Challenging the ‘Swedish’ and ‘Immigrant’ Dichotomy : How do Multiracial and Multi-ethnic Swedes Identify Themselves?

A global trend has shown an increase in intimate partnerships across nationality, race, ethnicity, and religion. As a result, the children of these unions (i.e. multiethnic and multiracial persons) are undeniably part of contemporary Swedish society. This study is one of the first studies in Sweden that solely focuses on the multiracial and multiethnic population and their identity. Based on 21 qualitative interviews, this article explores how mixed Swedes identify themselves and how they experience that they are identified by others. The analysis shows that, contrary to the flexibility in how mixed Swedes identify themselves, mixed Swedes experience that people in society categorize them in a fixed idea of ‘either-or’. The idea of being Swedish is strongly connected to the idea of being white; therefore, many mixed Swedes with a non-white phenotype experience that their identification as Swedish is questioned, and a feeling of misrecognition emerge. However, mixed Swedes who can pass as Swedish also feeling constraints in claiming their identity and feel misrecognized especially when they identify themselves as ‘mixed’