This study is based on how ”the dark story” about The Swedish Welfare system during 1900-1950’s is presented in a selection of history textbooks which are adapted for upper secondary school. What I am referring to with ”the dark story” is the sterilizations, the oppression notice against minority groups, the ideal of being well-behaved and the injustice within social classes and gender. I have limited the study to examine history textbooks which are adapted for the current course ”History 1b” and the previous course ”History A”. According to earlier reasearch ”the dark story” about Sweden’s history started to be problematized during 1990’s with the result that the history has started to be impaired in textbooks during 2000’s. Earlier, Sweden’s history in textbooks has been presented as neutral, which has illustrated that no dark or hidden history about Sweden has been written.          The aim in this study is to examine what history is being emphasized in the textbooks and analyze how it is presented as an educational content. To be able to do that I have used a qualitative content analysis focused on examining the textbooks by Niklas Ammert’s analysis model about how textbooks present history. In this study I found out that ”the dark story” is presented in all examined textbooks, but in different ways with different examples. I also found out that the history is thematised depending what history the textbook has emphasized and how it is presented by the authors. Some of the authors have problematized several examples by different perspectives and some of them present one short example. This result shows that ”the dark story” within The Swedish Welfare system is presented different as an educational content.

The purpose of this study was to try to understand the Swedish population regarding the perceptions of the Swedish welfare system, based on the reactions that occurred after Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's statement about raising the retirement age. Our results demonstrate that the reactions on changes in the pension system in fact rooted in a safety factor and not the change in the pension system itself, through which the Swedish welfare system acts as a safety net for the population. Further the results shows that these safety factors create a form of egoism. With an interaction between empiricism and theory, where the starting point of the material was of an inductive approach, the material abstracted into different levels from which the result emerged. The focus of this study lies in the understanding of how human beings act according to one's need for security in major changes, which may be of importance to a comprehensive understanding of changes in social structures.

This paper investigates whether privatisation of welfare services increases the Swedish middle classes’ support for the welfare state. This study is situated within an adaptation of the Paradox of Redistribution, according to which privatisation may be a way of accommodating the interests of an increasingly individualistic and autonomous middle class. The support of the middle classes is thought to be crucial, as it provides the resources necessary to maintain a comprehensive welfare state. A survey experiment is used in order to examine the causal link between specific information stimuli regarding to what degree specific welfare services are provided by private actors, and survey respondents’ personal willingness to pay taxes for specific welfare services. The use of information stimuli follows from an assumption of ill-informed respondents. The willingness to pay for specific welfare services serve as a micro-level indicator of welfare state support, with a macro-level indicator serving as a complement. Key evidence is found in the micro-level case of social services, and the overall results are taken to give support for the hypothesis. The paper provides important insights into how Swedish policy makers could reason with regards to the design of welfare services, if they are interested in securing the financing, and in turn, the longevity of a comprehensive welfare state.

The postpartum period is an exciting still stressful time for mothers. Although their experiences may be different, all of them appreciate support in the course of this time. In Sweden, there has been a shift from traditional to more individualistic values. It is considered to be one of the most individualistic countries in the world, which makes Sweden an interesting case to study. The aim of the thesis was to explore mothers’ experiences of their social support network including their contact preferences, the part of the child’s father, and the role of the Swedish welfare state/social work. Data was collected conducting semi-structured interviews and using easyNWK, a software for recording and analysing social networks. An evaluation of the social network cards was supported by easyNWK. Thematic analysis was applied to the transcripts. Findings indicate that mothers experience five different types of support which are named instrumental, emotional, informational, and appraisal support as well as social companionship in previous literature. These are provided by family, and friends followed by colleagues as well as professionals. Maternal support and paternal support are identified as individual preferences. The child’s father is either suggested as supportive or absent/lack of backup. Available resources of professionals and individualised support offers provided by the Swedish welfare state are appreciated. Social work plays a role in the provision of emotional and informational support.

This study aims to investigate possible consequences for rural residents and the political legitimacy for the state. In Sweden, environmental policy is widespread, and the state aims to be the first climate-neutral welfare state. Previous research and the results from our study indicate that Swedish citizens do not like carbon dioxide taxes. Many rural residents have expressed dissatisfaction in the media with the rise in fuel prices. Therefore, we were interested in what the target group has had for consequences and what they think of the measure. The results show that the consequences have not been devastating, while the rural residents do not believe that they have the right conditions to be a part of the green transition. Surprisingly many of our interviewees have considered switching to an electric gar given the rising fuel prices. For more people to be able to switch to an electric car, targeted investments from the state are required. Our results indicate that the current green transition is not possible and fair for the people in rural areas.

This thesis examines the extent of family care for older people, primarily filial care, and the costs of caring in the Swedish welfare state. Costs of caring are understood as the negative effects of caregiving, primarily on the caregivers’ working life. The analysis is inspired by feminist theories on the importance of welfare state provisions for care for women’s citizenship, including personal autonomy and economic independence. The main aims of this thesis are twofold. The first is to explore the extent and development of family care for older persons in Sweden, primarily filial care, and the consequences of caregiving for well-being and working life. The second is to explore how older persons’ family members have been represented and the possible consequences of these representations for the development of publicly financed eldercare services and other forms of support for family carers, as well as for family members’ living conditions. The thesis consists of four studies. The first reviews the literature concerning the extent and consequences of family caregiving for older persons and the welfare state’s policy responses to older people’s care needs. The second study analyses how older persons’ family members and their role in eldercare have been represented in Swedish eldercare policy since the 1950s. The third study analyses surveys to explore changes during the 2000s in the role of the family, the public sector and the market in providing care for older persons in Sweden. The fourth study is a survey analysis of the extent, content and consequences of filial care among middle-aged women and men in Sweden in 2013. The policy analysis found that the expansion of eldercare was motivated solely in relation to older persons’ needs; thus working daughters’ needs of eldercare have been a blind spot in Swedish eldercare policy. Since 2000, every fourth residential care bed has disappeared and the increase in homecare services did not fully compensate for the decline, resulting in a significant increase in filial care in all social groups, and among both sons and daughters. Daughters of older persons with shorter education, however, remained the primary providers of filial care. Both daughters and sons are affected by caregiving. They suffer to the same extent from difficulties in managing to accomplish their work tasks and taking part in meetings, courses and travels. They are also equally likely to reduce their working hours and to quit their job. It is however clearly more common that daughters experience mental and physical strain, difficulties in finding time for leisure and reduced ability to focus on their job. Although more daughters than sons retire earlier than planned due to filial care, this is very rare. Managerial care (handling contacts with health and eldercare services) has a more salient role in a welfare state such as Sweden, with generously provided care services, less intense filial care and high employment rates among both sexes. The high labour force participation however makes middle aged children more vulnerable when their parents’ care arrangement does not work. The decline in eldercare services since 1980 has reinforced co-ordination problems in health and eldercare services. The managerial care required to handle this development, while living up to the demands of work and family life, stands out as especially demanding for the well-being and working lives of daughters. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Accepted.</p>

During the last decades, Swedish policy makers have implemented various marketization reforms into the public welfare sector in order to make it more cost-efficient and to improve its quality. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate what implications this marketization trend has had for the organization of Swedish eldercare. In particular, the research question addressed is how marketization reforms such as privatized provision, increased competition, and user choice have transformed the relationship between the service users, the professionals, and the state. To answer the research question, four articles are presented in the dissertation, each corresponding to a separate empirical investigation. Together, the articles demonstrate that the increased reliance on marketization in Swedish eldercare has made it more difficult for the local authorities to directly control the quality of the services, since it reduces their ability to allocate public resources and expects them to govern the provision of eldercare through the entering of contracts. This development has also implied that service users themselves become increasingly responsible for ensuring that the quality of their care is high. Moreover, the articles show that the increased reliance on audit by the national government and its agencies has tended to undermine the professionalization of eldercare staff, thereby limiting their autonomy and ability to ensure service quality. As a whole, the dissertation contributes with a more comprehensive understanding of how marketization has altered the organization of Swedish eldercare and under what conditions it might undermine the goals of social equality and ensuring that all citizens have equal access to good quality care.

Syftet är att undersöka Läns-SLAKO, samrådsorganet inom vård- och omsorgsområdet mellan kommunerna och landstinget i Östergötland. Målsättningen är att ge kunskap om de bakomliggande orsakerna till uppbyggnaden av Läns-SLAKO, att ge kunskap om hur samrådet fungerar idag samt möjliga förklaringar till varför samverkan fungerar eller inte. Fokus ligger på att undersöka vilken betydelse tillit mellan de ingående parterna har, för att åstadkomma en fungerande samverkan. Syftet är också att undersöka huruvida graden av tillit påverkar legitimiteten för Läns-SLAKO som politiskt organ.   Studien har utförts som en fallstudie med Läns-SLAKO som enda undersökningsobjekt. Det är en lämplig metod när syftet är att undersöka en nutida företeelse på djupet och i dess verkliga sammanhang. Den empiriska undersökningen bygger på skriftlig dokumentation, huvudsakligen sammanträdesprotokoll, och på samtalsintervjuer.   Undersökningen visar ett klart samband mellan parternas ömsesidiga förtroende för varandra och en fungerande samverkan som kommer medborgarna till del. Nödvändigheten av att nå konsensus i Läns-SLAKO försvåras av att såväl kommuner som landsting är komplexa organisationer med sinsemellan olika styrlogiker. Statliga beslut inom vård-och omsorgsområdet påverkar såväl vilka uppgifter Läns-SLAKO arbetar med som hur väl samrådet fungerar och detta har varierat över tid. För närvarande står frågan om överflyttning av hemsjukvården från landstinget till kommunerna på agendan. Om Läns-SLAKO misslyckas att finna en konsensuslösning kan det få allvarliga följder för den fortsatta samverkan. Om tilliten försvinner mellan parterna kan processen att återuppbygga den bli både lång och mödosam. / The purpose was to examine Läns-SLAKO as a model for cooperation in healthcare issues for municipalities and the County Council of Östergötland, Sweden. The study aimed at increasing the knowledge concerning the forming and development of Läns-SLAKO. The study also aimed at finding relevant factors to explain why or why not the cooperation is successful. The study focuses on evaluating if the      organization of the network   the      degree of trust and reciprocity the      link between trust and legitimacy are factors of relevance. The study was designed as a case study. The method is suitable for an empirical study investigating a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context. The empirical study is based on interviews with key-persons and mainly on meeting protocols.   The study suggests a clear connection between reciprocity and trust and successful cooperation. The influence of the precondition to reach consensus highly increases complexity. The participants need to have the same weight of mandate within their own organizations. With a lower degree of trust and reciprocity the cooperation may be at risk although the participants know they may benefit. The trust and reciprocity is currently under pressure by the central decision to transfer part of the responsibility for the home based care from the county council to the municipality. The government has left the organizations to find an agreement. If Läns-SLAKO fails a severe lack of trust may result. This may impact future cooperation. To loose trust may be a quick process. To regain trust takes time.

This thesis explores the representation of female vulnerability in three working-class novels bythe lesser-known Swedish author Inga Lena Larsson (1907–1987), against the historicalbackground of the emergent Swedish welfare state. Larsson’s career as an author started in the30’s when she got a short story published in a magazine. She wrote her first novel during thelast years of the Second World War. It was published in 1945 and was followed by six morenovels of which the last was released in 1959. This study is focused on the following threenovels from the early 50’s: Vattenpass (1950), Vide ung (1951) and Födelsenatt (1952). Thenovels depict working class women in their everyday struggle to make ends meet and femaleexperiences such as sex, rape, pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth are laid bare. The theoreticalbasis of the thesis is Sara Ahmed’s theory of emotions as actions, Toril Moi’s interpretation ofSimone de Beauvoir’s phenomenological understanding of what it means to be a woman, andBeverly Skeggs’ study of working-class women. Vulnerability is understood as relational andas corporal experiences that shape the depicted women’s understanding of themselves. Theanalyses are thematically structured and address vulnerability through experiences of poverty,sexuality, illness, and mothering. The thesis argues that the novels illustrate vulnerability as amotion that moves between the private and public sector. Vulnerability is depicted as limitedpossibilities and options but also as a source of agency. The women in the novels act, even inexposed situations such as illegal abortion. The novels demonstrate vulnerability as a state ofhelplessness and of productivity.

By conducting a case study of two diaconal institutions, Samariterhemmet in Uppsala/Sweden and the Evangelisches Diakoniewerk Schwäbisch Hall e.V. in Germany, the thesis compares the roles of church diaconal work within the Swedish and the German welfare system. These two systems are characterised by the different roles given to independent welfare organisations. The overarching research question is if and in which way the two diaconal institutions are effected by current changes within the field of welfare and how these changes challenge them to redefine their roles. The material analysed contains written documents, interviews with selected representatives and the results of participant observation in both institutions. As changes in the roles of independent welfare organisations were expected the results are unexpected. The two diaconal institutions show considerable persistence. Neither the orientation of their fields of work nor their own definitions of their roles within the welfare system have changed during the 1990s. In addition, the study reveals that both institutions regard themselves as a critical voice within the welfare system although their welfare engagement differs considerably. The German institution is a huge welfare provider while the Swedish institution conducts targeted initiatives. The analysis of four decisions within hospital work reveals that security of planning and freedom of action motivate the institutions to undertake responsibility for social services. The study points especially to the fields of education and research helping the institutions to maintain and to develop the diaconal profile. Altogether the results underline the need for more research on the meso-level of the third sector. This would contribute to a more nuanced discussion on the future role of independent welfare organisations within the Swedish and the German welfare system.