Linda Rönnberg
Biographic Data
| ID | 4084830 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Linda Rönnberg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Linda |
| FAMILY NAME | Rönnberg |
| SIGNATURE | RÖNNBERG L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Umeå University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0209-558X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Navigating legal discourses in quasi-markets
The education sector has been increasingly affected by legal discourse, new managerialism, litigation, burgeoning regulation and accountability involving inspections and audits, and rises in lawsuits. These processes have been described as juridification and have complex effects. In this paper we focus on juridification’s impact on preschool governance during times of increased privatisation in Sweden. We aim to unpack links between juridificatio…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
The Mobility-Immobility Continuum in Internationalised Higher Education
This article explores the themes of academic mobility/immobility in Swedish higher education. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, we provide an analysis of mobility decisions and experiences, across disciplinary fields and career stages. We identify narratives of transformative and pragmatic mobility experiences, and the (often high) costs involved in (im)mobility, in relation to career progression, emotional and relational dimensions of academics’ l…
Swinging Asymmetries
The international school sector is undergoing a shift toward nontraditional delivery, where for-profit companies are serving local populations instead ofexpatriates. Poole and Bunnell (2023) have presented three metaphors to theorize these changes, and our study seeks to expand on these with empirical evidence, through an analysis of what two Swedish school companies operating abroad conceive as “international” and “national” elements in their of…
Transforming Nordic early childhood education and care in times of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation
This special issue focuses on important facets of market-oriented reforms in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It aims to promote discussion on interlinked dimensions of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation in Nordic ECEC and their manifestations in policy, practice and outcomes. With contributions from authors in five Nordic countries, the articles in the special issue offer accounts of marketisation, including the …
(Re)configurations of public education
This article studies the (re)configurations of ‘public education’ in Norway and Sweden by empirically unpacking connections between marketisation, teacher professionalism and schools’ mandate to secure the individual rights of students and teachers. These countries share considerable common cultural and political history; however, they display varying trajectories and configurations in both educational policy and practice. This makes these cases …
Neoliberalism and managerial governance in the Swedish pre-school sector
Tax-funded private provision of welfare services in Sweden is among the most extensive in Europe. This paper focuses on a contradictory example of how discrepancies between neoliberal ideals and practice are embedded in the governance of Swedish preschool. Over time, national and local regulations in Sweden have become increasingly comprehensive and moved toward managerial systems. Using Alain Enthoven’s model of managed competition, and drawing …
We help Germany create greater equality.” Logics and rationales in exporting ‘Scandinavian’ early childhood education and care
This study targets hitherto largely understudied empirical processes and activities through which certain ideas and imaginaries are being commercialised and used by corporate actors in the global Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) industry.The aim is to analyse and critically discuss representations of the Scandinavian ECEC regime in the context of ECEC export.This is achieved empirically through a case study of a Swedish education company…
The local market makers
National policies aiming at marketisation and privatisation in welfare sectors such as Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) require governance and organisation to be realised. In Sweden, the municipalities are key but largely under-researched organisers for preschool quasi-market infrastructures. This study explores the different ways in which Swedish municipalities act as quasi-market organisers in the preschool setting. Following organisat…
Transcending borders in higher education
This article examines the national and European policy contexts that shaped the Swedish internationalisation agenda in higher education since 2000, the policy ideas that were mobilised to promote it, and the national priorities that steered higher education debates. The analysis highlights how domestic and European policy priorities, as well as discourses around increasing global economic reach and building solidarity across the world, have produ…
Pandemic Acceleration
With schools and universities closing across Europe, the Covid-19 lockdown left actors in the field of education battling with the unprecedented challenge of finding a meaningful way to keep the wheels of education turning online. The sudden need for digital solutions across the field of education resulted in the emergence of a variety of digital networks and collaborative online platforms. In this joint article from scholars around Europe, we ex…
How do we marry the two things together?’
