Sweden

Last update: December, 2021

The most significant trends in cultural policy in the 21^st century have been the results of increasing regionalisation, globalisation, and new media; in particular, the increased movements of people, cultural goods, and cultural influences across national borders have been significant influences on developments in arts and culture, as well as increasingly in cultural policy. The main cultural policy responses to these changes can be summed up as a new perspective on Sweden as a multicultural society, a more positive perspective on the cultural and creative industries, and new efforts to transfer policy-making powers from the national to the regional level. These trends, and debates, have been noticeable also for cultural institutions, and are visible in regional culture plans and government instructions to relevant cultural institutions.

The notion of Sweden as a multicultural society, and what this entails, has increasingly been the subject of political debate in the last several years. So far, cultural policy remains relatively stable, but there are indications that the consensus that once characterized Swedish cultural policy is beginning give way to increased politicization. One reason for this is the emergence of the nationalist Sweden Democrats as a major political party, but many researchers also see a more general tendency towards an increased polarization of the political climate of Sweden, if not necessarily of the political views of the population. Increasing polarization and politicization of cultural policy can be noticed, for example, in recent debates on threats against artists and other professionals in the cultural sector, political activism in libraries, politicization of museums, and politicization of the influence of grant giving bodies on artists and artistic projects (Blomgren & Sundeen 2020, Harding 2021, Harding 2022, Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis 2021).

Partially as a result of increasing debate, the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis was tasked by the government in 2019 to review the effects of political control on artistic freedom. In 2021, they delivered their report from this project, identifying four main threats to artistic freedom, recommending that the government should increase its efforts to counteract these: 

1. Hatred, threats, campaigns, and harassment of artists, motivated by hostility against cultural expressions and/or the artists themselves.
2. Government restrictions on artistic freedom in the implementation of cultural policies.
3. Excessively detailed policies and policy objectives forcing arts and culture funded by government bodies to adapt to policy agendas.
4. Excessively strict financial frameworks circumventing the freedom of artists and cultural creators, and undermining free and inclusive cultural life, in practice restricting the opportunity to express oneself artistically to only a few (Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis 2021).

In the short term, the main issue in Swedish cultural policy over the last couple of years has been the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. As elsewhere in Europe, government recommendations and restrictions against public events have had serious consequences for the cultural sector of the economy. According to preliminary statistics from the Arts Grants Committee, revenue from artistic activities decreased 28.6 percent from 2019-2020 (2021b; for a discussion on the consequences of the pandemic for the arts and cultural sector in the Nordic countries, see also Kulturanalys Norden 2021). During the pandemic, the Internet has played a larger role than ever in people’s cultural habits, from listening to music to ordering books, and watching theatre performances. Many cultural institutions have increased their efforts to make their work electronically available.

The long term consequences of the pandemic remain difficult to predict, but it is clear that they will continue to affect the cultural sector, as well as society as a whole, for the foreseeable future. In September 2021, the Commission for the Restart of Culture (Utredningen för återstart of kulturen), a specially appointed government commission, submitted a report on “restarting” the Swedish cultural sector after the pandemic, proposing financial measures which would amount to SEK 3 916 million in the years 2022–2024, and 760 million a year after 2024 (for some of these proposals, see below under area-specific headlines), in addition to the support programmes already initiated by the government. Among the proposals is the distribution of culture checks of SEK 150 per adult resident of Sweden to spend on cultural activities in order to both, distribute funding in the culture sector, and attract a broader segment of the population to cultural activities (SOU 2021:77).

Last update: December, 2021

Basic cultural rights are included in the Swedish constitution. The Instrument of Government (1974:152), one of the Fundamental Laws that make up the constitution of Sweden, states that “The personal, economic and cultural welfare of the private person shall be a fundamental aim of public activity”, and that “Opportunities should be promoted for ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities to preserve and develop a cultural and social life of their own” (Article 2, Chapter 1). In addition to articles on fundamental democratic rights and freedom of expression, information, religion, and assembly, the Instrument of Government includes the provision that ”Authors, artists and photographers shall own the rights to their works in accordance with rules laid down in law“ (Article 19 in Chapter 1) (for further information on culture and Swedish constitutional law, see chapter 4.1.1).

The cultural rights mentioned in the Fundamental Laws are the framework for Swedish cultural policy. Below this level, much of cultural policy is not regulated by law (see chapter 4), but guided by cultural policy objectives decided by the parliament (see chapter 1.1). The objectives of cultural policy establish that “Culture should be a dynamic, challenging and independent force based on the freedom of expression. Everyone should be able to participate in cultural life. Creativity, diversity and artistic quality should mark society's development”, thus emphasizing that cultural policy should work for the independence of art and culture, freedom of expression, and the objective that everyone in the country should be able to participate in arts and culture, as well as the need to uphold cultural diversity and artistic quality. This interpretation of the objectives formed the starting point when the Swedish Agency for Cultural Analysis evaluated the impact governance of the art and culture sector on the freedom of the arts in 2021 (see chapter 2.1). 

