Swedes
| Part of a series on |
| Lists of Swedes |
|---|
 |
| List of Swedish people |
Depending on context, Swedes can for instance be used for
- citizens of Sweden
- Ethnic Swedes
- inhabitants of the autonomous Åland Islands (under sovereignty of Finland), some of whom may designate themselves as Finland-Swedes
- members of the Finland-Swedish minority in mainland Finland, some of whom may designate themselves as ethnic Swedes
- members of the Estonia-Swedish minority
- an ancient Germanic tribe, often named Svear in academic works, at the roots of the Swedish statehood, and contemporary with the Geats and the Goths in Scandinavia. Some people disagree with this definition.
New-Swedes (in Swedish: Nysvenskar) is the Swedish term, currently fashionable in public debate, to denote 20th century immigrants to Sweden, and their offspring, particularly them with un-Nordic looks. Critics of this usage do however object to it as an exaggerated political correctness or alternatively as disguised racism, pointing out that this usage ignores roughly a third of the immigrants that originates in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Germany.
In a school-yard context, in our day's Sweden, Swedes do typically refer to ethnic Swedes contrasting to those pupils who identify themselves as immigrants – or of immigrant heritage. Also Finland-Swedish immigrants to Sweden have experienced how they first and foremost are perceived as immigrants from Finland and not as Swedes by both authorities and collegues. Many second and third generation immigrants have experienced how being born in Sweden is not sufficient to escape discrimination. A family name or physical looks that hints at low-status immigrant ancestry can be a critical disadvantage.
N.B.!
Classifications with regard to ethnicity and ethnic groups are chiefly relevant only in the context of conflicting interests between groups who recognize their ethnicity as different. By its nature, this makes virtually all such notions controversial, one way or another.