Editing Multiculturalism (section)

==== Sweden ====
{{Main|Immigration to Sweden}}[[File:Mångfaldsbarometern 2014 cultural distances in Sweden.png|thumb|322x322px|Source: [[Gävle University College]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.hig.se/download/18.4db66897149b264e1ba4df24/1417115797086/mangfald.pdf|title=Mångfaldsbarometern 2014|publisher=Gävle University College|date=October 2014|pages=57|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621094211/https://www.hig.se/download/18.4db66897149b264e1ba4df24/1417115797086/mangfald.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2016}}</ref>]]
Sweden has from the early 1970s experienced a greater share of non-Western immigration than the other Scandinavian countries, which consequently have placed multiculturalism on the political agenda for a longer period of time.<ref name=":1" />

Sweden was the first country to adopt an official policy of multiculturalism in Europe. On 14 May 1975, a unanimous Swedish parliament passed an act on a new multiculturalist immigrant and ethnic minority policy put forward by the [[social democracy|social democratic]] government, that explicitly rejected the ideal ethnic homogeneity and the policy of assimilation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dagenssamhalle.se/nyhet/dags-att-begrava-det-multikulturella-projektet-31651|title=Dags att begrava det multikulturella projektet|publisher=Dagens sahmälle|language=Swedish|date=17 February 2017|access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref> The three main principles of the new policy were equality, partnership and freedom of choice. The explicit policy aim of the freedom of choice principle was to create the opportunity for minority groups in Sweden to retain their own languages and cultures. From the mid-1970s, the goal of enabling the preservation of minorities and creating a positive attitude towards the new officially endorsed multicultural society among the majority population became incorporated into the Swedish constitution as well as cultural, educational and media policies. Despite the anti-multiculturalist protestations of the [[Sweden Democrats]], multiculturalism remains official policy in Sweden.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The multicultural moment: the history of the idea and politics of multiculturalism in Sweden in comparative, transnational and biographical context, 1964–1975|last=Wickström|first=Mats|publisher=Åbo Akademi|year=2015|isbn=978-952-12-3133-9|url=http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201501071068}}</ref>

A 2008 study which involved questionnaires sent to 5,000 people, showed that less than a quarter of the respondents (23%) wanted to live in areas characterised by cultural, ethnic and social diversity.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/svenskar-vill-ha-inhagnat-boende|title=Svenskar vill ha inhägnat boende {{!}} SvD|last=TT|work=SvD.se|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322170850/http://www.svd.se/svenskar-vill-ha-inhagnat-boende|archive-date=22 March 2016|language=sv}}</ref>

A 2014 study published by [[Gävle University College]] showed that 38% of the population never interacted with anyone from Africa and 20% never interacted with any non-Europeans.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.hig.se/download/18.4db66897149b264e1ba4df24/1417115797086/mangfald.pdf|title=Mångfaldsbarometern 2014|publisher=Gävle University College|date=October 2014|pages=7–8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621094211/https://www.hig.se/download/18.4db66897149b264e1ba4df24/1417115797086/mangfald.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2016}}</ref> The study concluded that while physical distance to the country of origin, also religion and other cultural expressions are significant for the perception of cultural familiarity. In general, peoples with Christianity as the dominant religion were perceived to be culturally closer than peoples from Muslim countries.<ref name=":0" />

A 2017 study by [[Lund University]] also found that social trust was lower among people in regions with high levels of past non-Nordic immigration than among people in regions with low levels of past immigration.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McShane|first1=Karl|date=2017|title=Getting used to diversity? Immigration and trust in Sweden|url=https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/6d33125a-0256-40b2-9c41-37a7486ddb0d|journal=Economics Bulletin|volume=37|issue=3|pages=16|access-date=2 January 2018}}</ref> The erosive effect on trust was more pronounced for immigration from culturally distant countries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McShane|first=Karl|date=31 August 2017|title=Getting Used to Diversity? Immigration and Trust in Sweden|url=http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2017/Volume37/EB-17-V37-I3-P171.pdf|journal=Economics Bulletin|volume=37| issue = 3|pages=12|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>