BETWEEN EXCLUSION AND BELONGING: Reimagining national identity through German migrants in Sweden

Abstract

This bachelor’s thesis is an anthropological study on 21st century German migrants in Sweden. The study aims to answer how German migrants experience national identity and belonging in relation to Germany and Sweden. It explores the migrants’ experiences of in-betweenness, highlighting a sense of community through connecting with other German migrants expressing similar feelings. National identity is explored through language, religion, gender and community and is therefore relational and multitude. Both gender roles and language highlight feelings of exclusion and belonging, which leads to German migrants often feeling more German in Sweden and Swedish in Germany. Many Germans feel discouraged from exhibiting German national pride, something they are more open to doing towards language, gender roles, religion or another nation, such as Sweden. Through navigating these attributes interlocutors highlight an alternative sense of belonging to German identity. It is thus relevant to analyze the connection German migrants have to national identity and belonging to further understand how historical events impact their life in Sweden. Theories and concepts most focused on in this thesis are identity, identification, belonging, national identity and gender. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the material for this study stems from participatory observations, informal conversations and semi-structured interviews at the German church in Stockholm. All in all, 26 interviews were done throughout 6 weeks at the beginning of 2026. This thesis is written in English.