An ideology-critical examination of the cultural heritage policies of the Sweden Democrats

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cultural heritage is increasingly used as a political force to achieve societal goals. This is specifically noticeable in the rhetoric of right-wing nationalist parties in Europe. Cultural heritage and ‘politics of the past’ have become key tools in explicit nationalist agendas and right-wing politicians are using cultural heritage to attract disenchanted voters. But how is cultural heritage constructed through these processes? The aim of this paper is to explore the constructions and uses of cultural heritage within the Swedish nationalist party the Sweden Democrats (SD). With non-government bills formulated by the Sweden Democrats as a point of departure, the paper illustrates how an ideological fantasy is reproduced, which is based on establishing a direct connection between the party’s seemingly non-ideological ideology and ideas about an authentic Swedish cultural heritage. The latter reflects a ‘return’ to neorigorism, which refers to the belief in cultural heritage as an objective, given, and non-negotiable, phenomenon.