Grand Détour - International Edition

The early warning seemed to be very early indeed, I know... Now there are a lot of posts coming in Swedish, but there is no word on when I'll be able to bring some stuff here. But: I have an assignment in W-wa this fall. See you some day on the avenue...

Early warning: An assignment in the geographical very centre of Sweden, branded as such but often perceived as "north" by people from the south of Sweden like me, starting at 25th of June, will see the return of Grand Détour International Edition. So stay tuned!

Right now autumn is upon us even here in southern Sweden after another uncannily long summer. Dead leaves and dirty ground... Yesterday was actually the Swedish Thanksgiving, which is today a rather unknown affair, and not celebrated outside churches. No turkeys. A variety of local harvest festivals occur though, frequently around 29th of September, Archangel Mike's Eve according to the old Swedish calendar. And later on in November it is time to slaughter the geese...

Anyway, another kind of harvest is to finally cash in on your studies and finally make it as a professional. This is happening now, these years, this autumn too, for a lot of people around me: To finally be able to work with what you wanted to do for maybe a long time, to provide for yourself and be accepted as a full-fledged member of society.

In this situation I think there is often a feeling that you will suddenly be exposed as a fraud, be kindly removed of you new duties and replaced by someone real. This feeling doesn't have to come with the suspicious looks of others, it can come from within. I think it is no surprise that a generalist, maybe with no solid, tangible professional identity to rely on, is often affected by these thoughts. It takes a whole lot of confidence to be immediately convinced of your worth, when you know that what you are doing is only one of the many very different tasks that you could have been assigned to.

As a doubtful humanist (or social scientist, we are in the same boat), ...well, know that you are in good company, I have heard these experiences from very different directions... And rest assured that humbleness, doubt and the ability to harbour weakness and conflicting perspectives are all seen as good things, by surprisingly many people. Both in work situations - and in private. Maybe hearing this from others, will provide some strength in numbers...

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Well, have to get out of this meta-thinking for now: some reporting in English will be edited, among other things. Will keep you posted...

Just back from still sunny Gothenburg, after the Book Fair... For those of you from a larger country, or larger language area, I can tell you that this is something quite special. Just the fact that everyone is there. The scenes and sub scenes. All of Swedish and Swedish-speaking cultural life converge for one weekend in one big hall. Children are pushed there by cultural parents, and become intrigued by the mass of comic books. Teenagers get free tickets from school librarians. Like I did. Big eyes. Still remember the intellectual shootout between my friend Rasmus and the Objectivists.

So, I come back, for some reason or another, year after year. This year, nearly all the usual suspects were there (didn't see the objectivists though). So I prepared myself for a freaky blast from the past reality show. Old teachers, from gymnasium and university, people of the past, as well as the international authors in the lobby and all possible and impossible kind of celebrities, on the floor and not to mention in the bars at night.

It is funny... last time I wrote about the political hangover metaphor... and before that about Margot Wallströms blog. Now, she is using it herself, and puts up the rhetorical question "Should I stay or should I go?" (a small reminder of that the music taste of leading eurocrats is changing... Don't know why but I have this vision of future summits where the top politicians of this continent, and beyond, will dance to Arctic Monkeys or... Promoe? That is what will happen, sisters and brothers...) Some Swedes are urging her to come back to lead the reconstruction of the Social Democrats, but she has fans from other parts of the Union, that want her to stay.

And cheers for Bulgaria and Romania today!

Two images, two kinds of metaphors reoccurred over and over the last two days, after the election. Just as most polls indicated, the center-right alliance won the day. And it sparked of some reactions, of course. Here I will not discuss the stock market or international media coverage. Not even the actual political outcome, even. Now, it is personal remarks, by friends, bloggers and newspaper columnists alike that have caught my interest. A non-Social Democratic government somehow seems surreal to Swedes... as a flower-sprinkled life-style magazine ad or an eerie, disturbing, substance-fueled nightmare. Depending on preference.

Let's start with the rosy red, or rather baby blue, phrasings of the winners' side:

"Like a fresh breath of air" or "The air feels a little easier to breathe..."

There you have it. The crisp Nordic autumn air outside the window. Maybe with a scent of freshly ground coffee beans for the obligatory latte. Election time as rentrée, where finally your choice of clothes contains the colour of the season... New IKEA catalogue, new government.

The other side (and this have to be a composite of many short mutterings, and, in fact, instant messaging status bars):

"Hung over. Pissed of. Damn."

OK, so: To wake up in the morning with a haunting feeling - No, it was not a dream... it's real... amid the empty pizza boxes... treachery... defeat... ruin and decay. And maybe a bad cold on top of everything to make things worse. And soon enough it'll be winter.

It seems, whether it is a win or a loss... the experience is personal. And expressed in familiar terms. I don't want to trivialize the contents of Swedish politics. It just occurred to me that this observations maybe say something to the outside spectator. Let's leave it at this for now.

