How do mixed Swedes identify themselves

A global trend has shown an increase in intimate partnerships across nationality,race, ethnicity, and religion, and this is also the case in Sweden. As a result, thechildren of these unions (i.e. multiethnic and multiracial persons) are undeniablypart of contemporary society. This study is one of the first studies in Sweden thatsolely focuses on the multiracial and multiethnic population. Based on 21qualitative interviews, this article explores how mixed Swedes identify themselvesand how they experience that they are identified by others using Brubaker’s (2016)conceptualization. The analysis shows that, contrary to the flexibility in how mixedSwedes identify themselves, mixed Swedes experience that people in societycategorize them in a fixed idea of ‘either-or’ – either Swedish or not Swedish. Theidea of being Swedish is strongly connected to the idea of being white; therefore,many mixed Swedes with a non-white phenotype experience that theiridentification as Swedish is not validated. However, some interviewees reject theidea of Swedish as solely being ‘white’ and are actively redrawing what it means tobe Swedish through emphasizing nationality and cultural belonging