Anti-rumours cafés

In Botkyrka, Sweeden, anti-rumours cafés have been set up in libraries as a public platform to discuss and explore rumours and prejudices. Libraries were chosen as they are well attended by young people aged 18-25 years old, the main target of the C4i campaign in Botkyrka.

All in all, 4 anti-rumour cafés were set up and each one focused on a particular rumour. The initial theme-specific concept was “Criminality” (the most prominent theme of rumours in Botkyrka), followed by “incompatibility of the Swedish and immigrant cultures”, “Unequal distribution of public resources” and “Swedish culture is under threat”. The rumour-theme, “Swedish culture is under threat”, was among the most visited café. This can be explained by the political situation in Sweden 2014. The populistparty, Swedish democrats, had recently achieved their best election result to date, raising questions for citizens all over Sweden, not least the citizens in Botkyrka. This notion of a threatened ‘Swedishness’ is often illustrated by the feeling that Swedish traditions are no longer being celebrated or carried out as they used to be and that “all the old” is dying out.

However, irrespective of the level of interest in a rumour theme, attendance by the majority Swedes was poor. Part of the explanation may relate to the effect of the rumours themselves: When the cafés are organized in Alby, Fittja and Norsborg/Hallunda (areas of high immigrant populations), the level of interest among majority Swedes is lower. Statistically, majority Swedes prefer to attend the cafés in Tumba and Tullinge, with lower concentrations of immigrants. This challenge was addressed by organising “extra invitations” addressed to target groups from different demographic areas (Tullinge and Tumba). In addition, invitations and information about all the events were disseminated through social media (facebook, internal web etc).

The main goal of each café was to encourage people to talk about rumours that they usually feel uncomfortable discussing, and the survey of the participants indicate that this goal was accomplished. The participants reflected on how “true” the rumours all over Botkyrka were and gave examples from their own lives. One general outcome was a widespread belief that rumours lead to depression and that the need of dialogue is huge!