This book highlights the diverse roles of the humanities in the history of the Swedish welfare society. This society has often been seen as dominated by an instrumental view of knowledge that rewarded the social sciences, natural sciences and technology, but the contributions in this book show the significant role that the humanities played in the Swedish welfare state. Various forms of humanistic knowledge and knowledge actors were part of large networks and left a clear mark on the public sphere and society at large. A narrative of the marginalization and crisis of the humanities in the postwar period must therefore be problematized. This edited volume brings together some twenty scholars from a number of humanities disciplines (history, history of ideas, media history, literary studies, archaeology, education, etc.). Much of the current research on the history of the humanities conducted in Sweden today is brought together here and put in relation to international discussions in fields such as history of humanities, history of knowledge, etc. The book is a sibling to the monograph Humanister i offentligheten, which was published in 2022.
There is a strong narrative on how the humanities were marginalized in postwar Sweden: in the land of engineers, technocrats and social scientists, there was no room for erudition, philosophy and history. This book challenges such a notion and shows how clearly the humanities were present in the public sphere of the time. By applying perspectives from the history of knowledge, the authors illustrate how humanists were key figures in the welfare society's culture and politics, media and book market, education and intellectual debate. At the heart of the book is the public sphere of the 1960s and 1970s. In a first part, the authors highlight how humanists played a decisive role in the young television's educational program as well as in the popular science paperback publishing of the time and on the essay pages in the newspapers. In a second part, attention is drawn to the humanities' place in the Christian cultural sphere, the labour movement's education work and the New Left's book cafés. We meet people like Per I. Gedin, Gunnel Vallquist and Jan-Öjvind Swahn, but also TV producers, study circle organizers, translators of radical non-fiction and many others. They all helped to set humanistic knowledge in motion during the postwar decades. Against an international background, the image of a humanistic knowledge system with deep roots and wide connections in Swedish society emerges. It is about these actors and arenas of knowledge that this book is about.
Det partipolitiska landskapet i Sverige har på kort tid förändrats och migrationsfrågor är på allas läppar. Både i Europa och i Norden har radikala högerpopulistiska partier haft stora framgångar den senaste tiden men bemötandet av dessa partier ser väldigt olika ut. Den här rapporten handlar om hur svenska tidningar på ledarplats beskriver Sverigedemokraterna (SD) och jämför med hur andra radikala högerpo- pulistiska partier beskrivs i Danmark, Norge och Finland. I rapporten studeras även hur SD bemöts på sajten Avpixlat. Resultatet visar att den offentliga debatten och media knappast är enhetlig, utan ett parti som SD behandlas väldigt olika i olika mediala rum. ; The starting point of this report are the ambivalent views in Sweden Democrats' (SD's) role and position in Swedish politics. At the mid-point of its second mandate period since the party entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, no other party has yet attempted to move closer or to initiate talks and negotiations with the party. To speak figuratively, SD was still in the entrance hall, and there were no signs of invitations to enter the living room.SD's policy program differs from those of the other Swedish parliamentary parties, especially in the field of migration policy. SD wants to drastically reduce the number of asylum seekers, as well as to bring down the numbers of all migrants to a mini- mum, regardless of how many are currently entering the country. The party aims for a different Sweden, not only in the field of migration policy. They want a country with minimal elements of other cultures and religions and stress uniformity, foun- ded on the basis of what SD consider to be Swedish values and traditions.SD is an extreme nationalist party, and distinguishes itself from other similar par- ties in neighbouring countries by its history and by virtue of its previously strong ties with fascists and Nazi movements. Reducing immigration is thus, for SD, not just about preserving welfare, jobs and housing. The intention is to transform or rather ...
