Category: people

Great Swedish Women Part 7: The Leaders

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Since March 8th, I have been republishing a series to celebrate Great Swedish Women, past and present: women with strength and passion, women who create change. Today is the final day – and a new post.

Never in the history of Swedish politics have so many women had such powerful leadership positions as today.

We have come a long way since 1919, when women won the right to vote in Parliamentary elections and in 1921 when the first five women were voted in as MP’s. It took 65 years until 1986, when Karin Söder was the first female party leader to be elected.

However, today six of the eight political parties in the Swedish Parliament have a female leader. These six politicians are, as seen in the picture below: Ebba Busch (Christian Democrats), Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats and Sweden’s first female Prime Minister), Annie Lööf (Center Party), Märta Stenevi (The Greens), Nyamko Sabuni (Liberals) and Nooshi Dadgostar (Left Party). They stretch all across the political spectrum from left to right.

In the Swedish Parliament 46.1% of the MP’s are female, making it the highest proportion of women in any European Parliament. Only four other countries in the world have a higher female representation, with Rwanda in the number 1 position at 61%.

(Source: Worldbank Data 2020)

Sweden and Ukraine – Yellow and Blue

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many official buildings in Sweden are flying the Ukrainian flag in solidarity. The authorities want to show that Sweden stands side by side with Ukraine in their time of need.

The Ukrainian flag, like the Swedish flag, is yellow and blue. The Swedish flag is a yellow cross on a blue background. The Swedish flag was initiated in the early 1500’s and the yellow is said to represent gold and blue represent the sea. Sweden depicted itself as a wealthy sea-faring realm.

Psychologically, the blue represents justice, loyalty, truth, vigilance and perseverance. The yellow represents generosity.

The colours on the Ukrainian flag represent something else. The blue represents the sky, and the yellow represents the wheat fields that are so important to the country’s identity and economy. The flag was first hoisted in 1848.

On a psychological level , the yellow in the Ukrainian flag is said to represent joy and the blue represents calm.

I am sure we all hope that the people of Ukraine experience both again very soon.

Huge Swedish demonstration against the vaccine pass

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Yesterday, in central Stockholm and Gothenburg, a huge anti-vaccine pass demonstration took place. Thousands of people, assumed unvaccinated, crowded together in a public square and marched the streets.

One demonstrator was interviewed on tv and said ‘I want the right to my own body, I believe in freedom, I don’t want to be forced to take a vaccine’.

Last I checked, the vaccine was voluntary and nobody’s forcing anybody.

We have the freedom to do what we want: take the vaccine or don’t. I have had Covid and do not want to experience it again. So I choose to take the vaccine to protect myself from serious illness if I get re-infected. However, that is only a part of my choice. I also choose the vaccine to protect others in society, to try to reduce the spread of the virus and out of solidarity for our exhausted health care workers.

If somebody else does not want to get vaccinated, that is their liberty. They are in the minority in Sweden, at roughly 15%.

There is a confusion between pro- or anti-vaccine and supporting the existence of a vaccine pass. The demonstration seemed to mix up both issues. They are very different.

However, the ironic truth is that if more people got vaccinated, the fewer restrictions we would need. The more who are vaccinated, the less likely it is we need a vaccine pass.

Many people dismiss these demonstrators as ‘tin foil hatters’ – a pejorative term for people with paranoid, persecutory delusions. However, this diminishes an important and valid concern. The debate around vaccination really is a tricky one. There is a conflict between the right to make one’s own decisions over what happens to one’s body – versus the collective level of safety necessary to protect vulnerable people and the healthcare system. What we need to figure out is how to strike a balance between individual rights and the public good. The question is who’s rights weigh the strongest: a person denying a vaccine, or a vulnerable at-risk person who cannot take the vaccine?

I am sure most of us agree that safety is the basis of freedom. That’s why I see the vaccine pass as a temporary way to protect the public, while still enabling us as individuals to live a freer life.

It will hopefully enable us to protect ourselves and each other, and alleviate the burden carried by our health care workers. And it will hopefully lead to a quicker path out of the pandemic. For me, that is worth trading off against a small restriction on my personal rights.

And so it is Advent – Swedish style

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

 

Today, the first of Advent, the light shines strong in the darkness.

Swedes decorate their houses, apartments and windows with lights. From ceilings, illuminated stars are hung. On window ledges, electric advent candles are placed. On tables, four candles are positioned and one is lit every Sunday up until Christmas. Small candles, often red, are dotted about the home. Some people change curtains and populate their homes with small gnomes and flowers.

Since November is a grim month, the collective advent decoration is a welcome arrival as light is spread into the murky places. From the dark street, it is lovely to see windows lit up in every apartment.

