Sociopsychological and Political Reactions towards Immigration in Scandinavia

Sammanfattning: Currently, a series of events initiated by globalization and its effects have interfered on how people live and how they face the “other,” the “outsider.” Through a series of theories and concepts, countries are analyzed, and their reactions towards these occurrences scrutinized. Recently in Denmark and Sweden, high-developed nations where everything functions almost flawlessly, episodes have somehow changed how these societies go ahead with their lives and their vision towards the immigrant. Throughout this thesis, different theories and concepts will be explained and will be used to explain shifts in these countries political, sociopsychological, and economic spheres. The purpose is to analyze and compare how these fields have suffered changes during the years, especially after the 9/11 and the War on Terror, and the 2015 Refugee Crisis. Examples from books, articles, government websites, organizations reports, and newspaper articles will be used to bring into evidence how both countries reacted, and how they act differently regarding globalized events involving immigration. The conclusions show that dramatic changes happened in both countries after these incidents, where different actions were put into practice ever since. Securitization became stricter, primarily due to the fear of the “other.” This same fear provoked a rise on the populism and participation of right-wing parties in Sweden and Denmark. The results also evidenced how the welfare state has a profound influence on these countries motions, and how integration strategies are in continually changing towards Assimilation instead of Multiculturalism.