Rikard Westerberg

The political activity of Swedish business 1948-1984

Supervisors: Udo Zander, Hans Sjögren, Erik Lakomaa

Among business historians there is an increasing awareness of the importance of business interest associations. Considering these organizations’ influence on e.g. politics and the expansion of the welfare state it is indeed logical to use them as objects of study. Using archive material that have not been subject to prior academic research this PhD project studies a number of organizations set up by Swedish business from 1948 to 1984 to influence politics and public opinion. What role did they play in the formation of opinion during the post-war decades and what motivated their existence?
   As pointed out by previous research the Swedish business community’s attempts to influence politics, at least prior to the debate on wage earners funds during the latter part of the 1970’s, remains neglected to a large extent. This project aims at closing that research gap and also put developments in Sweden in an international perspective.

https://www.hhs.se/sv/forskning/Institutes/EHFF