Transformations of the Swedish Welfare State: From Social Engineering to Governance?

In the early 1990s, a centre-right government declared that they would implement a 'system shift' in Sweden, often perceived as a 'model country' in the context of welfare policy discourse. The neoliberal ideology inspiring this shift had already influenced the Social Democratic government's of the mid-1980s, in its attempts to find a way out of the economic problems of the 1970s. It was not until the 1990s, however, that an increasing number of social spheres, and a substantial part of the population, started to become seriously affected by the cutbacks in the public sector and the re-organization of the welfare system. Using an analytical framework based on Michel Foucault'sconcept of governmentality, this volume contributes unique case studies of the ongoing transformations of the Swedish welfare state. Contributors with long research experience in their respective fields take a close look at what kind of changes have taken place, what their rationalities were, and what the effects have been.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures, Tables, and Illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors PART I: APPROACHING THE SWEDISH MODEL Transformations of the Swedish Welfare State: Social Engineering, Governance and Governmentality -- An Introduction; B.Larsson, M.Letell& H.Thorn Pathways of the Welfare State: Growth and Democracy; M.Peterson PART II: SECURITY AND CONTROL The Swedish 'Welfare-Warfare Nexus' and the New Security Architecture; H.Glimell Governing Unruly Technology: Swedish Politicians and Nuclear Power; G.Sundqvist Social Policy Reforms in Sweden: New Perspectives on Rights and Obligations; U.Bjornberg Labour Market Policies in Transition: From Social Engineering to stand-by-ability; M.Bengtsson& T.Berglund Decentring Economic Regulation and Control: Reinforcing Trust through Self-regulation; B.Larsson& O.Engdahl Criminal Records: Governing Symbols; C.Backman PART III: PUBLIC HEALTH The Advanced Liberal Logic of Nicotine Replacement and the Swedish Invention of Smoking as Addiction; M.Elam and A.Gunnarsson From Medicine by Wire to Governing Wireless: Changing Geographies of Healthcare; J.Petersson Governance of End of Life: The Case of Sweden; N.Machado Governing by Drugs: The Denial of Subsidy for Viagra Use in Sweden; E.Sjogren& E.Johnson PART IV: THE CITY Governing Movements in Urban Space; H.Thorn From the Lonely Homophile in the Darkness to Rainbow Families in the Streets -- A Story of Liberation?; C.Wasshede Real Estate Ownership Concentration and Urban Governance; M.Landzelius Homelessness as Politics and Market; C.Lofstrand Conclusions: Re-engineering the Swedish Welfare State; H.Thorn& B.Larsson Epilogue: Social Change, Scholarly Change, and Scholarly Continuity; G.Therborn References

About the Author :
BENGT LARSSONAssociate Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.His research interests are in the field of economic sociology includingauditing, trust, economic crime, consumption and over-indebtedness, and union cooperation in Europe. MARTIN LETELLPost-doctoral Researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.His research concerns the relationships between knowledge production, politics, and citizenship, particularly in connection to risk issues. HAKAN THORNProfessor at the Department of Sociology and the Gothenburg Centre for Globalization and Development, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research concerns social movements and globalization and he has published several books on these topics, including Anti-Apartheid and the Emergence of a Global Civil Society and The Politics of AIDS: Globalization, the State and Civil Society (co-edited with M-L Foller).

Review :
'For many of us Sweden is the iconic social democratic welfare state. But this fascinating collection of essays from the University of Gothenberg, covering a wide range of aspects of contemporary Sweden, helps us to understand that the Swedish welfare state is certainly reconfiguring and may well be transforming'. - Jonathan Bradshaw, Professor at the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, UK 'The plural in the title signals the break between this book and many others on the topic. Typically seen in monolithic terms, the Swedish Welfare State is invariably regarded as either a continuing marvel or in the 'neoliberal fairytale' alluded to in the Introduction as ineluctably broken. But what if a mix of social engineering by experts and public-private partnerships as much as central governmental administration by design was always intrinsic to the Swedish welfare state? Rather than state versus market versus civil society, the detailed chapters in this volume point to a variety of ways in which human welfare continues to be regarded as a collective political engagement in Sweden even as an emphasis on 'responsibility' represents a renegotiation of the old social contract.' - John Agnew, Professor in the Department of Geography, UCLA, USA 'This collective project of a new generation, the most circumspect and theoretically engaged attempt at grasping contemporary Sweden, is also a manifestation of the continuing vitality of the Sociology Department at Gothenburg University.' - Goran Therborn, Chair and Professor of Sociology, University of Cambridge, UK