"Lite civilkurage måste man ändå få ha" : Sydsvenska folkbibliotekariers upplevelser av Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2010-2014

Summary, in English

The public library is a democratic institution that belongs to all people in society. Among other things, this means that public libraries should not show any political bias and refrain from taking a standpoint in relation to any ideological group. This study investigates the problematic scenario that public librarians have encountered as a result of The Sweden Democrats’ (SD) 2010 entrance into parliament. SD is a radi- cal right party that is focused on decreasing immigration and reducing multicultural- ism. In this study I investigate how public librarians in southern Sweden perceive SD’s recent electoral gains (5.7 % in 2010 to 12.9 % in 2014) and what identifiable changes have occurred at their libraries. This paper’s findings derive from a qualita- tive study where I use the method of semi-structured interviews and the theoretical framework of new institutionalism. The results show that librarians’ experiences of SD’s impact on their workplace differ significantly. While some of the interviewed librarians did not identify any relevant changes, others expressed a variety of new circumstances including an increase in the number of utterances made by visitors that reflect an anti-immigration policy; more discussions among staff members regarding the potential risks of presenting right wing extremist literature including the history of SD; and more discussions concerning the ordering of books that are critical of immi- gration. In their profession, none of the librarians take explicit standpoints against SD, however most of the librarians use indirect methods to criticize the party. As a result of SD’s increased popularity it has become more problematic for staff at the public libraries to remain politically unbiased and they often have to make choices about what information it is ethically ok to present.

• Author: Lovisa Eklund
• Department/s: Division of ALM, Digital Cultures and Publishing Studies; Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
• Publishing year: 2015
• Language: Swedish
• Full text: Available as PDF - 609 kB; Download statistics
• Document type: Student publication for Master's degree (two years)
• Topic: Cultural Sciences
• Keywords: Public library; The Sweden Democrats; multicultural society; racism; neutrality; objectivity; new institutionalism; institution. Folkbibliotek; Sverigedemokraterna; mångkulturellt samhälle; rasism; neutralitet; objektivitet; nyinstitutionell teori; institution.
• Supervisor: Linnéa Lindsköld