Articles / Chapters by Gabriella Elgenius
Frontiers in Political Science, 2025
The study contributes new knowledge about civil society and non-profit action in superdiverse nei... more The study contributes new knowledge about civil society and non-profit action in superdiverse neighbourhoods that face socioeconomic challenges in England and Sweden. Locally based grassroot organisations are of special interest and demonstrate substantial voluntary altruism. Since little is known about the nature of civil society in these conditions, this paper addresses a gap in knowledge using material from interviews with founders and actors of grassroots action and micro-mapping in four neighbourhoods. The analysis draws upon perspectives within Social Sciences to shed light on the offerings of grassroots activity with a particular focus on emergence narratives. Three axes of interest frame the analysis: actors' motivations, resources and ways of working. In short, actors base their work on lived experiences and a shared vision to mitigate inequalities not addressed by mainstream services. Actors employ a creative use of local resources to achieve shared goals, building on the diversity of local population in innovative ways and developing value-driven assetsbased approaches alongside flexible ways of working.
This paper explores the relationship between neighbourhood level density of civil society organis... more This paper explores the relationship between neighbourhood level density of civil society organisations (CSOs), diversity, and deprivation. We compare the UK and Sweden, two countries with different civil society traditions and welfare state regimes. We use data on formal civil society organisations to examine whether diverse neighbourhoods have lower levels of civil society infrastructure. In the UK, contrary to what could be expected from Putnam's assertion that diversity has a negative effect on trust, thus limiting civil society activities at the neighbourhood level, we observe a positive relationship between the density of CSOs and diversity. In Sweden, we find different patterns. First, we observe a negative correlation between CSO density and diversity. Second, we find lower density of formal CSOs in areas with high diversity and high economic disadvantage and higher density in areas characterised by low diversity and high disadvantage.
Australian Journal of Management, 2023
This article explores the career development and underrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in... more This article explores the career development and underrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in leadership and management positions within the Australian Football League (AFL); it explains the continued underrepresentation as a case of 'avoiding discrimination'. Using institutional theory, this research fills a gap in existing scholarship by contributing to understanding the mechanisms by which organisations avoid addressing underrepresentation and enforce discriminatory practices in three significant ways. First, organisations may claim equality and assume that the organisation is characterised by a climate of inclusion as a way of ignoring issues of underrepresentation. Second, organisations utilise diversity management to improve the image of the organisation and engage in legitimising practices that contribute towards improving the brand. Third, organisations also engage in silencing practices by exercising internal control over employees, in this case players, and prohibiting them from participating in public debates about racial abuse. This study concludes that avoiding underrepresentation contributes to the continued exclusion of Indigenous Australians in leadership positions within the AFL, conceptualised here as a case of 'discrimination by avoidance'.
Chapter in Samers, Michael and Rydgren, Jens (eds.) Migration and Nationalism: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. London: Edward Elgar. Forthcoming in 2023, 2023
This study analyzes the close links between nationalism and migration by exploring the ethno-nati... more This study analyzes the close links between nationalism and migration by exploring the ethno-nationalist rhetoric of nationalist and populist Radical Right parties, taking the Sweden Democrat Party as the case in point. The intersections of nationalism and migration is analyzed by exploring frames and mechanisms of ethnic nationalism, nationalist nostalgia, anti-migrant frames, gate-keeping and resentment. Ethnic nationalism, the nostalgia for the imagined community that once was, alongside the framing of migration and migrants as a threat to this community, the nation, are defining characteristics of the radical right party family in Europe and elsewhere. Sweden was long considered immune to such ethno-nationalist rhetoric since the Sweden Democrats', compared to the radical right parties of the other Nordic countries, made it into the parliament comparatively late in 2010. Today, and after the parliamentary election of 2022, the Sweden Democrats' is the second largest party. Like many other nationalist and populist parties, the Sweden Democrats has modernized its rhetoric over time as will be outlined. However, the centrality of the party's ethno-nationalist message and its diagnostic framing of problems identifying migration as a threat to the nation, show remarkable continuity over the period 1989-2022 and is key to explaining how and why the party has appealed to voters. Frame theory is used to analyze central components of ethnic nationalism and anti-migrant framing and the empirical materials used for this study include official party manifestos and position papers between 1989 and 2022.
