Who's afraid of the 'beggar'? A psychoanalytic interpretation of the crises triggered by the begging of 'EU migrants' in Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID4863728
AuthorsErik Hansson (0000-0002-7997-7230, Uppsala University, corresponding author), David Jansson (0000-0002-5123-1357, Uppsala University)
Year2021
Volume22
Issue3
Pages339-356
Publication date2021-03-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2019.1585563
OpenAlexW2919007767
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited30

The presence of poor migrants from the EU countries of Romania and Bulgaria (mainly Roma subjects) who beg in Swedish cities has since 2010 caused a collective crisis in Sweden, affecting Swedish identity and institutions such as the (local and national) welfare state. Employing a psychoanalytic framework, inspired primarily by Lacan and Žižek, we describe the various dimensions of this crisis and explain the socio-psychological processes that produce the experience of crisis. We argue that the reason the ‘EU migrant’/’beggar’ produces these crises is because this figure is a symptom of the Real. Encounters with ‘EU migrants’ in the Swedish landscape become ethical encounters with the Real within three main realms: intersubjective (individual), national identity (collective), and political economy (institutional). The individual experiences an ethical crisis where no action in the meeting with a ‘beggar’ provides a satisfactory solution to the problem. The presence of ‘EU migrants’ also threatens to undermine the hegemonic Swedish self-image as a moral superpower. And the ‘EU migrant’s’ presence interferes with the nation’s desire to believe in its political and economic institutions. Finally, the attempt to satisfactorily locate responsibility for solving the problem of the ‘EU migrant’ reveals contradictions within capitalism, nationalism, and liberalism as they operate in the Swedish context

Capitalism · Context (archaeology · Economics · European union · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalytic theory · Sociology · State (computer science · Superpower · German legal, social, and political studies · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics