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The paper gives a brief presentation of the cultural and institutional specificities of Sweden and how these cultural and institutional specificities impact the development of the Swedish social welfare system over periods of change, transition and strategic adjustment. The paper concludes by presenting a suggestion of a new view of the relationship between culture and social welfare systems, which questions the ability of neo-liberal ideology and political-institutional alignments to suceed if they abandon traditional cultural and institutional demands of balancing the dual social security goals of efficiency and equality.

This paper addresses the failure of activation programmes to achieve a rapid return to work when they are directed towards the long-term ill. The empirical basis for the paper is an analysis of the outcomes for 691 individuals in Sweden chosen for a reactivation policy programme to shorten their sick leave and increase their chances of returning to work. The outcome at the end of their long-term illness when compared to those not selected for an activation programme shows that the programmes failed both to reduce the length of sick leave or to improve the chance of a return to work. The paper discusses who is chosen for such a programme and the process involved. It also discusses why these programmes are continued although they do not succeed. Two possible reasons are suggested. In an atmosphere of mistrust promoted by the government against those claiming social benefits, one reason is that the programmes help bureaucratic decision-making to legitimise moving large numbers of individuals off the sick rolls and into early disability pensions. This is accomplished by employing activation programmes as 'sorting mechanisms'. The other reason is that the state provides a degree of flexibility for the employer by producing and funding a secondary labour market for individuals with reduced capacity for work while allowing the employer a chance to escape the constraints of an employment contract. The paper concludes by arguing that re-activation programmes should be viewed as part of a larger transformation of the labour market and as a possible governmental policy mistake in the reformation of the social rights of the dis-able bodied.

'The position of ethnic minorities, their integration and assimilation into the society where they exist, along with ethnic majorities, has been an area of conflict, an area of discrimination, and an area of social tension. This report examines a policy of inclusion working next to a policy to fight exclusion as Sweden tries to establish a dual program including 'soft' measures within culture and 'hard' measures within the structural-economic sphere to counteract poverty and abuse as a means to promoting inclusion in a multicultural society. Sweden's National Action Plan (NAP) does not expressly refer to ethnic minorities. The goals reflect a concern with poverty, education and substance abuse. Two years after accepting a NAP in 2001, Sweden adopted the Agenda for Culture 2003-2006 (Agenda 2003) as a companion to the NAP. The Agenda 2003 emphasizes the concept of the equal value of all people and attempts to promote inclusion for all residents in Sweden premised on the shared value of equality among all citizens. Both the NAP, which focuses on the reduction of those at risk for exclusion, and Agenda 2003 with a focus on inclusion, developed strategies to reach their goals. Similar strategies and goals show that both the NAP and Agenda 2003 emphasized children, language and work. In all three areas the NAP and Agenda 2003 use strong rhetoric that supports the values of strengthening integration, improving access for participation and enlarging collective meeting places for all individuals. Both the NAP, which focuses on the reduction of those at risk for exclusion, and Agenda 2003 with a focus on inclusion, developed strategies to reach their goals. Similar strategies and goals show that both the NAP and Agenda 2003 emphasized children, language and work. In all three areas the NAP and Agenda 2003 use strong rhetoric that supports the values of strengthening integration, improving access for participation and enlarging collective meeting places for all individuals. This report discusses three main areas of life that are bridges between cultural indicators of inclusion and processes of fighting exclusion. These areas are education with an emphasis on language, media and political participation. Each area is presented in a chapter and is structured by presenting the goals within each area, the actual situation and the possibility within each area of developing measurable cultural indicators. The results discussed in the report have not been able to point to a successful integration pattern for Sweden. Yet we have been able to show that the programs designed and in place in Sweden are indeed significant and have as a goal both to move individuals and groups out of a vulnerable position and into a position with strong resources.' (author's abstract)