Swedish business as a social movement? Mobilising the masses against wage-earner funds, 1975–1991

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6043763
AutoresRikard Westerberg (0000-0002-6480-6623, Stockholm School of Economics, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen67
Número4
Páginas1043-1062
Fecha de publicación2025-05-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBusiness History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0007-6791 • E-ISSN: 1743-7938
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00076791.2023.2298360
OpenAlexW4390909185
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas30

In 1975, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation proposed transferring ownership of firms to union-controlled wage-earner funds.This radical idea was met with fierce resistance from Swedish business and was watered down by the Social Democratic Party upon implementation in 1984.PR campaigns opposing the funds initiated by the Swedish Employer Confederation centred around public rallies and, according to the organisers, in the 1980s these evolved into an 'anti-socialistic movement' .During a decade in which Western business interests advocated heavily for market-based reforms, the campaigns became a unifying issue for the Swedish business community.Drawing on theories on business-backed activism and protest movements, this article discusses the unique case of how Swedish employers borrowed tactics typically associated with organised labour for large-scale public mobilisation.This movement was enabled by a combination of genuine public discontent and the employers' organisational and financial resources, even though it lost momentum over time

Democracy · Economics · Labour economics · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Trade union · Wage · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies