Research on Cooperation Between Local Governments in Sweden and Muslim Non-Governmental Organizations

The subject of my current research is the analysis of relations between local governments in Sweden and Muslim non-governmental organizations. Previously, I explored this issue in relation to the Federal Republic of Germany[1]. Sweden has a decentralized system of governance, based on a unitary state model, where power is divided into three levels: central, regional, and local. Local government plays a key role in the daily lives of citizens, providing autonomy in managing local affairs. It is a system based on the principle of self-government, meaning that municipalities and regions operate on their own responsibility, but within the regulations of the central government. Currently, Sweden is divided into 290 municipalities (kommuner), which are the basic unit of local government. Municipalities have significant autonomy, dealing with, among others, education (primary and secondary schools), social care (assistance for the elderly, disabled, and families), spatial planning, housing, local roads, water supply, waste management, as well as culture and recreation. Additionally, municipalities coordinate the integration of migrants and social support at the local level.

Given the fact that in Sweden, Muslim migrants and their descendants constitute approximately 8-10% of the population, a challenge for public policies of Swedish local governments is the cooperation between local authorities and Muslim non-governmental organizations in areas such as education, social care, interreligious dialogue, and social integration. This is especially true since the Swedish welfare state model and legislation promote such relations. The cooperation is regulated by the Local Government Act (Kommunallagen)[2] and the government's integration policy. This important and timely research problem, which falls within the scope of religious policy, has been the subject of in-depth analysis by the leading Polish researcher in this field, Prof. Ryszard Michalak from the University of Zielona Góra[3].

The research aims to analyze the integration of Muslim migrants through cooperation with local authorities. It is intended to attempt to answer the question about the institutionalization of relations: the secularized Swedish state versus Islam, in a situation where local governments support Muslim NGOs within the framework of multiculturalism policy, but encounter both cultural and legal barriers. Furthermore, does cooperation with Muslim migrants help in building social networks and encourage active citizenship at the local level? The analysis will cover the conditions of integration policy towards the Muslim minority, where local governments act as mediators between the state and Muslim non-governmental organizations. With the caveat that the research must take into account elements related to financing and the influence of extremism on local cooperation (so-called „Islamist infiltration”–referring to the Swedish government's investigation into the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on public institutions, non-governmental organizations and local policy)–which was the subject of in-depth analysis conducted by Sameh Egyptson[4].

Moreover, it is crucial to examine relations at the local level, which inherently generate a series of tensions: secularized Sweden versus religious Muslim organizations. How do worldview-neutral local governments cooperate and support the religious initiatives of Muslim organizations (e.g. mosque construction). The last aspect to be examined is the possibilities of transforming local Muslim non-governmental organizations into local political groups in order to take over power, participate in public life, and co-manage or manage the local community.

[1] Świder Małgorzata, Góra Sylwia, Springer Beata, Muslims and Islam in Germany. Political, Legal, and Cultural Perspective, Publishing Księgarnia Akademicka, Kraków 2019.
[2] Kommunallagen, the Swedish Local Government Act, is the primary legal act regulating the functioning of local government in Sweden. It was adopted in 1991 and amended in 2017.
[3] See: R. Michalak, Tidöavtalet. A new phase of Sweden’s program to contain Islamism [in:] Religion and identity. Political conditions, R. Michalak (ed.), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlage – Brill, Göttingen 2023, pp. 131-154, and R. Michalak, The Swedish current of Islamoscepticism. Justifications for the postulate of deshariatization [in:] Political conditions of religion. Religious conditions of politics, S. Dudra, R. Michalak, Ł. Młyńczyk (eds.), Publishing Morpho, Research Workshop on National and Ethnic Minorities, Institute of Political Science, University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra 2017, https://inpa.uz.zgora.pl/fcp/qHVEUFAgNARASPgMAUVFOSl5JSE4aEgYPOxoISVwdEQoLS0YfBw8NRklJHB9OR0YFGSwAGhQfBQgHBw0JCUVeBxQUDxk/92/public/politologiareligiit4.pdf, and R. Michalak, The religious factor in the process of shaping a new dimension of the Nordic cultural community, "Roczniki Kulturoznawcze", Volume VIII, no. 4, 2017, pp. 7-43.
[4] S. Egyptson, Global political Islam? Muslimska brödraskapet & Islamiska förbundet i Sverige, Lund University 2023, https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/134386584/Disputationsupplagan_Egyptson_10feb.pdf]