This article focuses on a Swedish school company and its operations in India, examining how setting up and operating schools in another national place forge particular spatial imaginaries. It contributes to literature on the Global Education Industry by focusing on international moves of commercial non-Anglo-Saxon actors. Drawing on interviews and extensive fieldwork in India, we show how the ‘marriage’ between the global (represented by the Swed…
Reading the Internationalisation Imperative in Higher Education Institutions
Preparing Education Students for an International Future? Connecting Students’ Experience to Institutional Contexts
This article focuses on “internationalization at home” (IaH) for education students in Swedish Universities and its significance for their professional formation and future practice. We draw on research in two large institutions and explore the perceptions and experiences of internationalization of home students in education. We find that while the “intercultural” understanding of students is well developed, the international and intercultural di…
Combating low completion rates in Nordic welfare states
Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary education completion rates in Norway and Sweden, often regarded as representing a social democratic welfare…
The Emotional Politics of Quality Assurance Reform
From national policy-making to global edu-business
This study explores the movements of some Swedish former education policy-makers that are currently active as commercial edu-business actors with the ambition to expand in the Global Education Industry (GEI). The aim is to map and analyze how a selection of Swedish edu-preneurs affiliated with a particular Swedish school chain enter the GEI and thereby market both their commercialized services and the policy ideas about so-called free schools, in…
School inspection in Sweden
This paper aims to describe and highlight some important continuities and changes in the Swedish school inspection case, with particular emphasis on the justification and use of inspections as an enduring and recurring political instrument to govern education: what roles and functions have been assigned to the inspectorate in all its incarnations, what means of operations have been employed, and how can the continuities as well as the changes be …
In the public eye
This paper focuses on the dual dependencies apparent at the intersection of the media society and the audit society by empirically exploring and discussing the relationship between Swedish local newspaper coverage and school inspection activities. The research questions pertain to the Inspectorate's media strategy, how inspection is represented and conveyed, the messages sent, and who gets to speak. Literature on governance, and the role and func…
Mediating school inspection
This paper reports on an analysis of how school inspection in Sweden – its aims, directions and procedures – is portrayed in texts produced by the responsible national authorities. The study involves a textual analysis of official annual accounts and plans (texts directed to the government, municipalities, schools and the public) produced by the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. The analysis concentrates on key c…
Exploring the Intersection of Marketisation and Central State Control through Swedish National School Inspection
This article focuses on the role of the state in the context of an increasing market orientation in Swedish education policy. It asks if and how a market orientation and privatisation can be reconciled with attempts to reestablish central output control. The controlling function of the state is emphasised in the form of efforts to inspect both public and private schools. Drawing on the literature on governance, dealing with the “hollowing-out” an…
Education Governance by Marketisation and Quality Assurance – Introductory Notes
Every issue of Education Inquiry publishes peer-reviewed articles in one, two or three different sections. In the Open section, articles are sent in by authors as part of regular journal submissions and published after a blind review process. In the Thematic section, articles may reflect the theme of a conference or workshop and are published after a blind review process. We also have an Invited section featuring articles by researchers invited b…
From national policy-making to global edu-business
This study explores the movements of some Swedish former education policy-makers that are currently active as commercial edu-business actors with the ambition to expand in the Global Education Industry (GEI). The aim is to map and analyze how a selection of Swedish edu-preneurs affiliated with a particular Swedish school chain enter the GEI and thereby market both their commercialized services and the policy ideas about so-called free schools, in…
Exploring the Intersection of Marketisation and Central State Control through Swedish National School Inspection
This article focuses on the role of the state in the context of an increasing market orientation in Swedish education policy. It asks if and how a market orientation and privatisation can be reconciled with attempts to reestablish central output control. The controlling function of the state is emphasised in the form of efforts to inspect both public and private schools. Drawing on the literature on governance, dealing with the “hollowing-out” an…
Combating low completion rates in Nordic welfare states
Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary education completion rates in Norway and Sweden, often regarded as representing a social democratic welfare…
Mediating school inspection
This paper reports on an analysis of how school inspection in Sweden – its aims, directions and procedures – is portrayed in texts produced by the responsible national authorities. The study involves a textual analysis of official annual accounts and plans (texts directed to the government, municipalities, schools and the public) produced by the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. The analysis concentrates on key c…
The local market makers
National policies aiming at marketisation and privatisation in welfare sectors such as Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) require governance and organisation to be realised. In Sweden, the municipalities are key but largely under-researched organisers for preschool quasi-market infrastructures. This study explores the different ways in which Swedish municipalities act as quasi-market organisers in the preschool setting. Following organisat…
In the public eye
This paper focuses on the dual dependencies apparent at the intersection of the media society and the audit society by empirically exploring and discussing the relationship between Swedish local newspaper coverage and school inspection activities. The research questions pertain to the Inspectorate's media strategy, how inspection is represented and conveyed, the messages sent, and who gets to speak. Literature on governance, and the role and func…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
Neoliberalism and managerial governance in the Swedish pre-school sector
Tax-funded private provision of welfare services in Sweden is among the most extensive in Europe. This paper focuses on a contradictory example of how discrepancies between neoliberal ideals and practice are embedded in the governance of Swedish preschool. Over time, national and local regulations in Sweden have become increasingly comprehensive and moved toward managerial systems. Using Alain Enthoven’s model of managed competition, and drawing …
How do we marry the two things together?’
