Opinion corridor ( sv, åsiktskorridor, no, meningskorridor) refers to a sociopolitical phenomenon that has been observed during the beginning of the 21st century in Sweden, and to some extent also in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The expression itself was originally used in 2013 by , professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...

, as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for the limits of what is commonly acceptable to debate. The concept is similar to the Overton window, which assumes a sliding scale of legitimate political conversation, and to

Hallin's spheres Hallin's spheres is a theory of news reporting and its rhetorical framing posited by journalism historian Daniel C. Hallin in his book '' The Uncensored War'' (1986) to explain the coverage of the Vietnam war. Hallin divides the world of politic ...

, which assumes that the press implicitly groups issues into questions of wide consensus, legitimate controversy, and deviance. The Swedish Language Council has included the word ''åsiktskorridor'' in its 2014 list of

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

Overview

Background

In December 2013, political scientist described how he perceived that the space for

freedom of opinion Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

had been tightened in Swedish debates. He provided some examples of opinions that were rarely expressed despite being common throughout the population: * 14% of Swedes agree with limiting the rights to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. * 40% think that Sweden should accept fewer refugees. * 60% want more

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

. * 50% of Swedes do not agree with allowing homosexual couples to adopt children. * 20% think that there should be a death penalty for murder. * 25% of all Swedes want to increase the number of wolves. * Almost 10% want to reduce the expenditure for

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

. * 5% agree with abolishing the graduation ceremonies in churches. Oscarsson concluded with calling for "a more moderate and respectful attitude from policymakers". In February 2015, '' Expressen'' editor published an apology for being part of "constructing a corridor that prevented a constructive debate about migration and integration". She wrote that it was something that she started doing around 2002, when language tests were being debated and the Sweden Democrats started to become more influential. She was also afraid that Sweden's political climate would become more similar to that of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Other observations

Erik Helmersson from

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

wrote that Sweden has many opinion corridors in which people rarely question the norms within the group. He blames the Swedish "culture of consensus" and says the social cost for presenting an opposing view is too high. He also praises director Stina Oscarson for her new expression "test speech" and states that it's important to allow people to try new ways of thinking without being smothered by blame and insults. Alice Teodorescu has stated that she wants to "tear down the opinion corridor" and has made comparisons with totalitarian systems.

Statistical research

During the first quarter of 2015, the statistical institute conducted a survey named "Who dares to speak about their opinions?" which had a sample size of 4,348. They observed the following trends: * Increased hesitation in debates with people outside the usual social circles * People with left-wing ideologies speak more openly while those that identify themselves as nationally oriented or conservative feel that they have more limitations * Majorities risk being portrayed as minorities *

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

is the topic in which most people feel limited

Criticism and denial

Council politician Per Altenberg from the Liberals, while not addressing the research by professor Oscarsson, denied the existence of the opinion corridor and maintained that the corridor should not be discussed in his opinion piece entitled "There is no opinion corridor". Columnist Malin Ullgren from

, while not addressing the research by professor Oscarsson, condemns the usage of the term, and describes it as a rhetorical device the far right uses to undermine the stability of society. She states that right-wing extremists have spent years on "systematic erosion of the limits of decency" to further their agendas and that the far right freely express their agendas.

References