Historisk Tidskrift. Utgiven av Svenska historiska föreningen
  Hem Aktuellt Tidigare nummer Bli Medlem Annonsera Om Historisk Tidskrift För skribenter Föreningen In English
 

Historisk tidskrift 124:2 • 2004

Innehåll (Contents) 2004:2

Uppsatser (Articles)

Konsumenten, producenten, medborgaren och staten – några konsumentpolitiska perspektiv på efterkrigstiden i Sverige och USA

Anna Eriksson-Trenter & Hanna Hodacs

Fulltext (pdf)

Summary

The Consumer, the Producer, the Citizen and the State – some Perspectives on the Politics of Consumption in Post-War Sweden and the United States

This article is concerned with the politics of consumption – in particular, the roles played by citizens (as consumers), the state, and producers, and how these have come to shape society in the 20th century. Influenced by two recently published North American studies, we highlight hitherto unexplored aspects of the Swedish post-war period. Our focus is on how civil and political processes helped to shape ideals and practices of consumer behaviour and how, in turn, these shape social and economic relations. We believe that such a perspective can enhance our understanding of the way power relations and values change, and can bridge the gap between the history of the Swedish Folkhem (i e the vision of an ideal home for all citizens) and contemporary history.

The article has two parts. In the first we discuss two recent studies, A Consumers’ Republic. The Politics of Mass Consumption in Post-war America by Lizabeth Cohen, and Food Politics. How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle. The common denominator of these books is their focus on the interaction between consumer bodies, producers and state bodies in the era of mass consumption. While Nestle’s study is limited to issues to do with food, nutrition and health, Cohen’s focus is wider. Her book can be read as a history of 20th century American society: the history of the mall and suburbia, of affluence and segregation.

In the second part of the paper we discuss the possibility of employing a perspective similar to that of Cohen and Nestle on the development of post-war Sweden. In contrast to many other parts of the western world, the organisation of consumer politics in Sweden has been highly influenced by the state. After the Second World War the state took the main initiative, founding public bodies dealing with consumer issues and absorbing old semi-private ones. The main aims were to establish product standards and to enlighten citizens in the art of consuming. Organisations, such as the Co-op, unions and producers’ groups were invited to contribute. As the Swedish historian Peder Aléx has shown, this project was very much directed by the state’s wish to create a Folkhem. Inspired by Cohen’s analytical approach – identifying different ideal types of consumers/ citizens and exploring how they dominated politics in different periods – we suggest that Swedish politics during the era of the Folkhem was directed by the idea of the educated consumer with predictable needs. How this ideal type evolved – against the backdrop of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, with its more tumultuous economic development and increasingly heterogeneous population – remains to be investigated. Nestle’s discussion of the influence of producers on consumer politics in the US raises questions about political representation and distribution of influence in Swedish public organisations. This is an issue which, we argue, would be interesting to investigate in an extended study, covering Sweden’s entrance into the EU and examining reactions to the recent discussion of globalisation and consumption.