This article focuses on a Swedish school company and its operations in India, examining how setting up and operating schools in another national place forge particular spatial imaginaries. It contributes to literature on the Global Education Industry by focusing on international moves of commercial non-Anglo-Saxon actors. Drawing on interviews and extensive fieldwork in India, we show how the ‘marriage’ between the global (represented by the Swed…
The Emotional Politics of Quality Assurance Reform
Navigating legal discourses in quasi-markets
The education sector has been increasingly affected by legal discourse, new managerialism, litigation, burgeoning regulation and accountability involving inspections and audits, and rises in lawsuits. These processes have been described as juridification and have complex effects. In this paper we focus on juridification’s impact on preschool governance during times of increased privatisation in Sweden. We aim to unpack links between juridificatio…
Exploring the Intersection of Marketisation and Central State Control through Swedish National School Inspection
This article focuses on the role of the state in the context of an increasing market orientation in Swedish education policy. It asks if and how a market orientation and privatisation can be reconciled with attempts to reestablish central output control. The controlling function of the state is emphasised in the form of efforts to inspect both public and private schools. Drawing on the literature on governance, dealing with the “hollowing-out” an…
Education Governance by Marketisation and Quality Assurance – Introductory Notes
Every issue of Education Inquiry publishes peer-reviewed articles in one, two or three different sections. In the Open section, articles are sent in by authors as part of regular journal submissions and published after a blind review process. In the Thematic section, articles may reflect the theme of a conference or workshop and are published after a blind review process. We also have an Invited section featuring articles by researchers invited b…
Mediating school inspection
This paper reports on an analysis of how school inspection in Sweden – its aims, directions and procedures – is portrayed in texts produced by the responsible national authorities. The study involves a textual analysis of official annual accounts and plans (texts directed to the government, municipalities, schools and the public) produced by the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. The analysis concentrates on key c…
In the public eye
This paper focuses on the dual dependencies apparent at the intersection of the media society and the audit society by empirically exploring and discussing the relationship between Swedish local newspaper coverage and school inspection activities. The research questions pertain to the Inspectorate's media strategy, how inspection is represented and conveyed, the messages sent, and who gets to speak. Literature on governance, and the role and func…
School inspection in Sweden
This paper aims to describe and highlight some important continuities and changes in the Swedish school inspection case, with particular emphasis on the justification and use of inspections as an enduring and recurring political instrument to govern education: what roles and functions have been assigned to the inspectorate in all its incarnations, what means of operations have been employed, and how can the continuities as well as the changes be …
The Emotional Politics of Quality Assurance Reform
From national policy-making to global edu-business
This study explores the movements of some Swedish former education policy-makers that are currently active as commercial edu-business actors with the ambition to expand in the Global Education Industry (GEI). The aim is to map and analyze how a selection of Swedish edu-preneurs affiliated with a particular Swedish school chain enter the GEI and thereby market both their commercialized services and the policy ideas about so-called free schools, in…
Combating low completion rates in Nordic welfare states
Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary education completion rates in Norway and Sweden, often regarded as representing a social democratic welfare…
Preparing Education Students for an International Future? Connecting Students’ Experience to Institutional Contexts
This article focuses on “internationalization at home” (IaH) for education students in Swedish Universities and its significance for their professional formation and future practice. We draw on research in two large institutions and explore the perceptions and experiences of internationalization of home students in education. We find that while the “intercultural” understanding of students is well developed, the international and intercultural di…
Transcending borders in higher education
This article examines the national and European policy contexts that shaped the Swedish internationalisation agenda in higher education since 2000, the policy ideas that were mobilised to promote it, and the national priorities that steered higher education debates. The analysis highlights how domestic and European policy priorities, as well as discourses around increasing global economic reach and building solidarity across the world, have produ…
Pandemic Acceleration
With schools and universities closing across Europe, the Covid-19 lockdown left actors in the field of education battling with the unprecedented challenge of finding a meaningful way to keep the wheels of education turning online. The sudden need for digital solutions across the field of education resulted in the emergence of a variety of digital networks and collaborative online platforms. In this joint article from scholars around Europe, we ex…
How do we marry the two things together?’
This article focuses on a Swedish school company and its operations in India, examining how setting up and operating schools in another national place forge particular spatial imaginaries. It contributes to literature on the Global Education Industry by focusing on international moves of commercial non-Anglo-Saxon actors. Drawing on interviews and extensive fieldwork in India, we show how the ‘marriage’ between the global (represented by the Swed…
Reading the Internationalisation Imperative in Higher Education Institutions
We help Germany create greater equality.” Logics and rationales in exporting ‘Scandinavian’ early childhood education and care
This study targets hitherto largely understudied empirical processes and activities through which certain ideas and imaginaries are being commercialised and used by corporate actors in the global Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) industry.The aim is to analyse and critically discuss representations of the Scandinavian ECEC regime in the context of ECEC export.This is achieved empirically through a case study of a Swedish education company…
The local market makers
National policies aiming at marketisation and privatisation in welfare sectors such as Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) require governance and organisation to be realised. In Sweden, the municipalities are key but largely under-researched organisers for preschool quasi-market infrastructures. This study explores the different ways in which Swedish municipalities act as quasi-market organisers in the preschool setting. Following organisat…
Transforming Nordic early childhood education and care in times of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation
This special issue focuses on important facets of market-oriented reforms in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It aims to promote discussion on interlinked dimensions of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation in Nordic ECEC and their manifestations in policy, practice and outcomes. With contributions from authors in five Nordic countries, the articles in the special issue offer accounts of marketisation, including the …
(Re)configurations of public education
This article studies the (re)configurations of ‘public education’ in Norway and Sweden by empirically unpacking connections between marketisation, teacher professionalism and schools’ mandate to secure the individual rights of students and teachers. These countries share considerable common cultural and political history; however, they display varying trajectories and configurations in both educational policy and practice. This makes these cases …
Neoliberalism and managerial governance in the Swedish pre-school sector
Tax-funded private provision of welfare services in Sweden is among the most extensive in Europe. This paper focuses on a contradictory example of how discrepancies between neoliberal ideals and practice are embedded in the governance of Swedish preschool. Over time, national and local regulations in Sweden have become increasingly comprehensive and moved toward managerial systems. Using Alain Enthoven’s model of managed competition, and drawing …
Navigating legal discourses in quasi-markets
The education sector has been increasingly affected by legal discourse, new managerialism, litigation, burgeoning regulation and accountability involving inspections and audits, and rises in lawsuits. These processes have been described as juridification and have complex effects. In this paper we focus on juridification’s impact on preschool governance during times of increased privatisation in Sweden. We aim to unpack links between juridificatio…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
The Mobility-Immobility Continuum in Internationalised Higher Education
This article explores the themes of academic mobility/immobility in Swedish higher education. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, we provide an analysis of mobility decisions and experiences, across disciplinary fields and career stages. We identify narratives of transformative and pragmatic mobility experiences, and the (often high) costs involved in (im)mobility, in relation to career progression, emotional and relational dimensions of academics’ l…
Swinging Asymmetries
The international school sector is undergoing a shift toward nontraditional delivery, where for-profit companies are serving local populations instead ofexpatriates. Poole and Bunnell (2023) have presented three metaphors to theorize these changes, and our study seeks to expand on these with empirical evidence, through an analysis of what two Swedish school companies operating abroad conceive as “international” and “national” elements in their of…
Political science (21 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Economics (11 works) · Public relations (11 works) · Global Educational Policies and Reforms (10 works) · Public Administration (10 works) · Higher education (8 works) · Pedagogy (8 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Corporate governance (7 works)