exploring muslim identities in europe & north america

originally published as  'Muslimska föreningar i Malmö och Lund – en ögonblicksbild' in islamologi.se on December 2nd, 2010 and translated from the Swedish original by Spyros A. Sofos   By Erica Li Lundqvist & Leif Stenberg History The first large groups of Muslims arrived in Sweden during the 1960s and 1970s.[19] They mainly consisted of guest migrants from Turkey and former Yugoslavia, and were then followed by a wave of family reunification –widespread during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the mid-1980s, asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey started arriving in Sweden and at the end of the decade they were joined by asylum seekers from Somalia and Kosovo. [20] The subsequent Yugoslav disintegration meant that a large number of Muslim Bosnian refugees came to Sweden, the majority of whom have settled in Malmö. [21] To all these different Muslim migrants one should add a number of Swedes who have converted to Islam. Despite their s...

This entry was prompted by an article by Andrew Brown that appeared in Saturday's Guardian. Asking whether Sunday's Swedish election could give power to the country's far right, Brown identifies the potency and divisive character of the issue of immigration in Swedish politics. But immigration is not a new phenomenon in Sweden as it has traditionally been a haven for various refugees/asylum seekers and economic migrants. It is clear that the issue the far right Swedish Democrats have been exploiting is Muslim immigration in Sweden and the impact this has on Swedish society at local and national level. But, I think more importantly, Brown's article focuses on the Rosengård district of Malmö and identifies the conflicting perceptions about access and usage of this urban space as one of the key elements in shaping perceptions about Islam, immigration and attitudes towards foreigners in the Swedish election. This is by no means something new. Back in 2004, Fox N...