Sweden, Multicultural Education in

The growing debate on multicultural education (called intercultural education in Sweden) is a part of larger transformative processes that are changing the image of Sweden as a monocultural welfare state. Cultural awareness among national minorities, transnational migration patterns, and the rise of the European Union are among these processes. The 2010 Swedish general election revealed a changed political landscape. The Social Democratic Party, which has held power in all but 9 years since 1932, achieved its lowest result in 100 years. A center right coalition succeeded, for the first time since the 1930s, in keeping political power for a second consecutive mandate period, and a far right party, the Sweden Democrats, won seats in the Swedish parliament. All these processes challenge the idea of Folkhemmet ...