This study analyzes the close links between nationalism and migration by exploring the ethno-nati... more This study analyzes the close links between nationalism and migration by exploring the ethno-nationalist rhetoric of nationalist and populist Radical Right parties, taking the Sweden Democrat Party as the case in point. The intersections of nationalism and migration is analyzed by exploring frames and mechanisms of ethnic nationalism, nationalist nostalgia, anti-migrant frames, gate-keeping and resentment. Ethnic nationalism, the nostalgia for the imagined community that once was, alongside the framing of migration and migrants as a threat to this community, the nation, are defining characteristics of the radical right party family in Europe and elsewhere. Sweden was long considered immune to such ethno-nationalist rhetoric since the Sweden Democrats', compared to the radical right parties of the other Nordic countries, made it into the parliament comparatively late in 2010. Today, and after the parliamentary election of 2022, the Sweden Democrats' is the second largest party. Like many other nationalist and populist parties, the Sweden Democrats has modernized its rhetoric over time as will be outlined. However, the centrality of the party's ethno-nationalist message and its diagnostic framing of problems identifying migration as a threat to the nation, show remarkable continuity over the period 1989-2022 and is key to explaining how and why the party has appealed to voters. Frame theory is used to analyze central components of ethnic nationalism and anti-migrant framing and the empirical materials used for this study include official party manifestos and position papers between 1989 and 2022.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44:16, 215-235, 2021
This article analyses the racialization of discourses about national identities, and explores the... more This article analyses the racialization of discourses about national identities, and explores the implications for populations racialized as white. Two extensive datasets have been brought together, spanning a decade and 560 interviews, to explore discursive interplay, the oppositional nature and relationality of majority and minority claims about national belonging. We demonstrate that national identity claims are constructed discursively from positions of relative advantage and disadvantage: here the English majority and Polish minority. Discourses of national identity involve positioning and using resources differentially available. Dominant majority groups, perceiving themselves as entitled through their conceptualization of the nation-state and indigeneity, interpret and police minority claims in ways that equate to a gate-keeping function. The analysis examines the contingent hierarchy of whiteness and the discursive implications for entitlement, deservingness and resentment. The framework of whiteness helps illuminate the construction and contested racialization of hierarchies around national identity and belonging.
British Journal of Sociology, 2019
Nostalgia had a prominent place in the Brexit Referendum campaign, epitomized by Nigel Farage car... more Nostalgia had a prominent place in the Brexit Referendum campaign, epitomized by Nigel Farage carrying around with him an old‐fashioned blue British passport on the campaign trail. In this paper, we seek to examine British attitudes to‐wards the past through a new survey instrument administered online in July and August 2018 (N = 3,000). We empirically establish two dimensions of nostalgia that are differentially associated with political preferences. We conclude that it is the substance of the nostalgia that matters, not the looking towards the past per se.
KEYWORDS Brexit, egalitarian nostalgia, social change, ethnic exclusion, traditional nostalgia
This article explores the ethno-nationalist rhetoric promoted by radical right-
wing parties in E... more This article explores the ethno-nationalist rhetoric promoted by radical right-
wing parties in Europe; its perceived threats against national identity
translated into a nostalgia for the past based on ethnic homogeneity. Five
anti-immigrant frames have been especially instrumental in attracting voters, merging with other central components to construct a potent master frame and structuring much of the mobilizing activities of these parties. This
development motivates a closer look into the ways in which the ethno-
nationalist message is framed and constructed, taking Sweden as our case in point. The Sweden Democrats entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, an
election that has come to mark the end of Swedish exceptionalism and pointing towards the resurgence of ethno-nationalism in Sweden too. The Swedish case is analyzed with a focus on the Sweden Democrats particular
ethno-nationalist message; the rhetoric of decline of golden ages and
solutions posed to combat these alleged processes of decay. We depart from framing theory that allow us to better understand the centrality of the
ethno-nationalist message, which demonstrates considerable continuity over time, despite the modernization of party rhetoric. Thus, the exclusive
conceptualization of nationality as constituted by an inherited essence proposes that Swedish identity is more than culturally assigned. The empirical material consists of Sweden Democrat party manifestos and position papers since 1989 and selected articles from the party newsletter (SD Kuriren).