This weekend is also the starting signal for the Swedish ‘glöggfest’. People go to each other’s homes and drink ‘glögg’ (mulled wine), eat gingerbread and saffron buns. It is a very cosy time of year.

And so it is Advent – Swedish style

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

 

Today, the first of Advent, the light shines strong in the darkness.

Swedes decorate their houses, apartments and windows with lights. From ceilings, illuminated stars are hung. On window ledges, electric advent candles are placed. On tables, four candles are positioned and one is lit every Sunday up until Christmas. Small candles, often red, are dotted about the home. Some people change curtains and populate their homes with small gnomes and flowers.

Since November is a grim month, the collective advent decoration is a welcome arrival as light is spread into the murky places. From the dark street, it is lovely to see windows lit up in every apartment.

This weekend is also the starting signal for the Swedish ‘glöggfest’. People go to each other’s homes and drink ‘glögg’ (mulled wine), eat gingerbread and saffron buns. It is a very cosy time of year.

Sweden gets its first female Prime Minister

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today is a historic day in Sweden. Magdalena Andersson has been chosen by the Parliament as Prime Minister, and as such, is the first woman to have the post in the history of Swedish politics. A great day for equality, and not a day too soon. It seems rather odd that it took Sweden so long.

Around the world, women have been politically appointed as state head since the 1940’s. However, the first woman to be democratically elected as prime minister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) in 1960. The first woman democratically elected president of a country was Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland in 1980.

The other Nordic countries have a better track record than Sweden. Norway has had two female Prime Ministers to date, the first being Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1981. Denmark has had two – Helle Thorning Schmidt was first elected in 2011. Finland has had three female Prime Ministers with the first, Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki, elected in 2003.

With the appointment of Magdalena Andersson, four of the five current leaders of the Nordic countries are female.

Sweden’s most beautiful dialect

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

On the FB site New Swedes, the author writes about Swedish dialects and accents:

‘Dialekter skiljer sig väldigt mycket åt, och nästan varje stad har flera ord som är snudd på omöjligt att uppfatta om man inte kommer just därifrån.
Vilken är Sveriges vackraste dialekt tycker du 😅?

Roughly translated this means:

Dialects differ very much and almost every town has words that are virtually impossible to understand if you don’t come from there. Which is Sweden’s most beautiful dialect do you think?

Around 100 people have answered, and the most popular dialects seem to be Värmländska, from county Värmland, and Gotländska, from the island of Gotland.

I would tend to agree, although I also really like the dialects from Dalarna and Västra Götaland.

What do you think?

My book on Sweden – the Essential Guide!

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

My book is doing really well, which I’m very proud of. You can buy it on Amazon, Bokus, Akademibokhandeln and Adlibris amongst other online stores. Sweden, by Neil Shipley, published by Kuperard 2021.

I still have a few copies left, so if you’d like to buy a signed copy, just let me know!

Book recommendation – how to adapt to Swedish culture

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

I have just finished reading Mustafa Panshiri’s 2021 book ‘7 Råd Till Mustafa’. If you understand Swedish, I strongly recommend you read it.

Mustafa Panshiri came to Sweden as a child from Afghanistan. In his book, he cleverly weaves his own experience of integration with seven pieces of advice he wishes he would have been given. This makes the book not only interesting to read, but very practical and useful. He has an non ‘Western-centric’ perspective which I found fascinating to read about and reflect over.

Aimed at readers who want to understand Swedish culture, and integrate into society, the book is also relevant to Swedes. Panshiri includes sections with advice to ‘Svenssons’.

Integration is a complex issue and Mustafa Panshiri does not claim to solve all of the problems. However, with this book, and his endless youth outreach work, he will clearly make a difference.

The book can be bought on line and at good book shops.

Sweden’s ‘Britt Summer’

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Currently, many places in Sweden are experiencing warmer summer-like temperatures. The sun is shining, the air is warm but the leaves on the trees are golden brown. Known in English as Indian Summer, this brief, warm spell in the autumn is, in Swedish, called a ‘Britt Summer.’ It has nothing to do with Britain as you might assume but something completely different.

To be an official Britt Summer, the warm spell has to roughly coincide with the 7th October. This date is known as Birgitta Day, or Britt Day in the Swedish calendar – hence the name. The day celebrates the canonisation of Swedish Saint Birgitta. Legend has it that Saint Birgitta thought the temperature in Sweden was too cold so she prayed for the citizens of the country. And the Lord answered her prayer by providing everybody with a few extra days of summer!

These warm, sunny days are very welcome – the last throws of summer, before we are plunged into darkness and winter takes us in its grasp.

Interestingly, and oddly, Britt Summer is also known as ‘Fattigmanssommar’ (Poor man’s Summer) and Grävlingsommar (Badger Summer).

If anyone knows the reason why, please share it with us!