A Challenge to Multiculturalism

Abstract

At times of economic decline, such as the deep economic crisis experienced in many European countries today, vulnerable groups can clash with other vulnerable groups. These clashes can be exploited by different political movements and individuals, who point to the Other and the multicultural society as the cause of society’s problems. This can result in intensified everyday racial violations, and an increase in violent hate crimes. A case study, from a small Swedish town in which an asylum seeker from The Ivory Coast was stabbed to death by extreme right-wing youths, illustrates how racist hate crime relates to discrimination and everyday harassment. The murder became a test case for what in Sweden later became known as hate crime.