The political landscape in Sweden has undergone considerable changes in recent decades The number... more The political landscape in Sweden has undergone considerable changes in recent decades The number of political parties in the Swedish parliament has increased from five to eight, and the socioeconomic issues of the traditional political right–left scale has been challenged by socio-cultural issues relating to lifestyle and identity. Notably, the notion of Swedish exceptionalism and the particularities of its welfare state is lingering despite findings pointing in the opposite direction e.g. with the increased electoral support for the radical right, and its ethno-nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. The corporatist model has been challenged by new forms of political authority, participation and representation. New political actors, such as social movements and civil society actors, think tanks and policy professionals, are becoming increasingly engaged in political processes. The long-term trend suggests that traditionally marginalised groups, such as the young, women and groups of migrant background, are represented in decision-making forums to a higher degree than before. Yet, current conditions need further analysis. In this article, we provide a background to Sociologisk Forskning's special issue on the political landscape of the parliamentary election in 2018.
The political landscape in Sweden has undergone considerable changes in recent decades . The numb... more The political landscape in Sweden has undergone considerable changes in recent decades . The number of political parties in the Swedish parliament has increased from five to eight, and the socio-economic issues of the traditional political right-left scale has been challenged by socio-cultural issues relating to lifestyle and identity . Notably, the radical right has had significant electoral success in Sweden based on an ethno-nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric . The corporatist model has increasingly been challenged by new forms of political authority, participation and representation . Yet, new political actors such as social movements and civil society actors, think tanks and policy professionals, are becoming increasingly engaged in the political processes . Moreover, traditionally marginalised groups including the young, women and individuals of migrant background are represented to a higher degree in political bodies than before . In this article, we introduce the articles of Sociologisk Forskning's special issue on the Swedish political landscape and give an overview of the main developments of politics and society in the country .
Article in Sociologisk Forskning (Journal of Sociological Reserach) Special Issue ”Look at what’s happening in Sweden”: Swedish sociology on contemporary Sweden (Open Access, English)), 2017
Sweden was long considered an " exceptional case " with no representatives of the radical right i... more Sweden was long considered an " exceptional case " with no representatives of the radical right in parliament. However, the Sweden Democrats (SD) entered parliament in the 2010 parliamentary election, pointing towards the demand for ethnic nationalism also in Sweden. This article explores the party's rhetoric with particular references to the politics of decay and betrayal and its construction of a Swedish golden age. The rhetoric of decay echoes the ethnicity-based nationalisms articulated in other parts of Europe alongside nationalist claims of homogenous origins, a common destiny and an inherited social solidarity. The empirical material consists of political election programs since 1989 (SD 1989), high profile speeches and the party journal (SD Kuriren).
Social Integration: "If you could do one thing ..." Ten local actions to promote social integration. , 2017
The text on Social Division and Resentment in the Aftermath of the Economic Slump analyses the so... more The text on Social Division and Resentment in the Aftermath of the Economic Slump analyses the social repercussions of the Great Recession, engulfing the rich world in a similar fashion from 2008 onwards as did the Great Depression of the 1930s. The arguments put forward in this study challenges the standard definition of the recession, the rhetoric of 'all' and 'One Nation' by highlighting the experiences of the few and the social repercussions associated with austere times. First, the definition of the recession (as two successive quarters of negative growth) fails to capture the harsh realities of those affected or the destructive social impact of austerity. Second, as the worst economic slump since the Second World War the recent economic downturn is adequately labelled the "nastiest recession" to date as it hit groups, already fighting socio-economic vulnerability, disproportionately, due to welfare cuts and squeezed incomes. This, alongside the unequalizing trend of wealth increase relative to GDP over time and persisting hard time experiences despite signs of a recovering economy since 2014. Third, the rhetoric of "being in it together" appears incorrect at best and the notion of shared experiences and burdens implied by the One Nation rhetoric strays far from our material. In sum, empirical findings highlight social relations being undermined by austerity as social division, resentment and isolation follow the aftermath of the economic downturn. The most salient pattern of the material (collected during the Hard Time project) point towards resentment between those in work -resenting the benefits of those without work; and those without work on benefits resenting other sub-groups on different benefits.
This chapter will analyze national museums as significant national symbols and as nation-building... more This chapter will analyze national museums as significant national symbols and as nation-building devices. As part of a nexus of symbolism, they raise awareness of and help claim and construct national identities. National museums are uniquely placed to tell us something about the process of nation-building and its imaginations; illuminated through the museum institution itself its collections and displays, for Anderson (1991) 'imagined' and Hobsbawm 'invented' (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1992). Museums as institutions, buildings and collections highlight further the crucial role of high culture (Gellner 1983) in nation-building as central for the 'politics of home' (Duyvendak 2011). Firstly, a comparative framework is necessary with regards to the opening of the first main national museum in the nations of Europe. Dates of inauguration are of particular relevance as tangible expressions of nation-building, analyzed within their socio-political context. For instance, with the alleged crisis of a British identity today, the once construction of Britishness – gradually imposed over the Scottish and Welsh-is discussed with the inauguration of the British Museum in 1759 during a period of nation-building after the union between England and Scotland in 1707. In contrast, one of the youngest museums in Europe tell another story about the receiving end of imperial pursuits as with the inauguration of Ajtte, Mountain and Sámi Museum in Sweden 1989, established by the Sami nation as a significant initiative of identity politics. Other forms of complexities regard the national museums of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina that have remained closed for significant periods since 1995. Secondly, a comparative framework is required as we have much to learn by placing national museums in the context of other national symbols, often introduced with independence after break-up of empires and pivotal times of nation-building. Significant patterns emerge when national symbols are analyzed in a systematic manner as all nations have flags, anthems, national days and indeed national museums. National symbols show to the world that at nations are distinct, yet equal and on a par with other nations. National museums are no exceptions; they constitute therefore strategic markers of nation building within and without and are often introduced at pivotal times. Thus, national museums constitute part of symbolic clusters that draw attention to the strategic use of national symbols within processes of nation building and identity-politics. When comparing such symbols clusters (different forms of national symbols) that are specific for the individual nations, patterns emerge with regards to dates of introduction, timing, types, contents and usage. This makes it in fact possible to understand nations as symbolic regimes and analyse their underlying nation building by and through their symbolic design, which tells us that nation-building is layered, recyclable and ongoing. The symbolic regimes approach help, in other words, highlight national symbols as valuable analytical tools (For a conceptual discussion see e.g. Elgenius, Palgrave 2011).
Ethnic Bonding and Homing Desires: The Polish Diaspora and Civil Society Making., 2017
Polish civil society in the UK is a significant civil space of migrant engagement associated with... more Polish civil society in the UK is a significant civil space of migrant engagement associated with both civil society of contemporary Poland and the diasporic structures formed in and by the country of settlement. As such, the Polish civil space is connected to, formed and maintained via central ties, links, norms and discourses of home, nationhood and integration. A process-oriented approach to civil society (see the Jacobsson and Korolczuk’s introduction) enables the analysis of Polish civil society development in the United Kingdom since the Second World War with a focus on main London-based associations, central in mediating connections with Poland and within the Polish diaspora in the United Kingdom. The focus of this chapter is the engagement of the Polish diaspora – that has produced a unique pattern of civil society making due to dividing homing desires of different generations of Poles arriving after the Second World War, during the Cold War and Solidarity periods, and post-EU expansion – stratified also alongside social status.
The Polish civil space has developed in the United Kingdom with three main waves of Polish migration and with its precarious position as a space of migrant activism in relation to the British majority space, other spaces of migrant activism (including cosmopolitan pursuits) – as a space of protective ethno-national ambitions and struggle for recognition (for group elevation against discrimination and devaluation) in relation to both ethnicity, class and rights. This chapter will demonstrate that different “homing desires” are negotiated within Polish London, and that these, in turn, generate, a unique pattern of civil society development as per a four-stage process: commencing with the foundation of exile organizations, the maintenance of these, rejuvenation and amplification, diversification and campaigning. These stages are linked to varied expressions and desires for home and re-negotiations of status and pride from a minority position of civil engagement. Of particular interest for this analysis are uncompromising, diverging or even dividing “homing desires” that manifest a ”desire for home” rather than the “desire to return home” (Brah 1996: 176). Diversity-and-division within the Polish civil space reveals the uneasy coexistence and separation between what is perceveid as three main generations of Polish migrants (many of whom are British citizens) and illuminates its development both as a process and as a relationship to other spaces and to the contestation of re-created memory-spaces abroad. Significantly, internal critique does seemingly not undermine the existence of co-ethnic organizations. On the contrary, the creation of a Polish-specific civil space, although stratified, is made possible within a framework of a Polish national community sustained by links within and to Poland, produced by underlying uniting national narrations for minority-recognition.
The qualitative data on which this chapter is based is comprised of over 100 in-depth interviews mainly conducted with Polish interviewees within Greater London. More specifically around 80 interviews were conducted with “affiliated representatives” so that different types of associational attachment were represented via the accounts of chairs, trustees, professionals, volunteers and members, paid and unpaid representatives and volunteers of a variety of Polish organizations. The sample also includes non-affiliated individuals. For both affiliated and non-affiliated interviewees, sample demography (age, gender and occupation) has been taken into account. Complementary purposive sampling techniques – snowball, strategic and maximum variation sample – were required in various stages of the interview process to make sure that the affiliated sample of interviewees represented main and a variety of organizations connected to the three main generations of Polish migration. However, this study will not assess the proportion of Poles in London involved in associations or the scope or variety of organizational and membership activity. The interview phases include also other diaspora groups (N=200) mainly in Greater London and stretch over the period 2009-2015. I would like to acknowledge the many interviewees who have generously contributed to this research.
Following this brief introduction are sections on the conceptualization of migrant activism and patterns of Polish migration into the United Kingdom. Thereafter we turn to the analysis of the processual development of the Polish civil space driven by different motivations of migrant generations, relating these to the struggle for recognition as a minority. The concluding remarks illuminate processes and relationships associated with the dynamism that characterizes migrant civil society making.
This chapter explores the principles and products of the identity market and associated power rel... more This chapter explores the principles and products of the identity market and associated power relations through a closer look at collective rituals, ceremonies, commemorations, holidays and festivals (religious or national) in Europe. In view of Therborn’s significant scholarly contributions about structures of inequality in the modern world within different nation-building arenas (see e.g. Therborn 1995, 2002, 2016; with Bekker 2012), collective rituals are here analysed as “power scripts” exposing related power struggles and inequalities. The following arguments are proposed for the purposes of this chapter: (a) Collective rituals constitute “symbolic repertoires” (Spillman, 1997) that make claims about identities through the (re-)production of values and norms. (b) Identity products, rituals and symbols, correspond to identity claims that, in turn, are embedded in official history narration. (c) Through closer inspection claims about identity and history expose “rival claims”, identifiable through patterns of collective and national symbolism called “symbolic regimes” (traced alongside the establishment of symbols and rituals as these are adopted, modified, abolished during pivotal times of nation-building) within which appear “rival clusters” of rituals and counter-rituals in clusters of symbolism and counter-symbolism, (Elgenius, 2011, 2015). (d) Collective rituals are therefore intimately connected with official political memory and the choice of some histories at the expenses of others to reproduce and justify domineering structures (Connerton, 1989). Structures of inequality are thus embedded in all aspects of ceremonial development such as with the conceptual tools of membership (Bhamra, 2016), history narration, ritualization of official memory and access to these processes as well as access to actual participation (Elgenius 2014, 2016). In general terms, the working classes, women and ethnic groups gained access to collective rituals in Europe at a later stage than to other social institutions (Gillis, 1996) and the history of access to the ceremonial field and related contestations remains a significant function of social change and the democratisation of social and national memory. The various cases below are drawn from different socio-political, socio-economic and historical contexts and shed light on the arguments proposed in various forms and guises.
