The Capitalist State and the Construction of Civil Society: Public Funding and the Regulation of Popular Education in Sweden, 1870–1991

·
· Springer
Ebook
208
Pages

About this ebook

This book challenges the idea that a sharp boundary should be drawn between the state and civil society. Although this idea is extremely common in modern capitalist societies, here it is turned on its head through a study of the ways in which public funding from the 1870s to the 1990s has enabled and shaped collective action in Swedish popular education. Popular education has generally been seen as independent of government control, with strong connections to popular and labour movements; in this volume, Berg and Edquist narrate a new story of its rise by analysing how a government grant system was constructed to drive its development. A key element in this government policy was to create and protect popular education as an autonomous phenomenon, yet making it perform state functions by regulating its bureaucratic make-up and ideological content. The book will appeal to scholars and students of history, education, and sociology, particularly those with an interest in the workings of the capitalist state as well as the history of education.

About the author

Anne Berg is Senior Lecturer in Education at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her current research focus is on the history of education.

Samuel Edquist is Senior Lecturer in Archives, Libraries, and Museums studies at Uppsala University, Sweden. His current research focusses on archives in relations to societal ideas and debates on cultural heritage and privacy.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.