This study in contemporary history describes the transformation of the public sphere in Sweden during the period 1969-1999, and analyses the role of information technology and politics in the process. The overall aim of the study is to explain how, and why, the public sphere in Jürgen Habermas sense has deteriorated during a period of rapid technological and political change, when increasing attention has been given to information technology as a new tool for improving democracy and empowering citizens. Theoretical inspiration is drawn from two perspectives within the modern history of technology and sociology of technology; the LTS (Large Technical Systems) and STS (Science, Technology and Society) approaches, as well as from the regime theory concept within political science. This multidisciplinary framework provides the theoretical basis for the study, including terms as socio-technical systems, system builder, technification, interpretative flexibility, stabilization, closing and regime change. In addition, the analysis draws upon previous research in economic history, where focus often has been on the important role of institutions. The term path dependence is central in this tradition. The starting point for the study is the process of a mutual legitimization between citizens and political actors that traditionally has taken place within the public sphere. In return for citizens support and trust, political actors have granted format rights to the public space. Two aspects of this interdependence are addressed: Freedom of speech and citizen's access to public information, and their access to arenas where an exchange of political ideas and opinions is taking place. In the study, the former is a question of the legal system and the limits to freedom of speech in new medias such as the Internet, while the latter concerns citizen's technical means and possibilities to connect to electronic networks. Research interest is concentrated on the formal political system, focusing both actors and structural factors such as technological development, media convergence, ideological change and international integration in the transformation process. Four case studies of institutional changes during formative moments, within what is defined as the legal and the technical infrastructures, are conducted and represent the empirical base of the thesis. The case studies are centered on Swedish governmental commissions, on the government itself and on proceedings in the parliament, and concerns formation and transformation of computer law, as well as the deregulation and privatization of the technical infrastructure. In the latter process Televerket (Swedish Telecom) has been an influential promoter of competition and institutional separation between tele- and data communications, representing a major regime change in favour of market relations in the technical infrastructure. In the area of computer law, the Swedish regime dominated by SCB (Statistics Sweden) was incorporated into a joint European data protection regime, resulting in limitations of freedom of speech on the Internet. These regime changes have also transformed the role of the state, constituting a "net watchers state". Another important finding is that promotion of democracy and improvement of access to the public sphere, never was on the agenda in the political transformation processes studied, although a parallel discourse on democracy and information technology existed throughout the period studied.
Bergslagen in south-central Sweden is an informal region with a long history of intensive land use. The legacies of than 2000 years of integrated use of ore, forests and water major national and international economic importance now involve several challenges for the maintenance of landscapes. This includes sustainability of rural and urban communities, of green infrastructures for natural capital and human well-being as well as of forests, river basins and mining. In response to this cross-sectoral integration necessary at multiple levels of public, private and civil as well as academia and schools. Landscapes need thus to be viewed as integrated socio-ecological systems. Collaboration and continuous learning among actors and stakeholders are needed for sustainable use and management of landscapes' goods, services and values. To support this requires (1) data, monitoring and assessment of different aspects of sustainability, (2) continuous knowledge production about material and immaterial landscape values relevant for the management of ecological, economic, social and cultural dimensions, (3) information and communication using both traditional media, as well as (4) through art and culture. the vision to contribute to satisfying these requirements Sustainable Bergslagen initiative emerged gradually since 2004 as a multi-level partnership for sustainable landscapes (www.bergslagen.org). By joining the International Model Forest Network (IMFN), and the network for Long Term Socio-Economic and Ecological Research (LTSER), actors and stakeholders can learn from other regions' sustainable development processes, and make Bergslagen more visible internationally.
During the 1990's the diversity idea entered the Swedish socio-political debate under the name 'mångfald'. The concept originated in the United States and discusses how organizations can be more efficient if they combat discrimination and acknowledge differences. This development attracted the attention of mass-media and led to the publication of books, articles and reports that advocated or commented the concept. It had also had effects on policymaking and various types of consultancy work. The present thesis focuses on studying the dissemination of the diversity concept. This is a way of describing how change takes place through the introduction of new ideas and practices and how various forces and obstacles influence this process. In this dissertation it is the ethnic dimension of the diversity concept that is under the spotlight because this is the aspect which has been given most attention in Sweden. Another limiting factor is that the main object of interest it is diversity as a question involving working life and organisation. This thesis consists of three parts. The first part focuses on how the concept was developed in the USA and discusses the prerequisites in Europe for the dissemination of the diversity idea. The conclusion is that although some economic and structural developmental trends are basically the same in Europe and the United States, there are some obstacles due to contextual differences. In the second part the introduction and the dissemination of the diversity concept in Sweden in the 1990's is studied. The main conclusions of this study are that the idea is 're-invented' in a number of different ways as it is diffused in the Swedish context. The idea, that can be labelled as an essentially contested concept, is modified by different actors in several ways. The contextual differences between the USA and Sweden are another reason that the idea becomes modified and watered down during the dissemination process. The third part investigates how the diversity concept is disseminated and implemented in the municipal organization the City of Malmö. Several obstacles to the dissemination process are revealed, for example the complex nature of the organization and the different views on the benefits of a diversity management strategy. These studies of the dissemination of the diversity idea in Sweden points to the fact that the impact of the idea is rather shallow despite the attention that it has attracted in different arenas.
