The changing notions of “race”: The influence of eugenics and race thinking in 20th century Swedish policy and discourse
The purpose of the book, which would be the outcome of this sabbatical, is to trace the significance of “race”, and of mechanisms of racialization, in 20th century political discourses and practises in Sweden. Although the importance and institutionalization of “classical racism” in early 20th century Sweden is well known by now (The Uppsala State Institute for Race Biology established in 1922, eugenic sterilization programs etc.), the continuity of race thinking into the post-war period has received much less attention. Furthermore, no synthesis has been written on race thinking, racism and eugenics in Swedish modern history – what we have to this date are case studies. This planned book sums up more than two decades of research. Moreover it adds new knowledge based on my current research about the role of “race” in areas such as Swedish post-war policies of immigration, international development aid, population, and social welfare. Its main argument is simple but important: although the concept of race, and theories of race, became taboo and arguably even invisible in post-war Sweden, on a deeper level race thinking never disappeared.
Final report
This RJ sabbatical has allowed me to work on a book manuscript on “racial thinking” in Swedish history focusing on the 20th century. This included reworking already existing draft chapters and texts, taking new research into account, and carrying out additional empirical studies. The plan was furthermore to spend some time as a visiting researcher at Oxford Brookes University, England. The Covid pandemic, breaking out in 2020 during the sabbatical, had some negative impacts, however. Archives and libraries closed and the stay at Oxford Brookes was cancelled at very short notice and could not be carried out until the spring term of 2022. This led to some changes in planning to still be able to use the sabbatical period as efficiently as possible. The focus partly shifted concerning the work on the monograph and it now also became possible – during the pandemic – to spend some time on finishing another manuscript where the empirical studies had already been completed – a book on the history of aid, later published as En svindlande uppgift: Sverige och biståndet 1945–1975 (Swedish development aid, 1945–1975; Ordfront 2021, with colleagues Annika Berg and Urban Lundberg). Here, synergy effects opened up; perspectives from the book on racism – e.g. concerning the concept of “development” – could be incorporated into the aid monograph, while some specific connections between development aid and racial thinking could be developed elsewhere (partly in a chapter in the forthcoming monograph, partly in a separate contribution to an edited volume on racism in the 20th century, Hübinette & Wikström, forthcoming). Thus, this sabbatical, despite the effects of the pandemic, has been of great value. Although it was not possible to complete the monograph during the year, the sabbatical has contributed to research and writing as well as to new collaborations.
The outline of the book, as it was presented in the application, remains the same in its main features, even if certain changes have taken place. The 20th century is still in focus, but earlier centuries which in the original synopsis operated as “pre-history,” are now a topic of their own. Two chapters have been added: one on the ambiguous use of the term “race” in the 17th century and notions of the “human being” in 17th and 18th-century travel accounts, and another chapter on more elaborate Swedish and non-Swedish “race theory” texts, published in the 1800s, and possible transmissions of thoughts. In this context, the Oxford stay and source material in the Bodleian Library, made valuable additions possible. Beyond that, the book, in separate chapters, deals with the “classic” racism of the early 20th century and parallel emerging anti-racism, the transformations of racism in the post-war period, and finally, the populism of the new millennium and the emergence of ethnified discourses and political practices. Separate chapters discuss Swedish eugenics and – finally – the more general question of how the history of “race,” racism and eugenics can be linked to our own time and about “the moral turn of history writing.”
To summarise, the results to be reported from this sabbatical are, firstly, a book manuscript – albeit not in such a finished condition as was planned – a peer-reviewed book chapter under publication, as well as texts with a secondary connection to the sabbatical project. As for the book, some of the chapters remain to be finished, as the empirical investigations and the Oxford stay were seriously delayed. A first complete manuscript is now estimated to be finished in 2023. Secondly, the stay in Oxford (April and May 2022) meant opportunities not only for empirical studies but also the collaboration with specialists in the history of eugenics and racism.
The outline of the book, as it was presented in the application, remains the same in its main features, even if certain changes have taken place. The 20th century is still in focus, but earlier centuries which in the original synopsis operated as “pre-history,” are now a topic of their own. Two chapters have been added: one on the ambiguous use of the term “race” in the 17th century and notions of the “human being” in 17th and 18th-century travel accounts, and another chapter on more elaborate Swedish and non-Swedish “race theory” texts, published in the 1800s, and possible transmissions of thoughts. In this context, the Oxford stay and source material in the Bodleian Library, made valuable additions possible. Beyond that, the book, in separate chapters, deals with the “classic” racism of the early 20th century and parallel emerging anti-racism, the transformations of racism in the post-war period, and finally, the populism of the new millennium and the emergence of ethnified discourses and political practices. Separate chapters discuss Swedish eugenics and – finally – the more general question of how the history of “race,” racism and eugenics can be linked to our own time and about “the moral turn of history writing.”
To summarise, the results to be reported from this sabbatical are, firstly, a book manuscript – albeit not in such a finished condition as was planned – a peer-reviewed book chapter under publication, as well as texts with a secondary connection to the sabbatical project. As for the book, some of the chapters remain to be finished, as the empirical investigations and the Oxford stay were seriously delayed. A first complete manuscript is now estimated to be finished in 2023. Secondly, the stay in Oxford (April and May 2022) meant opportunities not only for empirical studies but also the collaboration with specialists in the history of eugenics and racism.