The ‘Swedish model’ as an institutional framework for immigrant membership rights

This article reviews some major changes in the Swedish government's understanding of the membership rights of immigrants in Swedish society over the last three decades. Embedded in the ‘Swedish model's’ institutional preconditions, the 1970s innovative view expresses a promise of multicultural group rights for immigrants in addition to social and political rights, but barely a decade later the government modified its position and moved closer to existing international praxis in the area. Since the 1980s, the development of immigrant social and political membership in Sweden has given cause for concern and has led to further shifts that put a stronger emphasis on individual rights as the basis for immigrant membership entitlements. These developments are, of course, subordinate to the significant changes within the Swedish institutional framework, not least because of the increased internationalisation of Sweden and individualisation of Swedish society.