Institutional difference-making and negotiations of belonging: experiences of "Swedish as second language"

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the ambiguous selection-principles that constitute the foundation of Swedish as second language and how this ambiguity may lead to reproduction and consolidation of racist discourses and structures through institutional practice. Specifically the lived experiences of former students with Swedish as their main language are studied, focusing on how belonging is experienced and negotiated and how they contextualize this in relation to social structures and their lives at large. The study is framed with a phenomenological postcolonial approach, mainly through Sara Ahmed’s concept of ‘orientations’ where the Swedish language and Swedishness in this context are understood as objects whose reachability is conditioned by the orientation of different bodies. The Swedish language is understood as a symbolic arena for difference-making, and Swedish as second language as a space that embodies this through its ambiguity. Through the interplay between othering discourses and institutional whiteness, Swedishness is contested in the space of Swedish as second language. It becomes a practice that obstructs access to Swedishness by moving the ‘real’ Swedish language out of reach for the students who participate in the subject. The participants’ constant negotiation of their Swedishness in their everyday lives is evident in their testimonies, and particularly prominent in relation to Swedish as second language, which shows the power of institutional othering.