Publications

Books and publications from the Multicultural Centre published in English are presented here. See also the webbshop.

First Generation Första generationen
Esther Shalev-Gerz
About Esther Shalev-Gerz installation First Generation.
2006. 104 s.

Re-inventing the Nation
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Construction of Latvian National Identity
ed. Mats Lindqvist
Despite a lot of discussion about globalisation and the diminishing importance of national borders, nationalism has celebrated almost unprecedented triumphs during the 1990's. However, even if the popular idea of the nation as one people sharing one language, one culture and one territory is deep-rooted, the idea reflects neither past nor present realities.
The aim of this book is to describe and analyse how nationalist discourses operate, and how these discourses in fact manifest themselves in different arenas and at different levels within Eastern European society, as exemplified by a century of nation-building in Latvia. Using Latvia as a concrete example, the discussion also sheds new light on phenomena such as modernity, colonialism, globalization, post-colonialism and post-modernity.

Re-inventing the Nation is the final product of Nations and unions: A multidisciplinary project on national identity and trans-national movements in the Baltic States, a research project at Södertörn University College. The book includes contributions from the fields of ethnology, history and political science.
2003. 349 pages. ISBN 91-88560-76-7.

Reflections on Diversity and Change in Modern Society
A Festschrift for Annick Sjögren
Edited by Nadia Banno Gomes, Aina Bigestans, Leif Magnusson and Ingrid Ramberg
With its intercultural perspectives on the ideologies and practices at work in contemporary society, this rich collection of articles sheds new light on the negotiations between tradition and change in a society characterized by migration and diversity. Based in personal experience, research, and other professional activity, the authors reflect on the meaning and consequences of the existing diversity in Swden and worldwide.
2002. 343 pages. ISBN 91-88560-60-0.

Embodying Culture
Perspectives on Transformations of Gender, Health and Sexuality in the Complex Society
Edited by Ann Kristin Karlström, Lena Gerholm and Ingrid Ramberg
Culture is not merely a set of ideas and concepts, it is also imprinted on, experienced by and expressed through the body. This statement challlenges every attempt to maintain a dualistic divisionbetween body and mind, body and society. The same goes for today's complex reality, with the myriad of coexisting, divergent ideas and practices regarding body and culture. The question that is raised in this book is how we shall go about learning to live in a society that encompasses widely different values with respect to such sensitive matters as love, sexuality, intimacy. This book does not give a definitive answer; but it is hoped that it will stimulate new thinking and discourse on these questions.

The anthology presents som thought-provoking research about the social construction of medical categories as wellas about the relations between body and mind, pain and suffering, sex and gender, nature and culture. The authors are research scientists in the fields of ethnology, social anthropology and sociology.
2000. 245 pages. ISBN 91-88560-37-3

Folklore, Heritage Politics and Ethnic Diversity
A Festschrift for Barbro Klein
Edited by Pertti J. Anttonen in collaboration with Anna-Leena Siikala, Stein R. Mathisen and Leif Magnusson
What is heritage, and why is it political? How does heritage-making relate to cultural diversity? The articles in this anthology examine the roles that the politics of heritage play, for example, in the negotiation of ethnic relations and boundaries, the public displays of nobles and nomads, the making of nation-state identities and national homogenisation, the imagining of history and collective belonging, the aspirations of national minorities for cultural independence, and the establishment of politically desirable cultural relationships.

The book is also the first outcome of the Nordic project and network "Folklore, Heritage politics and Ethnic Diversity", and is also a Festschrift to honour Barbro Klein, Professor at the Department of Ethnology at Stockholm University and a Director at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Social Sciences (SCASSS) in Uppsala.
The authors are internationally known scholars in folklore studies, ethnology, and anthropology.
2000. 278 pages. ISBN 91-88560-39-2.

