Even in Sweden
Even in Sweden

Author: Allan Pred

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2000-11-21

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 9780520925281

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Allan Pred writes compellingly about the reawakening of racism throughout Europe at the end of the twentieth century—even in Sweden, a country widely regarded as the very model of social justice and equality. Many thousands of non-European and Muslim immigrants and refugees who took advantage of Sweden's generous immigration policies now find themselves the object of discrimination and worse. Through the cascading juxtaposition of many voices, including his own, Pred describes the intensifying cultural racism of the 1990s, the proliferation of negative ethnic stereotypes, and the spatial segregation of the non-Swedish. He quotes the newspaper Dagens Nyheter: "It is high time that Sweden reconsider its self-image as the stronghold of tolerance" (July 21, 1998), and analyzes the strategies that allow people to maintain that self-image. Perhaps the greatest strength of Even in Sweden is that Pred gives to the social consequences of global economic restructuring some very specific faces and places and a multitude of expressions of human will, both ill and good.

200 Years of Peace
200 Years of Peace

Author: Nevra Biltekin

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2022-07-18

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9781800735897

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Since 1814 Sweden has avoided involvement in armed conflicts and carried out policies of non-alignment in peacetime and neutrality during war. Even though the Swedish government often describes Sweden as a ‘nation of peace’, in 2004 the 200-year anniversary of that peace passed by with barely any attention. Despite its extraordinary longevity, research about the Swedish experience of enduring peace is underdeveloped. 200 Years of Peace places this long period of peace in broader academic and public discussions surrounding claimed Swedish exceptionality as it is represented in the nation’s social policies, expansive welfare state, eugenics, gender equality programs, and peace.

Fishing In Utopia
Fishing In Utopia

Author: Andrew Brown

Publisher: Granta Books

Published: 2011-08-04

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1847085679

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From the 1960s to the 1980s, Sweden was an affluent, egalitarian country envied around the world. Refugees were welcomed, even misfit young Englishmen could find a place there. Andrew Brown spent part of his childhood in Sweden during the 1960s. In the 1970s he married a Swedish woman and worked in a timber mill while helping to raise their small son. Fishing became his passion and his escape. In the mid-1980s his marriage and the country fell apart. The Prime Minister was assassinated. The welfare system crumbled along with the industries that had supported it. Twenty years later, Andrew Brown travelled the length of Sweden in search of the country he had loved, and then hated, and now found he loved again.

Almost Perfekt
Almost Perfekt

Author: David Crouch

Publisher: Kings Road Publishing

Published: 2018-08-23

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1788701550

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'Engaging' Money Week 'A sharp-eyed account of what makes Sweden modern, resilient and rather different' Professor Jonas Hinnfors SWEDEN A country that defies the laws of economic gravity. A land with high wages, strong unions and generous welfare. A dream location for business and a bastion of social responsibility, coming out on top for childcare, equality and quality of life. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT? Having lived in Sweden for six years, journalist David Crouch has a unique perspective as an outsider looking in on one of the world's most successful yet divided countries. Based on more than 70 interviews with leading figures in Swedish industry and politics, Almost Perfekt is a journey through Swedish society and what sets it apart from the world today. Why is Sweden so good for businesses like IKEA, Spotify and Skype? How will the country become zero carbon by 2045? And what can we learn about immigration from its ambitious policies? With political and economic upheaval threatening to pull Europe apart, discover the truth of how Sweden really works. 'If you want to know how Sweden works, this is the book for you' Andrew Brown, Guardian journalist and author 'A great guide to the much-cited but little examined Swedish model and the challenges it now faces' Richard Milne, Financial Times

Sweden's Dark Soul
Sweden's Dark Soul

Author: Kajsa Norman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-04-01

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 178738182X

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Reporter Chang Frick grew up dark-haired in a nation of blonds. Ostracized as a child, in adulthood he set out to expose the hypocrisy of Swedish society. When he revealed the cover-up of mass sexual assaults on teen girls at a 2015 music festival, he provoked a chain reaction that rattled the nation. Sweden's elites shirked responsibility and rushed to discredit him. Although Sweden boasts the world's oldest free press, its history of homogeneity and social engineering has created a culture where few dare dissent from consensus, those who do are driven to extremes, and there is no place for outsiders--even those who conform. In this groundbreaking book, investigative journalist Kajsa Norman turns her fearless gaze on the oppressive forces at the heart of Sweden's 'model democracy'. Weaving the history of its social politics with the stories of Frick and other outcasts, Norman exposes the darkness in the Swedish soul.

Lagom
Lagom

Author: Steffi Knowles-Dellner

Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing

Published: 2017-10-05

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1787132021

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Lagom: n. just the right amount, balanced, harmonious. This beautiful, fresh cookbook offers genuine insight into how Swedes eat and cook – with recipes that fit around the seasons, occasions, times of day, and appetite. Eating and cooking in tune with 'lagom' means embracing food that is good for body and soul, unfussy, delicious and sustaining, and all in harmony. The Swedes understand that balance is everything – that you crave comforting food when a bitter wind is howling outside, that refreshing, lighter meals suit hot, hazy days, that a mid-morning bun is good for morale, and that a long, sociable lunch with friends and family on a Sunday is the most rewarding way to end the weekend. There is a time and place for every kind of food, and when everything is in equilibrium, you will be content and satisfied. Steffi Knowles-Dellner is a Swedish food stylist and blogger who will introduce you to the unique Swedish concepts that encapsulate lagom, in this her debut book. From the well-known smörgåsbord table of open sandwiches, and Fredags mys ("cosy Fridays") when hunkering down on a cosy sofa and tucking into tacos is a must, all the way to the irresistible idea of lördagsgodis – a single day for eating sweets to satisfy even the sweetest tooth.

