What Does Swedishness Mean? by Marianne Rothmann
As Sweden approaches the 2026 election, questions about identity, belonging, integration and what it means to be Swedish are increasingly present in public debate. This raises a simple question: What does Swedishness actually mean? When we ask, “What does being Swedish mean to you?”, we are asking an individual question. The answer should therefore reflect that person’s own experiences, relationships, history, culture and sense of belonging. Instead, the question is often answered as though there is one definition of…