Last update: December, 2021

Income and employment conditions among artists and cultural professionals have been a central issue in Swedish cultural policy for decades, but results have remained unsatisfactory. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation has become significantly more problematic, and large numbers of people have ceased working in arts and culture due to increased difficulties (SOU 2021:77). According to preliminary statistics from the Arts Grants Committee, revenue in artistic activities had decreased by 18.6 percent by July 2019. Between July 2019 and July 2020, the number of persons registered as unemployed in the culture and media division of the employment service (Arbetsförmedlingen Kultur Media) doubled.

According to studies carried out by the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis, artists and other cultural professionals work under poorer financial conditions than professionals with comparable education and experience in other sectors of society. In its annual report of 2020, the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis stated that “The cultural institutions upon which many career opportunities rely in the cultural field are also facing financial challenges, especially with regards to their ability to act, due to trends in wage expenditures.”  In that year's situational assessment, the Agency identified the economic circumstances of the cultural sector as a threat to artistic freedom, along with “hate, threats and harassment”, and various forms of political control with and without direct financial connections (Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis 2020).

Historically, Swedish support systems for the unemployed have often been relatively favorable to artistic professions, enabling independent professionals to mix short periods of employment and unemployment. The system has been criticized as enabling theatres to force independent performers to rehearse on unemployment aid. Programmes to help people into employment have also been used to finance e.g. trainee positions in the culture sector to a relatively high extent. Several initiatives to “move resources from the unemployment budgets to the cultural sector have been taken. An example of this combined budgeting is the "theatre pool", (Teateralliansen) financed by the government, to provide salaried training and rehearsal facilities for actors. Since 2008, similar pools are in operation for dancers as well as for musicians. 

Since 2005, the Arts Grants Committee is responsible for monitoring the economic and social conditions of artists and publishes annual statistical reports. In 2011, the Arts Grants Committee published a report concerning the employment situation and sources of income of Swedish artists. According to this study, artists spend 73 percent of their time on direct artistic work or administration of such, while 61 percent of their income is derived from this. Of the artists who said they have been employed in their artistic profession during the previous year, 35 percent were permanent full time employees and 15 percent were permanent part-time employees; 20 percent were temporary employees, and about 35 percent of those employed had so-called project employment. In the Swedish labour market in general, 85 percent of all employees have permanent employment. The survey also indicates that artists’ labour is more mobile. One third of the artists said they had at least six employers or principals for their artistic work during a year. 

Last update: December, 2021

Internet use in Sweden is among the highest in the world. In 2020, 96 percent of Swedes had access to the Internet, and 94 percent used it daily. 65 percent used the Internet to watch movies, or TV series, and 69 percent listen to music. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Internet use has become both more central and more vital in people´s lives. At the same time, 49 percent are worried about their personal information on the Internet being collected for advertisement purposes (SCB 2020). These figures illustrate the drastic changes, opportunities and challenges posed to cultural policy by new modes of communication. Digital media have become tools in the daily work of all institutions, e.g. in the form of websites, digitalization of catalogues, online library loans, documentation and registration of museum collections, use of digital equipment for stage and other music and drama performances, box-office sales, etc. Similarly, digital media have become the natural mode of communication and networking, and a growing medium for creative expressions. As pointed out, for example, by the Government Commission on the Restart of Culture in their recent report, the increasingly digital distribution of literature, music, and other art forms creates new challenges for professionals in these areas when it comes to being paid for their work. In a report on digitalization in arts and culture, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee describes the implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market as a chance to improve the financial situation of artists in various fields (Swedish Arts Grants Committee 2021).

A major government priority for Sweden in this area has been education, on all levels. Special funding for equipment and projects has been made available for schools in general and for educational programmes in museums and other cultural institutions. In 2017, the government approved a comprehensive strategy for digitalization, emphasizing competence, security, innovation, leadership, and infrastructure. 

Specific projects deal with the digitalization of cultural heritage. The National Heritage Board is the main government agency responsible in this area, although a large number of public bodies are engaged in such work. Projects are also conducted by The Royal Library concerning the preservation of works published on the Internet, as well as with making physical books and documents available through scanning and electronic publishing. Museums and other institutions in arts and culture work to improve electronic access, an effort which has acquired increased urgency during the Covid-19 pandemic (e.g. Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis 2021b).