Coming back to Sweden this time of year, this year... was coming right into the campaigns for the general elections. No efforts are spared by the two blocs - it's described as a now-or-never situation for both sides. And the big day - is tomorrow. The latest polls gives the center-right opposition the lead... then the Social Democrats would be kicked out.

Somehow I admit to feeling a bit exited, invigorated, even though I stand outside the ranks of parties. But it is not thanks to the efforts of the parties, they are only tapping the accumulated but rather unarticulated need for some kind of change. This last two years there has been something of a vibe. A new generation is popping up: new thoughts presented. Not always the brightest ideas, but at least something new. Interesting debates, on blogs, in papers, among friends. And the inner circle of the Social Democrats has not been fast enough to pick up on these trends. And Prime Minister Persson's tiredness and a line of smaller scandals paved the way for the opposition.

From outside it might be hard to see the real differences, now, that everyone seems to be going towards the middle. The right no longer uses neo-liberal rhetorics, but rather: "We don't want to take something away from us, we want to add something." And, more of everything, sounds nice, eh?

Now, the economy is good, things are good on the whole, Sweden is a happy and peaceful country. People are envious of us. Outside some are trying to explain why Swedes would want to change rulers. The Economist, in it's usual dry and sober tone, and Sweden-fan Polly Toynbee at the Guardian, less neutral and more outspoken: "What are you afraid of? Your model is working!"

You can find many good points in these text, but there is also something else: a general angst, haunting the society, the opposition has found, and cleverly exploited. It is a feeling like: "Well, everything is basically fine now, but... we don't understand, what will happen in the future? The children just plays computer games all the time, they have baseball caps in class... Reality shows, porn... They have it to easy. Will never make it in the bad times, sure to come." Well, you can imagine. So, the right have the momentum, the go, and good ol' work ethics.

If there are some interest in Sweden from abroad now at election times, there is very little said about foreign relations in the campaigns here. I look for any real international interest, any real plans for cooperation, any internationalist visions... but there are none. Well, some Members of European Parliament and the esteemed Foreign Minister seems to have a lot, but it's like it is not part of politics but just a diplomat's job.

So maybe that is that to pick up, the things that are actually left out of the agendas. That are left for us to resolve any other day than election day. New generations are quietly tying the world together, travelling, migrating, while the older generations still decides the questions for the polls. It's the people who builds the country, and it's we that have to overcome the angst of the future. I think: Let's connect to that new, barely formulated, exiting ideas, if like me outside formal politics, or like some will be tomorrow, part of a losing camp. It's been 16 years since the last major change of world politics, in this time we must have learned something of this new world.

So, that's a quite philosophical take, with some matter-of-fact links. Now for some popcorn. It's going to be a thriller tomorrow, they say.

Finally - the International Edition is here! New posts, not translated, all for you!

My Grand (Dé)tour has not come to a halt - that any international reader can understand more easily than a Swedish one, or even the author himself. Just home from my Balkan tour, full of experiences... but getting ready for an autumn back home. But: Any report from Sweden would be as exotic or unique to most of you as one from for example Poland would. Or much more so, for those of you who are Polish...

It is to keep the channels open I finally, at this logical point, the rentrée, the back-to-reality time of year, start this international edition of my blog.

Languages are different. Perfect translation is simply not possible. (Even if it would, my limited knowledge is the first barrier...) To write in another language also invites you assume a role, or at least use a different style. I have come to think of languages more as means of communication than anything else - everything is allowed if you get your message across. Like how that Pidgin Polish comes in handy in the Balkans, and actually opens a whole new world for a non-Slavic visitor like me.

So, maybe, writing in English, I will be more focused on communication. It can only be a blessing - to throw any self-imposed stylistic demands overboard. Or? Everything will be banal? No. Different means and different styles will complete each other. An themes and readers will cross across language borders, I hope.

There is another reason. I could not write a lot about international relations, travels, the elusive European identity etc etc, only in Swedish - now that I know another language known to so many. It would be... stupid. It would of course be easier to formulate my views in splendid isolation, but once I crossed the Baltic Sea... No can do.

Margot Wallström, Swedish Vice-President of the European Commission, blogs in English, because she can. Even though it makes some people angry - everything at that level is supposed to be translated to all official EU languages, some argue. (And I would take efforts to have that done if I were her, think such a way to make goodwill. But I guess blogs are still underestimated as communication at this level, that's maybe the problem here.) But I agree with her, and her supporters in the post I linked to: we have to communicate as good as we can, about things that matter, if we want any cultures left to live in, in the end.


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So, please, if you are here from the start, as part of a select(ed) few; my friends in the international brigade, give me your comments, raise an imaginary piwo, latte, or whatever, and let the discussion go on... ;-)