'Deeply self-critical': Social Democrats unveil report on segregation and inequality
In a series of new reports, the Social Democrat opposition outlines the problems it believes Sweden needs to tackle – and its own failure in confronting them.
The centre-left Social Democrats governed Sweden through much of the 21st century, as well as during the 2015 refugee crisis, which saw more than 160,000 people seek asylum in Sweden in one year.
Despite improving its result, the party lost the 2022 election and has now presented the first part of a report which aims to reclaim the vision for reducing inequality and segregation by 2030.
“I think we should be deeply self-critical,” Lawen Redar, one of the authors of the report, told Aftonbladet about what she describes as “accelerating segregation”.
She said that her party had been scared of stigmatising groups of immigrants, and had therefore not managed to implement stronger policies aimed at promoting integration. She also criticised that responsibility for receiving new arrivals in recent years had been unevenly distributed.
“It’s primarily areas that already have high unemployment, poor school results and language challenges that have seen a sharp population increase and overcrowded households,” she said.
ANALYSIS:
She told Aftonbladet that there had been a fear of introducing policies that could be associated with the Sweden Democrats, but objected when the newspaper asked if the far-right party had been right.
“No. The Sweden Democrats have always been against immigration, no matter how many come to our country,” she said, adding that the party’s policies had “never been about finding solutions”.
The report highlights housing segregation and a lack of language skills as two of the many factors behind rising inequality, isolation, unemployment and growing gaps between groups in society.
“Segregation and inequality are self-reinforcing phenomena. Without strong political efforts, the class society will grow stronger, polarisation will increase and the material basis for racism will be consolidated. All this makes the vision of an equal future impossible,” reads the report.
“The economic, ethnic and linguistic segregation needs to be broken on a structural level, which requires the population to mix. Society is going to have to implement measures we have not previously done, on a scale we have not seen before,” it continues, but does not elaborate on what kind of structural reforms it would propose.
Another part of the report argues that young generations – and especially young boys – are at risk of being left behind by society, with mental illness, isolation and educational divides creating a breeding ground for hate and crime.
“Growing global right-wing populism may become the answer for the guy without a job or a partner in rural Sweden, whereas gang culture and subsequently gang crime becomes the answer for the guy in the suburbs with an unemployed mother and an absent father,” reads the report.
The report doesn’t present suggestions for solutions or exact future visions. These are instead set to form part of a second report which is expected to be finalised by next spring, reports Aftonbladet.
Comments
See Also
The centre-left Social Democrats governed Sweden through much of the 21st century, as well as during the 2015 refugee crisis, which saw more than 160,000 people seek asylum in Sweden in one year.
Despite improving its result, the party lost the 2022 election and has now presented the first part of a report which aims to reclaim the vision for reducing inequality and segregation by 2030.
“I think we should be deeply self-critical,” Lawen Redar, one of the authors of the report, told Aftonbladet about what she describes as “accelerating segregation”.
She said that her party had been scared of stigmatising groups of immigrants, and had therefore not managed to implement stronger policies aimed at promoting integration. She also criticised that responsibility for receiving new arrivals in recent years had been unevenly distributed.
“It’s primarily areas that already have high unemployment, poor school results and language challenges that have seen a sharp population increase and overcrowded households,” she said.
ANALYSIS:
She told Aftonbladet that there had been a fear of introducing policies that could be associated with the Sweden Democrats, but objected when the newspaper asked if the far-right party had been right.
“No. The Sweden Democrats have always been against immigration, no matter how many come to our country,” she said, adding that the party’s policies had “never been about finding solutions”.
The report highlights housing segregation and a lack of language skills as two of the many factors behind rising inequality, isolation, unemployment and growing gaps between groups in society.
“Segregation and inequality are self-reinforcing phenomena. Without strong political efforts, the class society will grow stronger, polarisation will increase and the material basis for racism will be consolidated. All this makes the vision of an equal future impossible,” reads the report.
“The economic, ethnic and linguistic segregation needs to be broken on a structural level, which requires the population to mix. Society is going to have to implement measures we have not previously done, on a scale we have not seen before,” it continues, but does not elaborate on what kind of structural reforms it would propose.
Another part of the report argues that young generations – and especially young boys – are at risk of being left behind by society, with mental illness, isolation and educational divides creating a breeding ground for hate and crime.
“Growing global right-wing populism may become the answer for the guy without a job or a partner in rural Sweden, whereas gang culture and subsequently gang crime becomes the answer for the guy in the suburbs with an unemployed mother and an absent father,” reads the report.
The report doesn’t present suggestions for solutions or exact future visions. These are instead set to form part of a second report which is expected to be finalised by next spring, reports Aftonbladet.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.