Swedish exceptionalism and the Sars‐CoV2 pandemic crisis: Representations of crisis and national identity in the public sphere

Abstract

In abstaining from law‐enforced virus containment measures, the Swedish response to the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic crisis stood out as radically different compared to other European nations. The present study aims to provide an understanding of the deviant Swedish crisis strategy and to do so from a cultural perspective by illustrating how the crisis and national self‐identification were interpreted and contested in the public sphere. Drawing on a content analysis of claims made by politicians, scientific experts, public intellectuals, journalists, and editors, I illustrate how crisis response was associated with collective, national identity and how this identity was said to enable an exceptional crisis response. This association, I argue, gave rise to the stigmatization of dissident voices that were accused of undermining social order. Responding to a call by crisis researchers, the present study serves as an attempt to bring social and cultural factors back into the center of crisis research.

Identifying total defense logistics concepts: a comparative study of the Swedish pandemic response

“…Sweden did not enforce legal measures, but relied on the voluntary compliance of citizens to follow public guidelines, for example, to socially distance and increase hand hygiene, amongst others (Simonsen, 2022). The right to freedom of movement that is enshrined in the Swedish constitution posed limitations on the Swedish crisis response.…”

Sociopolitical consequences of COVID‐19 in the Americas, Europe, and Asia: A multilevel, multicountry investigation of risk perceptions and support for antidemocratic practices

“…In the context of COVID‐19, motivational and behavioral responses are primarily encompassed in the activation of a social identity (e.g., we, our community, our country) over an individual one (Jetten et al, 2020), and thus, it is possible to explain social polarization resulting from a crisis such as the pandemic (e.g., Bruine de Bruin et al, 2020; Gratz et al, 2021). For instance, among Swedes, Sweden's exceptional abstinence from law‐enforced restrictions during the pandemic was associated with national identity (Simonsen, 2022). As the Swedish approach came to symbolize the Swedish identity, those who are against it both in the country and abroad were shunned and stigmatized (Esaiasson et al, 2021).…”

Risk, hazards and crisis: Covid‐19 and beyond

“…The crisis had both many phases and faces, in ever so many countries around the globe. In RHCPP, we have seen discussions on its creeping nature (Boin et al, 2020 ), its disproportionate impact on vulnerable minorities (Gadson, 2020 ), the widely different governance responses to similar threats (Pollock & Steen, 2021 ; Simonsen, 2022 ; Thomas & Terry, 2022 ; Zahariadis et al, 2021 ) the viability of all‐hazards, and total defense approaches (Penta et al, 2021 ; Pollock & Steen, 2021 ), the obstacles of learning from pandemic response inquiries (Eriksson et al, 2022 ), the influence of risk perception and trust on support for government interventions and restrictions (Ahluwalia et al, 2021 ; Sledge & Thomas, 2021 ; Yeom et al, 2021 ) and its particular but not so unique nature in historical perspective (De Graaf et al, 2021 ). In line with our recent review on methods and approaches in crisis and disaster research, they represent a mix of single and comparative case studies based on secondary data, conceptual discussions and survey research on primary data.…”