Beyond Disinformation, Fanaticism and Interference: The Deep Story that Amplified the Campaign Against Sweden’s Care of Young Person’s Act (LVU) How Narratives Set the Stage for the So-Called "LVU Campaign" in Sweden

Abstract

In this article, I use Arlie Hochschild's concept of the “deep story” to explain the resonance of Sweden's viral LVU-campaign among segments of the country’s Muslim population. Drawing on interviews with Muslim public-facing actors—including teachers, lawyers, civil servants, and community organisers—I argue that the campaign’s plausibility derives from its alignment with a broader affective narrative about life in Sweden. Participants describe Sweden as a society characterised by surveillance, opaque institutions, a conditional commitment to human rights, and persistent experiences of unbelonging. These experiences provide a framework through which allegations about social services become plausible on an emotional level, regardless of their facticity. This means that efforts by The National Board of Health and Welfare to counter LVU-related narratives are unlikely to succeed if they focus only on correcting false information. Trust-building interventions must also address the affective and political conditions that make such narratives resonate.