‘Swedish’ civic nationalism as both immigration scepticism and opposition to the Sweden Democrats

Abstract

The radical right-wing Sweden Democrats are no longer the only party in Swedish politics to advocate a more restrictive immigration policy. This study explores how immigration sceptics who do not support the Sweden Democrats position themselves in relation to the party and how they construct the need for a reduced immigration, as well as how both their positionings and constructions can be understood in relation to nationalism. The nationalism of the Sweden Democrats has been described as ethnic in character, but less is known about the nationalism of immigration sceptics who do not support the party. This study draws on constructionist discourse analysis and theoretical concepts of the nation as an imagined community and banal nationalism in analysing qualitative interviews with ‘non-Sweden Democrat’ immigration sceptics. It is found that both the ways in which they construct the need for a reduced immigration and the ways in which they position themselves to the Sweden Democrats can be attributed to a ‘Swedish’ civic nationalism.