Immigrant policy, membership rights and political participation of immigrants in Sweden: Legal/institutional frame and some outcomes

Abstract

This article deals with the development of immigrant policy and forms of political participation of immigrants in Sweden. In the mid-1970s, Sweden officially declared itself a multicultural society and was added to the list of those countries which facilitate immigrant groups to preserve and express their cultural heritage. As one of the traditional and strongly corporatist countries of Europe, Sweden attempted to incorporate immigrant groups in a similar way as it formerly did other collective or corporate groups in society. Although immigration policy has been revised several times in time and more individual oriented approach adopted, Sweden has continued to be considered as one of the countries with relatively generous immigration policy. However, in contrast to extensive formal rights granted to immigrants, the inequality between immigrants and the native Swedes has been maintained and indeed increased over time, inter alia, as to political participation and political influence exerted through channels such as trade unions and interest organizations. Drawing on the academic literature on these issues, this article reviews the gap between formal membership rights of immigrants and their actual situation in the political and organizational life of the country without ignoring the possible reasons that might explain the existence of such a gap.