Drawing the discourses of ontological security: Immigration and identity in the Danish and Swedish cartoon crises
| Author | Christine Agius |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0010836716653157 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Cooperation and Conflict
2017, Vol. 52(1) 109 –125
© The Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0010836716653157
journals.sagepub.com/home/cac
Drawing the discourses
of ontological security:
Immigration and identity in the
Danish and Swedish cartoon
crises
Christine Agius
Abstract
The controversy of the Danish cartoon crisis in 2006 overshadowed a similar one that took place
in Sweden a year later. The crises have broadly been framed as a clash of values but both cases
reveal differences worthy of investigation, namely for the complex tensions and convergences
between the two states on questions of immigration, Nordic solidarity and national identity. This
article aims to explore the intersubjective discourses of identity that were threaded through the
debates on the cartoon crises, looking to the overlapping discourses that have constructed ideas
of identity in terms of ontological security, or security of the self. It argues that both cartoon
crises represent a complex discursive performance of identity that speaks to a broader set of
ontological security concerns which intersect at the international, regional and national levels.
Even in their differences, Swedish and Danish discourses show the tensions associated with the
desire for a stable and consistent idea of self when contrasted with the Muslim ‘other’, explored
in the context of discourses of modernity and tolerance, which operate as key sites that work to
reiterate, reclaim and reinstate the idea of the progressive state.
Keywords
Cartoon crisis, Denmark, discourse, immigration, ontological security, Sweden
Introduction
In September 2005, the cultural editor of the Danish broadsheet Jyllands-Posten,
Flemming Rose, invited Danish cartoonists and illustrators to submit drawings of the
Prophet Mohammed in response to ‘self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears
and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam.’ (Rose, 2006) Twelve
Corresponding author:
Christine Agius, Swinburne University, H98, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia.
Email: cagius@swin.edu.au
653157CAC0010.1177/0010836716653157Cooperation and ConflictAgius
research-article2016
Article
110 Cooperation and Conflict 52(1)
cartoons were published, some of which reproduced stereotypical imagery of Islam as a
religion associated with terrorism and oppression (Hansen, 2008; Rytkønen, 2007). The
controversy was stepped up internationally after the then Danish Prime Minister, Anders
Fogh Rasmussen, refused to meet with Muslim representatives to discuss the cartoons on
the basis of freedom of the press.1 In July 2007, Sweden experienced its own cartoon
crisis, which received far less international attention. The Örebro-based Swedish regional
paper Nerikes Allehanda published cartoons of the Prophet as a rondellhund (‘rounda-
bout dog’, a form of street art) by the Swedish artist Lars Vilks, which was reproduced in
several Swedish newspapers. Vilks’ ‘provocation’ was aimed at the readiness of Swedish
artistic and cultural communities to criticise the US and Israel rather than Muslim coun-
tries (The Local, 2007b). In contrast to the Danish Prime Minister, the then Swedish
Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, met with 22 Muslim diplomats. In August 2007, he
defended freedom of expression as ‘inalienable’, but also emphasised mutual respect and
dialogue between cultures as a core component of the Swedish social model: ‘The will to
provoke must not overpower the will to engage in dialogue. Should it do so, it would
jeopardise the potential for understanding and meetings between different cultures and
religions’ (The Local, 2007a).
In the ensuing media and political dialogue across both states, ‘cracks in the Nordic
wall’2 seemed apparent: mainstream Swedish discourses criticised the defence of Danish
identity and its harsh immigration policies, and the dominant discourse in Denmark por-
trayed Sweden as a nation lacking national identity, ruined by multiculturalism and blind
to the growing immigration threat. The different responses to the crises appeared to
threaten superordinate Nordic3 values and identity that informed ideas of national iden-
tity for both states. This ‘mutual othering’ (Joenniemi, 2013: 185), however, is more
complex than first appearances, and obscures the different degrees to which both
Denmark and Sweden attempt to ‘securitize subjectivity’ (Kinnvall, 2004) by privileging
dominant self-narratives of collective identity. To this end, the article brings an ontologi-
cal security approach to analysing prevailing ideas of collective identity. Ontological
security refers to the need for actors such as states to have a consistent and stable identity
or sense of self. Even in their differences, mainstream Swedish and Danish discourses
show the tensions associated with the desire for a stable and consistent idea of self when
contrasted with the Muslim ‘other’, explored in the context of discourses of modernity
and tolerance, which operate as key sites that work to reiterate, reclaim and reinstate the
idea of the Nordic progressive state. As such, the possibilities for alternative collective
narratives tend to be marginalised or measured in relation to the rational, progressive and
‘tolerant’ self.
To date, few studies compare the cartoon crises (Larsson and Lindekilde, 2009;
Nohrstedt, 2013) and Swedish and Danish debates about immigration and identity from
an ontological security perspective (Joenniemi, 2013; Kinnvall and Nesbitt-Larking,
2010, 2011). Employing empirical data from a series of 16 semi-structured, elite inter-
views4 conducted in 2008 with Danish and Swedish parliamentarians and officials, the
article explores the constructions of ontological (in)security in the discourses of collec-
tive identity articulated by political elites. Commencing with an elaboration of the con-
cept of ontological security, the article then explores how threats to ontological security
have been articulated in the context of immigration and identity within and between both
To continue reading
Request your trial