Before Sweden Was Social-Democratic
Swedish social democracy is often thought of as somehow eternal — the fruit of a solidaristic national culture, or even its historic homogeneity. But Sweden used to be just as unequal as other European countries — and making social democracy “normal” took a fight against what was once considered traditional.
The park Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, Sweden, circa 1900.Library of Congress
It’s easy to think of Sweden as synonymous with social democracy. For much of the twentieth century ruled by left-wing governments, the Scandinavian country still today enjoys world-leading public services, high wages, and extensive worker representation.
A certain common sense likes to present today’s welfarism as an expression of a deep-rooted culture of community and egalitarianism. Yet all this had to be fought for. In fact, until the late nineteenth century Sweden suffered extreme disparities of wealth and power in line with other European countries at a similar level of development.
Based on a “classic” indicator of Marxist analysis — the division of national income between labor and capital — Erik Bengtsson’s work focuses on how these inequalities have changed over Swedish history. His reading shows the vital role of labor’s mobilizations from the 1920s onward, and in particular its success in shortening working hours, in laying the basis for social democracy.
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