Lies, damned lies and statistics
We have an election coming up in September, national and local. Last Sunday (6th August) our local paper, Göteborgs-Posten, chose to highlight the local election element by running four articles, one on each of the small parties which are not currently represented in the municipal council, but which all have a chance of getting in. One of these is the Sverigedemokraterna (Swedish Democrats or Sd for short). The Sd is the least poorly housetrained of the extreme rightwing parties. It seems they don’t like to be called “xenophobic” (främlingsfientligt) but prefer to describe themselves as nationalists. Well they would, wouldn’t they?
The Sd’s platform for the municipal elections includes the ambition “to recreate Gothenburg as a Swedish city” (Göteborg ska återskapas som en svensk stad). Gothenburg, of course, has never been a “Swedish” city in the sense these people mean. The very first city council in 1621 was composed of 12 individuals, of whom only 4 were Swedes – the others were German (3), Dutch (3) and Scots (2). The governor (burgrave – the king’s representative whom the council counselled) was first Jacob van Dijk (to 1631), then Daniel Lange. And those look like really Swedish names, don’t they?
As with all nationalists, the Sverigedemokraterna enjoy referencing history, but a history of their own re-writing. On their home page, they describe Gothenburg as being founded after the area was “fortunately incorporated into Sweden” (lyckats inbringas till Sverige). No mention of the repeated, bitter wars with Denmark to wrest from them control of the area. No, no, instead we are told that “our northern European brother-folk had reason to be grateful to us” (våra nordeuropeiska broderfolk hade skäl att vara tacksamma mot oss). Tell that to the Danes!
The Scots and the Dutch are recognised for having “helped to build the city’s canals” (skottar och holländare som hjälpte oss med bl a kanalbyggen), but the most important thing about these people is that they were “closely related to us and easily assimilated” (De var även genom sitt nära släktskap med oss lättassimilerade).
And there is the point. Modern immigrants, the Sd would have us believe, are neither closely related to us nor easily assimilated – so they must be got rid of. The foreign immigrant element in Gothenburg is “alarmingly large” (alarmerande stort), say the Sd. The number of people with foreign backgrounds in Gothenburg is 22.8%. (Antal personer med utländsk bakgrund i Göteborg: 22,8%).
I’m not sure where they got that figure from, grasped out of thin air I expect. The best source I can find, the Central Office for Statistics (Statistiska centralbyrån), says 20.1% of Gothenburg’s inhabitants were born outside Sweden. But the actual number is irrelevant. What the Sverigedemokraterna conveniently forget to mention is that the single largest group of “people with foreign backgrounds” in Sweden are, and always have been, members of “our northern European brother-folk”. That is, Norwegians, Danes and Finns, who accounted for something like 2 in 5 of all foreign nationals living in Sweden in 2005. Germans, Brits, Americans, Dutch and others whom Sd might consider “closely related to us and easily assimilated” represent another 1 in 5. In other words, that 22.8% is intended to make “the problem” look as alarming as possible. As ever, these scare tactics are not directed at anyone with their eye on the ball, they are intended to misdirect the unwary and sway people who are already half convinced.
Footnote: My spelling checker doesn’t like Sd – it suggests Sod.
As with all nationalists, the Sverigedemokraterna enjoy referencing history, but a history of their own re-writing. On their home page, they describe Gothenburg as being founded after the area was “fortunately incorporated into Sweden” (lyckats inbringas till Sverige). No mention of the repeated, bitter wars with Denmark to wrest from them control of the area. No, no, instead we are told that “our northern European brother-folk had reason to be grateful to us” (våra nordeuropeiska broderfolk hade skäl att vara tacksamma mot oss). Tell that to the Danes!
The Scots and the Dutch are recognised for having “helped to build the city’s canals” (skottar och holländare som hjälpte oss med bl a kanalbyggen), but the most important thing about these people is that they were “closely related to us and easily assimilated” (De var även genom sitt nära släktskap med oss lättassimilerade).
And there is the point. Modern immigrants, the Sd would have us believe, are neither closely related to us nor easily assimilated – so they must be got rid of. The foreign immigrant element in Gothenburg is “alarmingly large” (alarmerande stort), say the Sd. The number of people with foreign backgrounds in Gothenburg is 22.8%. (Antal personer med utländsk bakgrund i Göteborg: 22,8%).
I’m not sure where they got that figure from, grasped out of thin air I expect. The best source I can find, the Central Office for Statistics (Statistiska centralbyrån), says 20.1% of Gothenburg’s inhabitants were born outside Sweden. But the actual number is irrelevant. What the Sverigedemokraterna conveniently forget to mention is that the single largest group of “people with foreign backgrounds” in Sweden are, and always have been, members of “our northern European brother-folk”. That is, Norwegians, Danes and Finns, who accounted for something like 2 in 5 of all foreign nationals living in Sweden in 2005. Germans, Brits, Americans, Dutch and others whom Sd might consider “closely related to us and easily assimilated” represent another 1 in 5. In other words, that 22.8% is intended to make “the problem” look as alarming as possible. As ever, these scare tactics are not directed at anyone with their eye on the ball, they are intended to misdirect the unwary and sway people who are already half convinced.
Footnote: My spelling checker doesn’t like Sd – it suggests Sod.
posted by John TheSupercargo at Saturday, August 12, 2006
2 Comments:
Ja, vi riktar oss inte till rabiata motståndare, det är alldeles riktigt.
"A hit, a very palpable hit!" Thank you, Joakim, you are the first person to confirm that people besides my friends and immediate family are reading some of these articles. Mind you, if this article gives you the impression that I am 'rabid', it suggests your command of English, and perhaps your grasp on reason, are at least as weak as the knowledge of history exhibited by your sd party comrades in Gothenburg.
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