=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2084/short3
|storemode=property
|title=Negative to That of Others, But Negligent of One’s Own? On Patterns in National Statistics on Cultural Heritage in Sweden
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2084/short3.pdf
|volume=Vol-2084
|authors=Daniel Brodén
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/dhn/Broden18
}}
==Negative to That of Others, But Negligent of One’s Own? On Patterns in National Statistics on Cultural Heritage in Sweden==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2084/short3.pdf
Negative to That of Others, But Negligent of One’s Own? On Patterns in
National Statistics on Cultural Heritage in Sweden
Daniel Brodén, researcher, Centre for Digital Humanities and Swe-Clarin, University of
Gothenburg
Abstract
In 2015–2016 the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies at the University of Gothenburg
conducted an interdisciplinary pilot project in collaboration with the SOM-institute. The aim
was to demonstrate the usefulness of combining an analysis rooted in the field of critical
heritage studies with statistics. The study was based on a critical discussion of the concept of
cultural heritage and the data was collected from the nationwide SOM-surveys.
The paper highlights some patterns in the SOM data from 2015 on sociodemographic and
attitude differences in activities traditionally associated with national cultural heritage
instititions: 1) women are more involved in activities than men; 2) besides gender, class and
education are also important variables in this context. 3) The most important finding in this
paper is that people with a negative attitude towards immigration to a lesser degree participate
in activities that are traditionally associated with their ‘own’ national cultural heritage.
Keywords: statistics, national survey, cultural heritage, attitude towards refugees, SOM-
institute
Introduction
In 2015–2016 the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies at the University of Gothenburg carried
out an interdisciplinary pilot study in collaboration with the SOM institute, which is also
based at the university. The study was based on a selection of collected data from the large
nationwide SOM-surveys, which are representative samples of the Swedish population. The
annual SOM surveys, which have been conducted since 1986, compile extensive statistics on
activities, opinions, and attitudes regarding politics, society, and media, and demographic
data.
The aim of the pilot study was to present an original approach to Swedish statistical data
on cultural heritage activities in the form of a report. Contrary to more traditional reports by
the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis (2016), and the Swedish Arts Council
(1997), the study tried to demonstrate the usefulness of combining an analysis of national
statistics with an approach rooted in critical heritage studies. Drawing on a critical definition
of cultural heritage, the report, ‘Cultural Heritage in Transformation: Patterns and Widened
Perspectives’ (Brodén 2017), examined how different demographics are related to various
forms of cultural heritage activities.
The use of nationwide surveys is rare in the field of cultural heritage studies. The aim of
this paper is to present significant patterns in the SOM data from the 2015 survey. The focus
will be on demographic and attitude differences regarding cultural activities traditionally
associated with national heritage. Drawing on contemporary discussions of the concept of
cultural heritage, it will highlight gender and class differences, but also what could be seen as
a less known paradox: people who are negative to ‘other’ cultures, to a lesser degree
participate in activities that are associated with their ‘own’ national cultural heritage.
For clarity, it should be pointed out that I will use concepts, such as ‘identity’ and
‘memory’, cautiously, and only in a general sense to give context to the statistics. I do this to
avoid the conflicting issues that might arise when combining complex analytic concepts that
have intrapersonal connotations with an analysis of survey data.
About the SOM Surveys
The nationwide SOM-survey is addressed to randomly selected persons between the ages of
16 and 86 living in Sweden, and it consists of several sub-surveys. In 2015 there were four
such sub-surveys, making the total sample size of the survey approximately 17 000 persons
(for methodological comments, see Vernersdotter 2016). The report ‘Cultural Heritage in
Transformation’ highlights various socio-demographic, and attitude variables. This paper will
focus on four variables which proved to be especially interesting: sex, class, education and
attitude towards refugees.
The report highlights a range of activities that can be related to a pluralistic conception of
cultural heritage, including vistits to public institutions (e.g. museums and libraries), cultural
habits (e.g. bookreading and gaming), memberships in associations (e.g. folklore societies and
sports associations), and participation in national rituals and festivities (e.g. national day
celebration and watching the Eurovising Song Contest on television). To establish a clear
focus, this paper will concentrate on a selection of activities and institutions that are
traditionally associated with national cultural heritage: vistits to ancient monuments, historical
attractions or buildnings, museums, national parks, libraries and theatres.
The study was partly based on existing SOM-questionnaires, which set limits for how the
pluralistic conception of cultural heritage could be represented. The questions posed in the
SOM-surveys are also broad (for example, ‘theatre attendance’ covers everything from
experimental theatre to revues and childrens theatre). Nevertheless, the categories are well-
established, and included to capture basic tendencies; most respondents are likely familiar
with the terms used (for example, associating ancient monuments with rock carvings, stone
formations, etcetera, and historical attractions or buildings with castles, towers, etcetera).
Brief Comments on the Concept of Cultural Heritage
The word ‘culture’, rooted in the Latin word cultura (approximately ‘cultivation’), generally
refers to something that is distinguished from nature. This opens up a wide range of
meanings, and one may ask if there is any human activity or phenomenon that could not be
discussed as culture (Fornäs 2012: 12–14). ‘Heritage’, in turn, is associated with things that
are passed on by ancestors, both in a legal and methaporical sense. In the late nineteenth
century, the concept of heritage came to imply the spiritual culture of peoples and nations,
and in Sweden, there arose a passion for rural folk culture and the ‘genuinely Swedish’.
Although this unabashed cultural nationalism faded when the modern welfare state took shape
in the 1930s, the idea of a unified people and a national heritage lived on (Löfgren 1990: 34–
45, 90).
