Svensk-amerikaner i Kalifornien. En studie av lågaktiv etnicitet

Abstract

What does it mean to be a Swedish American?", is the major question addressedin this dissertation. This is divided into several more manageable questions,e.g., how Swedish-Americans express their ethnic identity, and how they areaffected by ethnic constructions made in Swedish-American organizations. Thefirst chapter ends with a theoretical part where the concept of 'low-activeethnicity', introduced by the author, is discussed.Chapter two discusses Swedish-Americans in general, especially theirorganizational life. The Swedish-American fraternal organization Vasa Order ofAmerica is also discussed in the following two chapters on district and locallevels.Chapter three studies organized Swedish-American life in Northern California.Three associations in particular are analyzed and compared.Chapters four through six constitute a local study of Turlock, California.Chapter four contextualizes Turlock, and how it has developed into a "Swedish"community through time. The Swedish-Americans were not alone though; anethnically diversified community began to develop. This chapter contains threesmall case studies.Chapter five is a study of the Christian religion and ethnicity in Turlock. HereTurlock's evangelical environment is discussed, and how also this affectspeople.Chapter six studies Skandi-Fest, a Scandinavian festival that began beingcelebrated in 1991. The first festival engaged about 90 volunteers but it hassince grown rapidly and now has almost 1000 volunteers, making it the largestScandinavian festival in California.The concluding chapter tries to answer the initial questions. On the grouplevel, Swedish-Americans have long been invisible in the U.S., except at ethnicfestivals and similar expressive occasions. Their national identity is notquestioned by anyone they are Americans. Some conclusions are made aboutSwedish-American identity, mainly of psychological character: they have anemotional connection to an intangible reality that their forebears experienced;a longing for an extraordinary identity, away from the everyday ones; a symbolicconnection to the Vikings, who are regarded as distant relatives. MostSwedish-American organizations and associations struggle with the same problem:they attract few young people, and have an aging body of members.Key words: Social Anthropology, Ethnicity, Identity, Swedish-Americans,Scandinavian-Americans, Religion, California, Turlock