Increasing cultural participation has been a central aim for Swedish cultural policy at least since the 1970’s. Historically, this ambition has focused on making arts and culture activities available throughout the country – which is the second least densely populated country in the EU – and on widening audiences in terms of class and educational background. In recent decades, increased emphasis has been placed on other factors, such as gender, functional differences, and immigrant background, as well, but class, education, and especially geography remain central issues in cultural policy, even though issues relating to cultural diversity and multiculturalism have become dominant.
The current centre-right government has emphasised the protection of artists and other professionals in the culture sector against threats and violence, as part of upholding public safety, as well as safe work environments and freedom of expression. Issues relating to law enforcement have increasingly come into focus in policy discussions in general. Municipalities have, for example, been given increased responsibilities in preventing crimes, something which has also impacted discussions on cultural policy-related topics such as city planning and leisure activities for the young.
The notion of Sweden as a multicultural society, and the implications of this, has increasingly been the subject of political debate in the last several years. Since October 2022, Sweden is governed by a centre-right coalition government with the support of the Sweden Democrats. While the published agreement between the coalition parties and the Sweden Democrats only mentions a few aspects of cultural policy, these include the establishment of a Swedish cultural canon. In 2025, this canon was presented in a report by a government commission. This commission also proposed several measures to make the works of art and culture listed in the canon more present in government-funded cultural activities (SOU 2025:92; Harding 2025). This may be a part of a more general shift in focus of cultural policy, increasingly prioritising the strengthening of national identity and the integration of immigrants into this cultural community. So far this has not led to any major changes in institutional cultural policy, or even budgetary priorities, but the tendency is noticeable in political statements and in individual projects such as the new Swedish culture canon.
Another recent development in Swedish cultural policy is that discussions concerned with it have increasingly focused on its relation to national security and defence preparedness. The 2023 government report on civil defence and general preparedness stated that “Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing protracted war have put the spotlight on the importance of culture for a country at war” (prop. Ds. 2023:34, p. 77), emphasizing not only the importance of protecting heritage in wartime, or its importance to national identity, and thus to moral and motivation, but also the role of arts and culture for maintaining a sense of normalcy, a functioning public life, providing entertainment, but also valuable methods for processing the traumatic realities of war. This report has later been followed by a government bill (prop. 2024/25:34), and a report on protecting the autonomy of arts and culture in wartime (McWilliams et al 2026). Additionally, a new council has been created for exchanging ideas and experiences regarding the protection of cultural heritage in wartime. This council includes representatives of the National Heritage Board, the National Archive, the National Library, the Agency for Civil Defence, the National Property Board, the County Administrative Boards, the national museums, and the Church of Sweden.
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