The nexus of principles and products of the identity market is thus one closely associated with political and economic power and includes the competition over history and heritage resources. Below a brief outline of the main identity producing principles in terms of self-reference, differentiation and recognition, before turning to the products these principles generate. In Therborn’s writings, the basis for collective ritual expression in Europe is derived from Christianity, commemoration of war, and social class, the latter seemingly offering a lighter ritual baggage and symbolic repository than do the others.
Democratic Audit this week featured responses from democracy experts to the news that the England... more Democratic Audit this week featured responses from democracy experts to the news that the England football manager Roy Hodgson will force players to sing the national anthem at the forthcoming World Cup. In this post, Gabriella Elgenius reflects on the history and meanings of national anthems and the particular controversies surrounding God Save the Queen.
The Guardian , Apr 30, 2014
This project investigates the evidence for long-term declines in the social signifi cance of trad... more This project investigates the evidence for long-term declines in the social signifi cance of traditional identities (e.g. those based on social class, political partisanship, religion and the British nation), and whether these identities have been supplanted by newer identities based on education, age-groups, gender, or life-style. The possible decline of group identities has important policy implications. A declining sense of national identity has been linked to reduced support for the welfare state, reduced willingness to help fellow citizens, and reduced sense of civic duty, for example, while declining party identifi cation has been linked to lower rates of turnout in elections.
Elgenius, G., 2014. ’Varför är 17e maj fortfarande så populär? En lyckad formel för nationaldagsfirande.’ Special feature: Å feire en nasjon, National Library Oslo. Bibliotheca Nova, (1), 92-107. Also available online [http://www.nb.no/Om-NB/Publikasjoner/Skriftserien-Bibliotheca-Nova], Feb 2014
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Articles / Chapters by Gabriella Elgenius
KEYWORDS Brexit, egalitarian nostalgia, social change, ethnic exclusion, traditional nostalgia
wing parties in Europe; its perceived threats against national identity
translated into a nostalgia for the past based on ethnic homogeneity. Five
anti-immigrant frames have been especially instrumental in attracting voters, merging with other central components to construct a potent master frame and structuring much of the mobilizing activities of these parties. This
development motivates a closer look into the ways in which the ethno-
nationalist message is framed and constructed, taking Sweden as our case in point. The Sweden Democrats entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, an
election that has come to mark the end of Swedish exceptionalism and pointing towards the resurgence of ethno-nationalism in Sweden too. The Swedish case is analyzed with a focus on the Sweden Democrats particular
ethno-nationalist message; the rhetoric of decline of golden ages and
solutions posed to combat these alleged processes of decay. We depart from framing theory that allow us to better understand the centrality of the
ethno-nationalist message, which demonstrates considerable continuity over time, despite the modernization of party rhetoric. Thus, the exclusive
conceptualization of nationality as constituted by an inherited essence proposes that Swedish identity is more than culturally assigned. The empirical material consists of Sweden Democrat party manifestos and position papers since 1989 and selected articles from the party newsletter (SD Kuriren).