To Make the World Safe for Diversity
Towards an understanding of multi-cultural societies
Åke Daun, Billy Ehn & Barbro Klein (red.)
While we know a great deal about discrete immigrants groups and about confrontations between cultures in Sweden and other parts f the world, less is known about diversity as a social and cultural phenomenon. In this book distinguished scholars from several countries – France, Germany, Great Britain, the United States and Sweden – explore the theme of cultural diversity in a variety of empirical settings and from a variety of theoretical viewpoints.

The chapters of this book were originally presented to an international conference, "The Organisation of Diversity. Botkyrka, Sweden as a New Multicultural Setting". Hosted by the Multicultural Centre in Botkyrka, this conference offered a unique international perspective on the intense cultural diversity now emerging in Sweden.
1992. 195 p. ISBN 91-971176-8-4.

Turkish Associations in Metropolitan Stockholm
Ingrid Lundberg & Ingvar Svanberg
1991. 54 p. ISBN 91-86624-46-6.

Iranians and the Swedish Labour Market
Hassan Hosseini-Kaladjahi
Iranian immigrants' strategies for integration on the Swedish labour market.
1993. 59 p. A4. ISBN 91-971907-4-8.

Culture and Management
in the Field of Ethnology and Business Administration
Annick Sjögren & Lena Jansson (ed.)
Researchers in business administration, ethnology, management, social anthropology, organizational behaviour and language meet about and above cultural borders. Management involves human qualities which are universal, but also characteristics that are more specifically related to the cultural background of the people involved. The concept of culture has increasingly moved into the research on organizations, and organizations have become an object of interest for the traditional observers of culture. Current research focusing on these issues were presented at the summer symposium "Culture and Management" in 1991, which was organized by the Multicultural Centre of Botkyrka, Stockhom, Sweden, and the Institute of International Business. A selection of the wide-ranging papers presented at the symposium are reprinted in this volume. The three main topics for discussion are the following:

• Opening the "Black Box" of Culture
• Mapping Leadership
• Cultural Management and Swedish Mentality

This volume is of interest for researchers as well as managers who wish to be acquainted with some of the recent developments as well as discussions of earlier findings within these fields.
1993. 175 p. ISBN 91-971907-0-5.

Culture and Management in a Changing Europe
Annick Sjögren & Lena Jansson (ed.)
In a rapidly changing Europe, the cultural categories of ethnicity and European take a renewed actuality and replace the political dichotomy East and West. Culture becomes a key-word, but an elusive one. Culture is shared meaning, culture is associating elements of the past and the present in a constantly moving texture of life. It is about "familiar" and "foreign", about "us" and "them". To grasp the complexity of culture and its multiple implications is one of the tasks of management across borders. This volume presents a selection of papers presented at the symposium on the subjects of the definition of culture and of the startegies that individuals, companies and countries choose in order to manage cultrual differences. Two types of strategies emerged in the discussions, one of using cultural uniqueness, and the other one of integrating cultural differences.
1994. 175 p. ISBN 91-88560-12-0.

When is the funeral?
Attitudes towards the time between death and rite in native and some other cultures in Sweden today
Janet Meurling
A survey of the "Deaths columns" in Swedish and foreign newspapers shows that this period is considerably longer in Sweden than in other coutries. This is known to be a source of distress or worry to some non-Swedes in this country. The aim of Janet Meurling's paper is to explore the attirudes of native Swedes and those inhabitants of foreign origin in Sweden toward the customary period of time between a detah and following rite. She discusses possible cuses of the Swedish divergent customs, as well as the impact on Swedish society in this respect of foreign influence and behaviour.
1993. 34 p. ISBN 91-971907-7-2.

Health Care Encounters and Culture
Interdisciplinary perspectives
Sonja Olin Lauritzen & Lisbeth Sachs (red.)
How can health care encounters be interpreted and understood? What can we learn from interdisciplinary communication regarding this issue? The contributors to this volume represent various academic fields, such as pedagogy, social anthropology, sociology, communication studies, lingustics, ethnology and medicine. The purpose of the papers presented is to both broaden and penetrate more deeply the discussion of how health-related values and conceptions are developed and negotiated in health care situations.
1994. 246 p. ISBN 91-88560-08-2.