Why Austerity Persists
Why Austerity Persists

Author: Jon Shefner

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-12-18

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1509509909

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Several nations in the Global North have turned to austerity policies in an effort to resolve recent financial ills. What many failed to recognize is the longer history and varied pattern of such policies in the Global South over preceding decades – policies which had largely proven to fail. Shefner and Blad trace the 45-year history of austerity and how it became the go-to policy to resolve a host of economic problems. The authors use a variety of international cases to address how austerity has been implemented, who has been hurt, and who has benefited. They argue that the policy has been used to address very different kinds of crises, making states and polities responsible for a variety of errors and misdeeds of private actors. The book answers a number of important questions: why austerity persists as a policy aimed at resolving national crises despite evidence that it often does not work; how the policy has evolved over recent decades; and which powerful people and institutions have helped impose it across the globe. This timely book will appeal to students, researchers, and policymakers interested in globalization, development, political economy, and economic sociology.

Afro-Sweden
Afro-Sweden

Author: Ryan Thomas Skinner

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2022-09-27

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1452967687

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A compelling examination of Sweden’s African and Black diaspora Contemporary Sweden is a country with a worldwide progressive reputation, despite an undeniable tradition of racism within its borders. In the face of this contradiction of culture and history, Afro-Swedes have emerged as a vibrant demographic presence, from generations of diasporic movement, migration, and homemaking. In Afro-Sweden, Ryan Thomas Skinner uses oral histories, archival research, ethnography, and textual analysis to explore the history and culture of this diverse and growing Afro-European community. Skinner employs the conceptual themes of “remembering” and “renaissance” to illuminate the history and culture of the Afro-Swedish community, drawing on the rich theoretical traditions of the African and Black diaspora. Remembering fosters a sustained meditation on Afro-Swedish social history, while Renaissance indexes a thriving Afro-Swedish public culture. Together, these concepts illuminate significant existential modes of Afro-Swedish being and becoming, invested in and contributing to the work of global Black studies. The first scholarly monograph in English to focus specifically on the African and Black diaspora in Sweden, Afro-Sweden emphasizes the voices, experiences, practices, knowledge, and ideas of these communities. Its rigorously interdisciplinary approach to understanding diasporic communities is essential to contemporary conversations around such issues as the status and identity of racialized populations in Europe and the international impact of Black Lives Matter.

Villa Volvo Vovve
Villa Volvo Vovve

Author: Catherine Edwards

Publisher: LYS förlag

Published: 2021-10-28

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 9189141369

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Words shape and redefine reality, a constantly evolving and fluid interpretation of social rules and ideas. Foreign words expose us to other realities, unfamiliar practices and exotic beliefs. They can help us discover feelings that are not expressible in our native language. They can inspire us to adopt a new lifestyle, or question the way we live. They may seem obvious, obscure, quirky, unnecessary, universal, or remarkably niche. Swedish has enriched the English language with moped, ombudsman, and smorgasbord. While culturally, Abba, Ikea, Spotify, and Volvo have become part of the global lexicon and in many ways transcend their Swedish origins. But it is more recent words like lagom (moderation) and fika (coffee breaks) which have pushed Swedish language and culture deeper into the global consciousness. But Sweden is more than lifestyle trends and technical solutions. It is the country of fredagsmys (cosy Friday), kosläpp (release of the cows), lillördag (little Saturday, Wednesday), and where the average citizen dreams of a villa, Volvo and a vovve. - Explore the Swedish lifestyle beyond the cliches, with the help of more than 100 Swedish words, translated into English. - Learn more about the country where yes is just another word for no, where the word for poison is the same as for married, and where words without meaning are described as mashed snow. - Listen to three different Swedish dialects with complementary audio files, and wrap your tongue around the pronunciation tricks you need to master to sound like a local. - Be challenged with language quizzes, word games and crossword puzzles. - Enjoy the silliness of direct translations, false friends and other quirky features of the Swedish language — and learn more about the origins of those words we think of as Swedish today. Villa Volvo Vovve is inspired by The Local’s popular ‘Word of the day’ column which continues to explore Swedish language and culture beyond global stereotypes and buzz words.

The Almost Nearly Perfect People
The Almost Nearly Perfect People

Author: Michael Booth

Publisher: Picador

Published: 2015-01-27

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1250061970

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NAMED THE #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, A WITTY, INFORMATIVE, AND POPULAR TRAVELOGUE ABOUT THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES AND HOW THEY MAY NOT BE AS HAPPY OR AS PERFECT AS WE ASSUME Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, and what their quirks and foibles are, and he explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.