The Polish civil space has developed in the United Kingdom with three main waves of Polish migration and with its precarious position as a space of migrant activism in relation to the British majority space, other spaces of migrant activism (including cosmopolitan pursuits) – as a space of protective ethno-national ambitions and struggle for recognition (for group elevation against discrimination and devaluation) in relation to both ethnicity, class and rights. This chapter will demonstrate that different “homing desires” are negotiated within Polish London, and that these, in turn, generate, a unique pattern of civil society development as per a four-stage process: commencing with the foundation of exile organizations, the maintenance of these, rejuvenation and amplification, diversification and campaigning. These stages are linked to varied expressions and desires for home and re-negotiations of status and pride from a minority position of civil engagement. Of particular interest for this analysis are uncompromising, diverging or even dividing “homing desires” that manifest a ”desire for home” rather than the “desire to return home” (Brah 1996: 176). Diversity-and-division within the Polish civil space reveals the uneasy coexistence and separation between what is perceveid as three main generations of Polish migrants (many of whom are British citizens) and illuminates its development both as a process and as a relationship to other spaces and to the contestation of re-created memory-spaces abroad. Significantly, internal critique does seemingly not undermine the existence of co-ethnic organizations. On the contrary, the creation of a Polish-specific civil space, although stratified, is made possible within a framework of a Polish national community sustained by links within and to Poland, produced by underlying uniting national narrations for minority-recognition.
The qualitative data on which this chapter is based is comprised of over 100 in-depth interviews mainly conducted with Polish interviewees within Greater London. More specifically around 80 interviews were conducted with “affiliated representatives” so that different types of associational attachment were represented via the accounts of chairs, trustees, professionals, volunteers and members, paid and unpaid representatives and volunteers of a variety of Polish organizations. The sample also includes non-affiliated individuals. For both affiliated and non-affiliated interviewees, sample demography (age, gender and occupation) has been taken into account. Complementary purposive sampling techniques – snowball, strategic and maximum variation sample – were required in various stages of the interview process to make sure that the affiliated sample of interviewees represented main and a variety of organizations connected to the three main generations of Polish migration. However, this study will not assess the proportion of Poles in London involved in associations or the scope or variety of organizational and membership activity. The interview phases include also other diaspora groups (N=200) mainly in Greater London and stretch over the period 2009-2015. I would like to acknowledge the many interviewees who have generously contributed to this research.
Following this brief introduction are sections on the conceptualization of migrant activism and patterns of Polish migration into the United Kingdom. Thereafter we turn to the analysis of the processual development of the Polish civil space driven by different motivations of migrant generations, relating these to the struggle for recognition as a minority. The concluding remarks illuminate processes and relationships associated with the dynamism that characterizes migrant civil society making.
The nexus of principles and products of the identity market is thus one closely associated with political and economic power and includes the competition over history and heritage resources. Below a brief outline of the main identity producing principles in terms of self-reference, differentiation and recognition, before turning to the products these principles generate. In Therborn’s writings, the basis for collective ritual expression in Europe is derived from Christianity, commemoration of war, and social class, the latter seemingly offering a lighter ritual baggage and symbolic repository than do the others.
KEYWORDS Brexit, egalitarian nostalgia, social change, ethnic exclusion, traditional nostalgia
wing parties in Europe; its perceived threats against national identity
translated into a nostalgia for the past based on ethnic homogeneity. Five
anti-immigrant frames have been especially instrumental in attracting voters, merging with other central components to construct a potent master frame and structuring much of the mobilizing activities of these parties. This
development motivates a closer look into the ways in which the ethno-
nationalist message is framed and constructed, taking Sweden as our case in point. The Sweden Democrats entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, an
election that has come to mark the end of Swedish exceptionalism and pointing towards the resurgence of ethno-nationalism in Sweden too. The Swedish case is analyzed with a focus on the Sweden Democrats particular
ethno-nationalist message; the rhetoric of decline of golden ages and
solutions posed to combat these alleged processes of decay. We depart from framing theory that allow us to better understand the centrality of the
ethno-nationalist message, which demonstrates considerable continuity over time, despite the modernization of party rhetoric. Thus, the exclusive
conceptualization of nationality as constituted by an inherited essence proposes that Swedish identity is more than culturally assigned. The empirical material consists of Sweden Democrat party manifestos and position papers since 1989 and selected articles from the party newsletter (SD Kuriren).
