“It’s not only Somalis who chew” – Talking through and talking back to khat use discourses in Swedish–Somali organisations

Abstract

The psychoactive plant khat has been “made ethnic” in Sweden, as dominant discourses have constructed its use as being exclusive to the Somali ethnic minority. The aim of this article is to analyse how representatives of Swedish–Somali civil society organisations talked through and talked back to dominant discourses about khat use. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with organisation representatives, and the material was analysed within a multi-perspectival discourse analysis framework. The interviewees described khat use as a social problem, but also acknowledged that it can offer users social support. They viewed khat use to be more common among people of Somali background living in Sweden, but tended to view associations between khat use and the Somali ethnic minority as stigmatising. Khat was commonly compared to alcohol, and those who use khat in problematic ways were described as comparable to “alcoholics” or “junkies”. Interventions based on cultural competence were not suggested, as khat use was seen as related to socio-economic marginalisation. The interviewees’ resistance to making khat use an ethnic problem is notable, and suggests a more complex and nuanced view of dominant discourses about khat use in the West. It also suggests problematic and stigmatising effects of one-dimensionally associating certain drugs to specific ethnic categories.

• Khat use
• ethnicity
• culture
• ethnic minorities
• discourse analysis

Notes

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Several studies of khat use have been conducted in countries where khat is a legal commodity (see Carrier, 2007 and Anderson et al., 2007 for overviews). Although discourses about khat use in these countries might influence discourses in Europe (and vice versa), the legality of khat in the former setting makes it problematic to make comparisons about khat use discourses across these settings.

2. The interviewees who did not want to be recorded did not give very explicit reasons for this, and I accepted their decisions without asking for their justifications. My interpretation is that this was an issue of a situational lack of trust, combined with khat use being a somewhat, but not overtly, sensitive topic.

3. There were several ways of referring to the practice of using khat among the interviewees. Most common was to refer to “chewing khat” or “eating khat”, while some interviewees talked about “using khat”.

4. Commonly referred to as “Swedish-type smokeless tobacco”.

5. The City Mission in Sweden offers low-threshold services and support to people in marginalized situations such as those facing homelessness, drug use problems and psychiatric problems.