To get a sense of the complexity of the concept of cultural heritage, we can briefly turn to
the issue of cultural heritage to the modern nation state. It is common that scholars of modern
society describe national identity as an ‘imagined community’, which is an abstract collective
identity that is socially constructed but, nevertheless, unites people across the nation. Tthose
who govern society has, as historian Tobias Harding Harding (2012) notes, a significant
influence over how the past is shaped into collective memory; the historical royalty,
aristocracy, and church have all been made into axiomatic points of reference through
monuments, sculptures, and street names. At the same time that history is preserved, new
monuments that influence conceptions of national cultural heritage are continuously erected
in the form of libraries, theatres, and other institutional buildings (Harding 2012: 48–55).
As sociologist Masoud Kamali (2012) points out, the concept of cultural heritage is
double-edged. On the one hand, it has a distinguishing function. The countries of Europe have
shaped their national identities through demarcations against ‘other’ cultures. On the other
hand, colonial demarcations can be challenged through more pluralistic conceptions, which
include ‘everyone’, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, or religion. Today, institutions such as
the National Museum, which were once founded to preserve the ‘Swedish’ cultural heritage,
seek to include various groups that historically have been excluded from the national
community (Kamali 2012: 92).
It should also be stressed that the field of cultural heritage has grown out of early critiques
of the past in nation-building. As Rodney Harrison (2013) notes: ‘the way in which heritage
has been driven largely by compliance with municipal, state and national legislation […]
means that we have tended not to look across national borders to explore areas of common
concern’ (2013: 8). Another major contemporary issue in the field of cultural heritage is what
Harrison terms ‘a profusion of memorialisation’ that risks devaluing all heritage. However, in
late-modern Swedish society, in which the global and the local intertwine, and memories of
many different pasts pile up, traditional cultural institutions nonetheless still serve as
interfaces between individuals and the past (2013: 166).
Significant Patterns
Prior research has already shown that women in Sweden participate more than men in various
cultural activities (Antoni 2008). If one looks at visits to libraries, a public institution
associated with democratic ideals of self education and cultural experiences (Gustavssson
1996), the number of annual visits are significantly higher for women than men (Table 1).
Table 1. Visited library sometime during the year, 2015 (percentages)
All 58
Women 65
Men 51
Source: The nationwide SOM survey 2015.
Another important variable in the context of activities related to cultural heritage is class.
People who identify themselves as white-collar have more active cultural habits than those
with a blue-collar identification. Although the usefulness of the concept of class has been
questioned, it is still a statistically valid variable (Oskarson et al 2010), and the SOM data
shows a constant difference between classes over the years when it comes to various cultural
activities (Weibull et al 2008: 260). Closely tied to the issue of class is education, and the
statistical patterns of cultural activities and education are similar, with those with higher
education being more active in a range of activities. In the case of visits to historical
attractions or buildnings, twice as many higher educated individuals make such visits (Table
2).
Table 2. Visited historical attraction or building sometime during the year, 2015
(percentages)
All 69
Class
Blue-collar 56
White-collar 78
Higher white-collar 84
Education
Low 39
Average 60
High 77
Source: The nationwide SOM survey 2015.
The variable attitude towards refugees could be considered in the context of pluralistic
conceptions of cultural heritage. Although people with a positive attitude towards refugees are
not by default advocates for a more multicultural Sweden, studies nevertheless indicate that
there is such a connection (Sandberg & Demker 2013). The SOM data show that people with
a negative attitude are generally less engaged than others in activities that are associated with
national cultural heritage; they visit ancient monuments, historical attractions or buildnings,
national parks, museums, libraries or theatres, to a lesser degree (Table 3).
Table 3. Visited various public institutions sometimes during the year, attitude towards
refugees, 2015 (percentages)
Ancient Historical National Museum Library Theatre
monument attraction/ park
buildning
All 47 69 60 59 58 41
Negative 41 61 51 50 54 33
Neutral 50 71 58 58 61 39
Positive 53 79 69 71 73 51
Source: The nationwide SOM survey 2015.
The phenomenon should be understood against the background of the strong connection
between a negative attitude towards refugees and education (Demker 2015). A plausible
explanation seems to be that lower educated people are less likely in general to have active
cultural habits. Nevertheless, it seems paradoxical that those who have a negative attitude
towards increased influences from ‘other cultures’ are themselves generally more negligent of
their ‘own’ national cultural heritage institutions than others.
Conclusions
An analysis of the data from the nationwide SOM survey 2015 indicates that: 1) women in
Sweden are more active than men when it comes to taking part in cultural activities that can
be related to national cultural heritage; 2) class and education are also important factors for
the degree of activity. Although it has been shown in prior studies, it is worth repeating that
the well-educated, white-collar woman could be regarded as a key carrier of various forms of
cultural heritage.
Perhaps the most original finding of the study is that, 3) people who are negative to
immigration to a lesser extent participate in activities that are associated with their ‘own’
national cultural heritage. This is interesting in the light of how national identities have been
shaped through demarcations against ‘other’ cultures, as well as in relation to the current turn
towards right-wing politics, and anti-immigration rhetoric across Europe, which emphasize
the importance of national cultural heritage. Although the findings in the study need to be
further analysed, and followed up, the data challenge the simplistic idea of nationalism as a
force for the cultivation and memorialization of national heritage. Aditionally, the report
raises the need for comparative studies of other countries and, to paraphrase Rodney Harrison,
to look across national borders to explore areas of common concern.
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