Sweden in a post-colonial world, 7.5 hp

This course explores cultural, political, and economic legacies of colonialism by centering on Sweden as a part of this post-colonial world. In addition to learning about histories of colonialism and decolonization, questions of the following kind will be discussed: In what ways may Sweden be part of – and benefit from – post-colonial political and economic relations, if at all? Are there struggles over cultural identity in Sweden that can be tied to a European colonial legacy? To what extent and in what ways are politics in Sweden characterized by colonial ideas, if at all? The course treats a number of theoretical attempts to understand post-colonialism and utilizes these theories to shed light on Sweden in a post-colonial world and a post-colonial world in Sweden. The course is divided into three main units. (1) The first unit centers on the history of European colonialism and the decolonizing process, (2) the second moves to understanding theories of postcolonialism and how these grapples with the post-colonial legacy, and (3) the third unit focuses on postcolonial ideas and practices in concrete politics and the colonial legacy as well as postcoloniality in Sweden.