The Polish civil space has developed in the United Kingdom with three main waves of Polish migration and with its precarious position as a space of migrant activism in relation to the British majority space, other spaces of migrant activism (including cosmopolitan pursuits) – as a space of protective ethno-national ambitions and struggle for recognition (for group elevation against discrimination and devaluation) in relation to both ethnicity, class and rights. This chapter will demonstrate that different “homing desires” are negotiated within Polish London, and that these, in turn, generate, a unique pattern of civil society development as per a four-stage process: commencing with the foundation of exile organizations, the maintenance of these, rejuvenation and amplification, diversification and campaigning. These stages are linked to varied expressions and desires for home and re-negotiations of status and pride from a minority position of civil engagement. Of particular interest for this analysis are uncompromising, diverging or even dividing “homing desires” that manifest a ”desire for home” rather than the “desire to return home” (Brah 1996: 176). Diversity-and-division within the Polish civil space reveals the uneasy coexistence and separation between what is perceveid as three main generations of Polish migrants (many of whom are British citizens) and illuminates its development both as a process and as a relationship to other spaces and to the contestation of re-created memory-spaces abroad. Significantly, internal critique does seemingly not undermine the existence of co-ethnic organizations. On the contrary, the creation of a Polish-specific civil space, although stratified, is made possible within a framework of a Polish national community sustained by links within and to Poland, produced by underlying uniting national narrations for minority-recognition.
The qualitative data on which this chapter is based is comprised of over 100 in-depth interviews mainly conducted with Polish interviewees within Greater London. More specifically around 80 interviews were conducted with “affiliated representatives” so that different types of associational attachment were represented via the accounts of chairs, trustees, professionals, volunteers and members, paid and unpaid representatives and volunteers of a variety of Polish organizations. The sample also includes non-affiliated individuals. For both affiliated and non-affiliated interviewees, sample demography (age, gender and occupation) has been taken into account. Complementary purposive sampling techniques – snowball, strategic and maximum variation sample – were required in various stages of the interview process to make sure that the affiliated sample of interviewees represented main and a variety of organizations connected to the three main generations of Polish migration. However, this study will not assess the proportion of Poles in London involved in associations or the scope or variety of organizational and membership activity. The interview phases include also other diaspora groups (N=200) mainly in Greater London and stretch over the period 2009-2015. I would like to acknowledge the many interviewees who have generously contributed to this research.
Following this brief introduction are sections on the conceptualization of migrant activism and patterns of Polish migration into the United Kingdom. Thereafter we turn to the analysis of the processual development of the Polish civil space driven by different motivations of migrant generations, relating these to the struggle for recognition as a minority. The concluding remarks illuminate processes and relationships associated with the dynamism that characterizes migrant civil society making.
The nexus of principles and products of the identity market is thus one closely associated with political and economic power and includes the competition over history and heritage resources. Below a brief outline of the main identity producing principles in terms of self-reference, differentiation and recognition, before turning to the products these principles generate. In Therborn’s writings, the basis for collective ritual expression in Europe is derived from Christianity, commemoration of war, and social class, the latter seemingly offering a lighter ritual baggage and symbolic repository than do the others.
"Europe's national museums have since their creation been at the centre of on-going nation making processes. National museums negotiate conflicts and contradictions and entrain the community sufficiently to obtain the support of scientists and art connoisseurs, citizens and taxpayers, policy makers, domestic and foreign visitors alike. National Museums and Nation-building in Europe 1750-2010 assess the national museum as a manifestation of cultural and political desires, rather than that a straightforward representation of the historical facts of a nation. National Museums and Nation-building in Europe 1750-2010 examines the degree to which national museums have created models and representations of nations, their past, present and future, and proceeds to assess the consequences of such attempts. Revealing how different types of nations and states--former empires, monarchies, republics, pre-modern, modern or post-imperial entities--deploy and prioritise different types of museums (based on art, archaeology, culture and ethnography) in their making, this book constitutes the first comprehensive and comparative perspective on national museums in Europe and their intricate relationship to the making of nations and states"-