Multiculturalism for integration and the repertoires of racializing the other: A case of Kenyan immigrants living in Sweden

Sammanfattning: This study is grounded on qualitative interviews with 12 adult Kenyan immigrants living in Sweden regarding their experiences of othering, racialisation, creation of divisions in society based on “us” and “them” linked on repertories of racializing the other in the Swedish multicultural environment. I engage with stereotyping as theory which is used as a tool to pick difference, racialize the respondents by white Swedish natives, and how these actions affect the respondents in their everyday life in Sweden. The study finds that non-white bodies of Kenyan immigrants are constantly centered while interacting with native white Swedish population. These are either expressed by direct questions that border impoliteness, subtle and blatant forms of prejudice. The study also shows that othering of Kenyans takes place all the time so that these people feel that they will never fully integrate into the Swedish community thus question the issue of integration and place of multiethnicity in Sweden. The study also finds that respondents have taken various actions to minimise racism or take back the power as forms of coping.