May every one join in? : A study of "Mångkulturåret 2006" and its rhetorical context

The aim of this paper is to describe the position of the Swedish welfare state within the shaping of a Swedish national identity. This is done through the study of Mångkulturåret 2006, and its rhetorical context. The point of departure is that history is formed continuously in current speech and a text analytical method has been used. Mångkulturåret was issued by the Department of Culture as an extended perspective of Cultural politics. The rhetoric used in the official document Agenda för Mångkultur is analyzed through a comparison with earlier official documents on the field of multiculturalism and integration. This is done with the aid of a model composed of three rhetorical opposition fields. Charles Taylor’s theory ’Politics of recognitions’ and the criticism towards this theory are the main theoretical references. The politics proclaimed for Mångkulturåret 2006 included elements similar to ”The politics of recognition” and the rhetoric was linked to former documents on the field. The logics of mångkulturpolitiken withheld the idea of national identity through the definite exclusion of immigrants. Although not ethnically or culturally homogeneous they were assumed to have similar interests and a common identity due to their “otherness” (olikhet). The non-ethnics were recognized by their broken Swedish and their different appearance and were to be acknowledged for these traits as well as their assumed geographical location, their suburbness (förortssvenskhet). The rhetorical expression "mångfald” (multitude) was used to withhold a notion of difference between ethnical Swedish citizens and non-ethnics. (“utomsvenskar”