SWEDISH HATRED

Author: Gellert Tamas
Year: 2016
Publisher: Natur & Kultur
Language:  Swedish


There is something rotten in the state of Sweden. In fact, there is something rotten in most kingdoms, princedoms, priestdoms, trumpdoms, and other more or less established kakistocracies in the western world. It is eroding democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and ultimately our freedom, prosperity, and way of life.

The rot has many faces. Racism is one and it is the subject chosen by Swedish journalist and writer Gellert Tamas for his book “Det svenska hatet” (not available in English but a simple translation would be “Swedish Hatred”). Tamas has previously written about racism and migration, e.g. “Lasermannen” (“The Laser Man”); an account of a would-be serial killer who shot at people of foreign heritage in the early 90s using a hunting rifle equipped with a laser sight.

By “Det svenska hatet”, Tamas sets out to turn the spotlight to the various movements in modern day Sweden that promote anger and violence. He does this by following the political career of Kent Ekeroth, one of the better known far-right Sweden Democrat party members. Ekeroth, is no doubt an interesting person, and a lot of his activities coincide with - and help to promote - the growth of extremist ideas in Sweden in the past decade. By outlining Ekeroth’s career and putting it in context, Tamas seeks to give us a comprehensive history of neo-Nazi movement in Sweden which he, in turn, helps us locate in the web of global anti-Semitism, fascism, and white supremacy. Ekeroth is portrayed as being the embodiment of the far-right irrationalism, inconsistency and self-depreciation. Born of a Jewish immigrant and growing up with a single mother he joined an anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist political party. We learn about his childhood, fascination with role-playing games, shyness around girls, and temper tantrums. We learn about his contributions to the internationalisation of the Sweden Democrat party, his agitation techniques and his infamous “night out with the lads” when three of them arm themselves with steel pipes that they find at a construction site in the middle of the night as makeshift melee weapons in order to punish an elderly drunkard that insulted them at a bar hours earlier while barely being able to stand up straight, and later blame him for attacking them. In the process, we learn about how the Sweden Democrats rise from the ashes of the openly xenophobic Bevara Sverige Svenskt-movement, how it communicates with, and accepts advice, funding, and inspiration from international Nazi sympathisers, how they create disinformation campaigns and use the internet to willingly and knowingly disseminate untruth and propaganda.

Tamas is an exquisite journalist and writer, and his research is solid and comprehensive. His writing is sharp and engaging and constitutes a potent amalgam of logos and pathos. The language used is journalistic rather than literary and some chapters read like columns in a newspaper. 

Even still, it does not take long to realise that he will fail with his ambition. This book is not about Swedish hatred as a whole. It is about a particular kind of hatred: racism. Issues, which are advertised on the book cover, such as Islamic fundamentalism, are reduced to anecdotes and serve as trigger points for the continued narrative of Ekeroth’s life. By focusing on the Sweden Democrats, Tamas seems to argue that the “Swedish” hatred is concentrated to the far-right. In so doing, Tamas inadvertently supports the notion that Islam does not belong to the Swedish society and that Islamic terrorism does not make up part of Sweden of today. As if Islamist haters were not Swedish enough to count as contributors to Swedish hatred. Violence born from class struggle, misogyny, and homophobia is also largely ignored by Tamas.

Furthermore, Tamas falls into the trap that many skilled researchers have fallen into before him: he wants to share ALL his findings. As a consequence, the book is filled with tangents, rabbit holes, and side quests which give no additional value to the investigation of the rise of extremist views. By turning the book into a biography on an individual whom Tamas has appointed the figurehead of Swedish far-right extremism, his research sometimes veers from the declared intention of the book and steers into the territory of the personal and individual, which can by no stretch of the imagination be extended to becoming a universal truth about hatred and racism at large.

It has been clear to me for some time that the world is currently witnessing the end of the straight, white man’s hegemony. The populist upswing in recent years is a reaction to the challenges against a world order that has prevailed for hundreds of years. Patriarchy, heteronormativity, white supremacy, and European cultural centrism have been unquestionable anchor points of Western civilisation which in turn has forced its values on the rest of the world. As the world order is inevitably and irreversibly changing, there is bound to be a reaction. From this perspective, the snowballing disdain for the rule of law, human rights, and equality makes sense. Democracy, voting rights, feminism, and equality were never inherent values of the Western dominion. European world domination was not based on general elections, free press, independent courts and equality between the sexes. These are not accomplishments of the white man. They are rights that had to be conquered and won in conflict with the white man. It follows logic therefore that when the Sweden Democrats and their ilk fight for the ancient world order, these institutions have little to no value. And this is far more dangerous than a band of bibulous bozos armed with steel pipes in the middle of the night.

“Det svenska hatet”, will not convince anybody who is not already aware of the dangers of the far-right wave. By tying his narrative so tightly with the biography of one person, Tamas has also ensured that his book will soon become outdated and irrelevant. Ekeroth is already fading from memory after having been ousted from the party and settled in Hungary. It is quite possible that this book will be banned in Sweden in ten or twenty years. Unless Ekeroth returns to the stage it will not matter much. No one will read it anyway.