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.
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