Last update: December, 2021

Government supported culture in Sweden should, according to the national cultural policy objectives, promote “international and intercultural exchange and cooperation”, as well as guarantee that “everyone should be able to participate in cultural life”. It is today the established norm to recognize Sweden as a multicultural society. There are also funding schemes dealing with the national minorities and minority languages, mainly providing grants for projects in the fields of language and literature, and periodicals with cultural content. 

In January 2000, Sweden ratified the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The officially recognized national minorities are the indigenous Sami people, the Swedish Finns, the Tornedalians, the Roma and the Jews. All of the national minorities have national cultural institutions. Examples are the Sami Theatre, the Sami Museum Ajtte, the Tornedalen Theatre, the Roma Cultural Centre in Malmö and the Jewish Museum. The indigenous Sami people are a national minority population with approximately 20,000 members in Sweden. There are also populations of Sami in Finland, Norway and northwestern Russia. The Swedish Sami Parliament (Sametinget) has been allocated an earmarked government budget for cultural activities, research and social development projects. Nordic cooperation exists both between the Sami parliaments and between the respective nation-state governments on Sami related issues. 

Aside from these legally recognized national minorities, Sweden has a number of other cultural and linguistic communities, as the result of immigration in the last sixty years. 19 percent of the population was born in another country. Many of these originate in other Nordic countries, the largest group being those born in Finland. Other major groups are people with a background in the former Yugoslavia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Chile and Somalia. Many immigrant groups are organized in associations that receive government grants. In 2008, the Muslim Study Association Ibn Rushd gained the status of a study association recognized by the government, giving it access to funding for adult education and cultural activities. Today, it is one of ten such recognized national study associations.

According to a report published by the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis in 2015, the percentage of employees with a foreign background had remained at a constant level for a decade, i.e. 13.4 percent in 2012, which was lower than the corresponding percentage of the population (20.1 percent in 2012). Under­representation had thus increased with the increasing percentage of the population who are of foreign background. The greater diversity in the population was thus not reflected in staff composition in the cultural sector. In leading positions, the percentage of persons born outside of Sweden was even lower than among employees in general. The agency’s assessment was that the cultural sector in 2015 was further from the target of reflecting the population than it had been ten years earlier. Today, people born outside of the country make up an even larger part of the population than in 2015. 

For the present coalition government, consisting of the Social Democrats and the Green Party, cultural diversity and working against racism have been prioritized areas in cultural policy. All recent national budgets have included measures intended to support diversity and inclusion, including increased support for civil society activities with this focus, and increased priority to cultural diversity and in policies directed at arts and heritage institutions, with special funding provided for, for example, the National Museum of History, and the National Museums of World Culture. 

The National Museums of World Culture is a government agency composed of four museums specifically charged with making a broader cultural heritage available to the people. The museums of world culture exhibit ethnographical and archaeological collections, from, among other places, Egypt, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, China, North America and Peru. The alleged tendency for these museums to focus more on current issues in Sweden, than on the historical contexts of their collections, has been criticized by the political opposition and media as constituting a polarization of the role of museums (Harding 2021).

Last update: December, 2021

It is a longstanding goal of modern Swedish cultural policy that it should increase access to culture for everyone living in Sweden; both through access to culture of high quality and by enabling more people to practice cultural and artistic activities. Hence, participation and social cohesion can be considered to be at the very core of Swedish cultural policy. In the present objectives of Swedish cultural policy this goal is formulated in the statement that “Everyone should be able to participate in cultural life”, and that cultural policy should “promote everyone's opportunity to cultural experiences, cultural education, and to develop their creative capabilities” and “especially notice the right to culture of children and the young.” (Government bill 2009/10:3).

Integration policy aims to support equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for everyone, irrespective of ethnic and cultural background; social cohesion built on diversity; social development characterized by mutual respect, irrespective of background, (should participate and share a sense of community). These objectives cover all of public policy, including cultural policy. Ethnic and cultural diversity is the point of departure for shaping general policies in all sectors and at all levels of society. High priority is, in many policy documents, given to addressing segregation in Swedish society, as well as to efforts to combat racism, xenophobia, and ethnic discrimination. Integration efforts focus on creating opportunities that enable individuals to economically support themselves and participate in society, safeguarding basic democratic values and working to secure equal rights and opportunities for women and men.

National budgets in recent years have included several measures intended to support diversity and inclusion, including increased support for civil society activities focusing on the welcoming of refugees, as well as increased priority to cultural diversity and in policies directed at arts and heritage institutions, with special funding provided for, for example, the National Museum of History, and the National Museums of World Culture for efforts in this direction.

Last update: December, 2021

Cultural sustainability and sustainability in general are widely recognized as important in Sweden. Working towards the goals of Agenda 2030 is, for example, to be integrated in all areas of government policy. In spite of this, there are no comprehensive overviews available over the state of cultural sustainability in Swedish cultural policy.

Last update: December, 2021

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 education 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.