• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Joe Biden
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

The Daily Devil’s Dictionary: “Discontent” Continues with Sweden Democrats

By Peter Isackson • Sep 11, 2018
Swedish Democrats, Sweden Democrats, Swedish elections, Sweden elections 2018, Sweden news, Swedish news, European news, Europe news, Populism, European politics

Jimmie Akesson in Orebro, Sweden © Michael715 / Shutterstock

Sweden’s summer of discontent presages an ill wind for Europe this fall and beyond.

The election in Sweden on September 9 confirmed the trend throughout Europe of increasing numbers of voters ready to support populist, xenophobic, nationalistic, extreme right-wing parties.

One Swedish analyst quoted in The Guardian offers this wide-ranging explanation: “Traditional parties have failed to respond to the sense of discontent that exists. That discontent maybe isn’t directly related to unemployment or the economy, but simply a loss of faith in the political system. Sweden isn’t alone in this.”

Here is today’s 3D definition: 

Discontent:

A mental state shared by growing numbers in 21st century Western societies, provoked by the slowly unfolding realization that the world has not been designed to meet one’s personal needs, despite the fact that one belongs to the white race that has for centuries dominated world history

Contextual note

In every recent democratic election in the West, traditional parties are in total disarray. Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, the Five Star Movement in Italy (and the Northern League), the hyperreal presence of Boris Johnson in Britain, Alternative for Germany, and now the Sweden Democrats are all not just making headway creating some form of havoc in traditionally stable democracies. They are redefining the tone of political debate. More significantly, they have yanked away the rug of credibility that traditional parties have been standing on — a credibility based on their previously solid reputation as “serious” managers of all public business.

Al Jazeera notes that the “worst case scenario that many Swedes had feared, that the far-right Sweden Democrats party might edge into first place, has not come to pass.” The pattern is similar to that of France, where the Jean-Marie/Marine Le Pen-dominated Front National (now renamed Rassemblement National), has for two decades threatened in the polls, generating fear, but always failed to get anywhere near the reins of power. In both the French and Swedish case, the right-wing nationalist parties that built up steam by appealing to racist instincts made the marketing effort of softening their discourse, by promising to punish racist discourse, understood — wink, wink, nod, nod — as detrimental to their pragmatic goal of getting elected.

Earlier this summer, polls and pundits forecast for the far-right Sweden Democrats a score as high as 25%. The result is closer to 17%, which is nevertheless enough to throw the parliamentary system into confusion, if not yet chaos. For once, the world will be watching Sweden as the parties and personalities maneuver to define a majority.

Historical note

At a time when nationalism, in the face of global trends, has definitively lost its credentials and its capacity to solve problems, those citizens who are exasperated intellectually by the effort required of them to come to terms with the assumptions and behaviors of other peoples and cultures, are increasingly tempted to use the tools of democracy to applaud — but not necessarily place in power — those whose discourse reflects nothing more than a sentiment of shared exasperation.

Until only a few years ago, rival parties — Democrats vs. Republicans, Conservatives vs Labour, Socialists vs. whatever name the French post-Gaullist center-right chose — would from regularly and without fanfare alternate at the head of government.

Whichever party they represented, the population expected them to carry on “business as usual,” with slight variations as to how that business was conducted and which segments of the population might see minor wishes fulfilled or favors granted. Government was a business, like any other, with its ups and downs, but whose long-term stability was assured by the fact that its market was a circumscribed nation and its government exercised a benevolent monopoly.

Will the West now find a way of living with the idea that around 20% of the voting populations of any number of nations are ready to challenge the legitimacy of the political managerial class? Can some other system than that of permanent well-established parties, run by seasoned professionals, replace the tired rivalries that no longer inspire the minimum of loyalty, confidence and optimism that people with the right to vote, but not to rule, have in the past been ready to shower on them.

Perhaps the drama is exaggerated. Sweden’s summer of discontent is small beans compared to the “winter of discontent” evoked by Shakespeare’s Duke Richard of Gloucester. The future Richard III was musing about the recently resolved Wars of the Roses, which had lasted for over 30 years and split the English nation into two camps, represented by two families, with consequences for both England and France.

Europe’s democracies now find themselves faced with the annoying challenge of having to improvise nonexistent majorities to meet the basic expectations of the citizens of any democracy. Stalemates are more common than checkmates, despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s miraculous achievement when he split the waters of the traditional left and right parties in France, walked across the dry land, got his majority before anyone knew what had happened, and now believes himself to be the new Moses (or Jupiter). The same scenario cannot happen in Germany, Britain, Italy, Sweden and elsewhere, because the historical circumstances are different.

Given the level of political uncertainty, Europe as a whole, may, like Moses, end up spending the next 40 years wandering a newly formed desert… thanks to recurring heat waves (exported by Trump) that continually raise the temperature and burn the sands of a new waste land.

*[In the age of Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain, another American wit, the journalist Ambrose Bierce, produced a series of satirical definitions of commonly used terms, throwing light on their hidden meanings in real discourse. Bierce eventually collected and published them as a book, The Devil’s Dictionary, in 1911. We have shamelessly appropriated his title in the interest of continuing his wholesome pedagogical effort to enlighten generations of readers of the news.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Share Story
CategoriesBlog, Election News, Europe, Europe elections news, Europe News, European politics news, Politics, World News TagsEurope news, European news, European politics, populism, Sweden Democrats, Sweden elections 2018, Sweden news, Swedish Democrats, Swedish elections, Swedish news
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

Fair Observer Recommends

Tracing the Economic Growth of Poland Tracing the Economic Growth of Poland
By Ishaan Kapoor • Apr 06, 2021
The Mechanics of Discontent Visible in Berlin The Mechanics of Discontent Visible in Berlin
By Peter Isackson • Sep 11, 2020
The CO2 Border Adjustment for the EU The CO2 Border Adjustment for the EU
By Susanne Droege • Aug 06, 2020

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Serena Williams Hits Out at Sexism in Tennis
Next PostNext India Owes an Apology to its LGBTQ Community for Historic Marginalization
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept