ABSTRACT
In contemporary Sweden, being white means being Swede and being non-white means being non-Swedish regardless if the non-white person is culturally Swedish and was born or grew up and have lived most of her life in Sweden. This means that the difference between the bodily concept of race and the cultural concept of ethnicity has collapsed in a contemporary Swedish context. This contemporary Swedish whiteness which views itself as anti-racist, post-racial and non-racist is in the chapter seen as the dominant discourse of being Swedish. This Swedish whiteness includes both native-born whites and immigrant whites, and non-white Swedes can also invest themselves in this discourse. The pervasive argument for continuing to use the word expressed by Swedes as well as by the Swedish authorities, is that the word belongs to a historical heritage and is part of a Swedish vocabulary, and hence regarded as authentic and important to protect and preserve for the future.