In Norway, 2005 was a year of celebrations, linkel, first & foremost, to the fact that 100 years had passed since the peaceful dissolution of the personal union between Norway & Sweden. Despite the absence of broad popular support for the idea that this should merit any celebrations, government & media spent considerable resources on high-profile promotion of the 1905 story, including the side-events leading up to or following the famous 7 June Declaration of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament). In the context of nation-building, historical milestones tend to take on a flavor of history-building, -- the stuff that national myths are made of. In the saga of Norwegian nation-building, 1905 had come to play a perhaps surprisingly inflated role. Thus -- less surprisingly -- in the interpretation handed over to a contemporary audience, the various events of 1905 have been suffused with a series of myths, some of which have assumed the character of national dogmas. In particular, the author explores the myths surrounding the referendum of 12-13 November 1905, & demonstrates how vested interests have been instrumental in consolidating the popular (but false) interpretation that the real issue of the referendum was Norway's constitution (monarchy vs. republic) & not the conditions set forth by Prince Carl of Denmark for accepting the offer made by the Norwegian Government & its parliament to assume the Norwegian throne. In fact, employing devious tactics, prime Minister Michelsen succeeded not only in winning a comfortable victory for prince Carl's candidacy (whereby the prince became King Haakon VII of Norway), but he also managed to entrench the notion that the referendum above all was a resounding confirmation of a (continued) monarchical constitutional order. The long-term effect (which is still very much a defining feature of Norway's political self-image) was to give the country's republicans (who, at the onset of 1905 were a dominant force in the Norwegian political discourse) a permanently marginalized position as a fringe movement of eccentrics & certified losers. References. Adapted from the source document.
[Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?]The populist radical right constitutes the most successful party family in post-war Western Europe. Many accounts in both academia and the media warn of the growing influence of populist radical right parties, the so-called right turn of European politics, but few provide empirical evidence of it. This article by Cas Mudde provides a first comprehensive analysis of the alleged effects of the populist radical right on the people, parties, policies and polities of Western Europe. The conclusions are sobering. The effects are largely limited to the broader immigration issue, and even here populist radical right parties should be seen as catalysts rather than initiators. Despite their limited impact there is still reason to believe that the populist radical right parties might increase their influence in the near future. But even in the unlikely event that these parties will become major players in West European politics, it is unlikely that this will lead to a fundamental transformation of the political system. The populist radical right is, according to Mudde, not a normal pathology of European democracy, unrelated to its basic values, but a pathological normalcy, which strives for the radicalisation of mainstream values.Publication history: Translation of the article "Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?" from European Journal of Political Research, volume 52, number 1 2013 (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2012.02065.x).(Published 18 April 2016)Citation: Mudde, Cas (2016) "Tre decennier av populistiska radikalhögerpartier i Västeuropa", in Det vita fältet III. Samtida forskning om högerextremism, special issue of Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, issue 5, pp. 67–91. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.5.3 ; Den populistiska radikalhögern är den mest framgångsrika partifamiljen i Västeuropa under efterkrigstiden. Från forskarhåll och i medierna har det länge varnats för det ökande inflytandet från de populistiska radikalhögerpartierna, vad man kallar en högervridning av den europeiska politiken, men det finns få tydliga empiriska belägg för utvecklingen. Cas Muddes artikel ger en övergripande analys av den populistiska radikalhögerns påstådda inflytande på folket, partierna, politiken och styrelseformerna i Västeuropa. Hans slutsatser kan beskrivas som lugnande. Partiernas påverkan är i stort sett begränsad till frågor om invandring och integration, och även i detta sammanhang bör de snarare ses som katalysatorer än initiativtagare. Trots en begränsad inverkan finns det fortfarande skäl att tro att populistiska radikalhögerpartier skulle kunna få mer inflytande inom en snar framtid. Men även om partierna osannolikt nog skulle lyckas bli stora aktörer i västeuropeisk politik, förefaller det inte troligt att detta skulle leda till en genomgripande förändring av det politiska systemet. Den populistiska radikalhögern är, menar Mudde, inte en normal patologi inom den europeiska demokratin, utan relation till dess grundläggande värderingar, utan snarare en patologisk normalitet, som strävar efter att radikalisera mainstreamvärderingar.Publiceringshistorik: Översättning av artikeln "Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?" från European Journal of Political Research, volym 52, nr 1 2013 (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2012.02065.x).(Publicerad 18 april 2016)Förslag på källangivelse: Mudde, Cas (2016) "Tre decennier av populistiska radikalhögerpartier i Västeuropa", i Det vita fältet III. Samtida forskning om högerextremism, specialnummer av Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, nr 5, s. 67–91. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.5.3
