Swedish Multiculturalism in the Wake of the Post-2015 Restrictive Turn in Immigration Politics

In the 1970s, Sweden introduced a policy which was characterized by an intention to combine welfare state inclusion with the recognition and encouragement of ethno-cultural diversity. The country became renowned as one of the most manifest examples of multiculturalism in the European context, although Swedish multiculturalism in some crucial respects differed from corresponding policies in Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands. Swedish multicultural policies have also been highlighted for having remained remarkably stable over time, a phenomenon that is often explained by path dependency mechanisms and party-political dynamics. However, recent years have seen dramatic changes in Swedish discourses and policies on immigration and integration, and the right-wing populist party ‘the Sweden Democrats’ has recently become an increasingly impactful political force. What do these recent changes imply for how we should assess the current situation, and prospects, when it comes to multiculturalism in Sweden? Will a restrictive turn in immigration policies translate into a backlash also against multicultural policies? And what role does the political left have in all of these developments?