books that are critical of immi- gration. In their profession, none of the librarians take explicit standpoints against SD, however most of the librarians use indirect methods to criticize the party. As a result of SD’s increased popularity it has become more problematic for staff at the public libraries to remain politically unbiased and they often have to make choices about what information it is ethically ok to present. (Less)
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author
Eklund, Lovisa LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
"Some Civil Courage Must Be Okay" : How Public Librarians in the South of Sweden Experience the Electoral Gains of The Sweden Democrats in 2010-2014
course
ABMM54 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Public library, The Sweden Democrats, multicultural society, racism, neutrality, objectivity, new institutionalism, institution. Folkbibliotek, Sverigedemokraterna, mångkulturellt samhälle, rasism, neutralitet, objektivitet, nyinstitutionell teori, institution.
language
Swedish
id
5465503
date added to LUP
2015-06-12 12:15:03
date last changed
2015-06-12 12:15:03
@misc{5465503,
  abstract     = {{The public library is a democratic institution that belongs to all people in society. Among other things, this means that public libraries should not show any political bias and refrain from taking a standpoint in relation to any ideological group. This study investigates the problematic scenario that public librarians have encountered as a result of The Sweden Democrats’ (SD) 2010 entrance into parliament. SD is a radi- cal right party that is focused on decreasing immigration and reducing multicultural- ism. In this study I investigate how public librarians in southern Sweden perceive SD’s recent electoral gains (5.7 % in 2010 to 12.9 % in 2014) and what identifiable changes have occurred at their libraries. This paper’s findings derive from a qualita- tive study where I use the method of semi-structured interviews and the theoretical framework of new institutionalism. The results show that librarians’ experiences of SD’s impact on their workplace differ significantly. While some of the interviewed librarians did not identify any relevant changes, others expressed a variety of new circumstances including an increase in the number of utterances made by visitors that reflect an anti-immigration policy; more discussions among staff members regarding the potential risks of presenting right wing extremist literature including the history of SD; and more discussions concerning the ordering of books that are critical of immi- gration. In their profession, none of the librarians take explicit standpoints against SD, however most of the librarians use indirect methods to criticize the party. As a result of SD’s increased popularity it has become more problematic for staff at the public libraries to remain politically unbiased and they often have to make choices about what information it is ethically ok to present.}},
  author       = {{Eklund, Lovisa}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"Lite civilkurage måste man ändå få ha" : Sydsvenska folkbibliotekariers upplevelser av Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2010-2014}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}