No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Dynamics of Policy and Politics: Politics of Unemployment in Sweden during the Interwar Period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2022
Abstract
Inspired by the theoretical perspective that “new policies create a new politics,” this paper explores how unemployment policies affected the politics of tripartite relations in Sweden during the interwar period. After the economic depression of 1920, strike activities began to decrease. Our panel data analysis finds that after 1920, the strength of the relationship between unemployment and strike activities decreased substantially. Historical interpretations complement statistical analysis. In the 1920s, the implementation of unemployment policies entailed the following feedback effects: First, the state reinforced its capacities, gaining increasingly firm control over strike activities. Second, the union movement was plunged into internal conflicts. In contrast to the arguments of power resources theory and the theory of cross-class coalition, neither the empowerment of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SAP) nor employers’ lockouts induced the Confederation of Labor Unions (LO) to turn towards concertation. Rather, this turnaround occurred in the 1920s while LO coped with the feedback effects engendered endogenously in processes of the implementation of unemployment policies.
Résumé
Inspiré par la perspective théorique selon laquelle « les nouvelles politiques publiques créent une nouvelle vie politique », cet article explore comment les politiques de l’emploi ont affecté la vie politique et les relations tripartites en Suède pendant l’entre-deux-guerres. Après la crise économique de 1920, les activités de grève ont commencé à diminuer. Notre analyse de données longitudinales révèle qu’après 1920, la force de la relation entre le chômage et les activités de grève a considérablement diminué. Les interprétations historiques complètent l’analyse statistique. Dans les années 1920, la mise en œuvre des politiques de lutte contre le chômage a entraîné les effets de rétroaction suivants : premièrement, l’État a renforcé ses capacités, acquérant un contrôle de plus en plus ferme sur les activités de grève. Deuxièmement, le mouvement syndical a été plongé dans des conflits internes. Contrairement aux arguments de la théorie des ressources de pouvoir et de la théorie de la coalition interclasse, ni l’autonomisation du Parti ouvrier social-démocrate (SAP) ni les lock-out patronaux n’ont incité la Confédération des unions de travailleurs (LO) à se tourner vers la concertation. Ce revirement s’est plutôt produit dans les années 1920 alors que la LO faisait face aux effets de rétroaction engendrés de manière endogène dans les processus de mise en œuvre des politiques de chômage.
Zusammenfassung
Ausgehend von der theoretischen Perspektive, dass „neue Politiken eine neue Politik schaffen“, wird in diesem Beitrag untersucht, wie sich die Arbeitslosenpolitik auf die Politik der dreiseitigen Beziehungen im Schweden der Zwischenkriegszeit auswirkte. Nach der Wirtschaftsdepression von 1920 gingen die Streikaktivitäten zurück. Unsere Längsschnittanalyse zeigt, dass die nachhaltige Beziehung zwischen Arbeitslosigkeit und Streikaktivitäten nach 1920 erheblich abnahm. Historische Interpretationen ergänzen die statistische Analyse. Die Umsetzung der Arbeitslosenpolitik der 1920er Jahre führte zu folgenden Rückkopplungseffekten: Erstens verstärkte der Staat seine Kapazitäten, mit einer zunehmenden Kontrolle der Streikbewegungen. Zweitens war die Gewerkschaftsbewegung in interne Konflikte verwickelt. Im Gegensatz zu den Argumenten der Machtressourcentheorie und der Theorie der klassenübergreifenden Koalition haben weder das Erstarken der Sozialdemokratischen Arbeiterpartei (SAP) noch die Aussperrungen der Arbeitgeber den Gewerkschaftsbund (LO) zu einer konzertierten Aktion veranlasst. Vielmehr vollzog sich dieser Umschwung in den 1920er Jahren, als der LO sich mit den Rückkoppelungseffekten auseinandersetzen musste, die sich endogen aus den Prozessen der Umsetzung der Arbeitslosenpolitik ergaben.
Keywords
Industrial RelationsUnemployment PolicyFeedback EffectsPanel Data MethodHistorical InterpretationsRelations industriellesPolitique de l’emploiEffets de rétroactionMéthodes longitudinalesInterprétations historiquesIndustrielle BeziehungenArbeitslosenpolitikRückkopplungseffekteLängsschnittuntersuchungenhistorische Interpretationen
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , August 2022 , pp. 279 - 320
- Copyright
- © European Journal of Sociology 2022
Footnotes
Dong-Kun Kim at Ajou University, Jong-Hee Park at Seoul National University, and Hyeok-Yong Kwon at Korea University provided with invaluable comments on my statistical analysis.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abbott, Andrew, 1997. “On the Concept of Turning Point,” Comparative Social Research, 16: 85–105.Google Scholar
AK (Statens Arbetslöshetskommission), 1929. Det svenska samhället och arbetslösheten 1914-1924 (Stockholm, Isaac Marcus).Google Scholar
AK, 1937. Statens arbetslöshetskommissions berättelse 1925-1934 (Stockholm, Issac Marcus).Google Scholar
Ashenfelter, Orley and Johnson, George E., 1969. “Bargaining Theory, Trade Unions, and Industrial Strike Activity,” American Economic Review, 59 (1): 35–49.Google Scholar
Baumann, Robert and Schap, David, 2015. “Medical Net Discount Rates: Updated and Re-examined,” Journal of Forensic Economics, 26 (1): 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, Harrison, 1941. Swedish Unemployment Policy 1914-1920 (Washington D.C., American Council on Public Affairs).Google Scholar
Edgren, Lars and Olsson, Lars, 1991. “Arbetare och arbetareliv,” in Misgeld, Klaus and Åmark, Klas, eds, Arbetsliv och arbetarrörelse (Stockholm, Arbetarrörelsens arkiv och bibliotek: 7–26).Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel, 1979. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York, Vintage Book).Google Scholar
Franzosi, Roberto, 1995. The Puzzle of Strikes (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fridlizius, Gunna, 1963. “Sweden’s Exports 1850-1960. A Study in Perspective,” Economy and History, 6: 3–100.Google Scholar
Fulcher, James, 1987. “Labour Movement Theory versus Corporatism: Social Democracy in Sweden,” Sociology, 21 (2): 231–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustafsson, Bo, 1974. “Perspektiv på de offentliga sektorn under 1930-talet,” in Nilsson, S. A., Hildebrand, K.-G., and Öhngren, B., eds, Kriser och krispolitik i Norden under mellankrigstiden (Uppsala, Almqvisk & Wiksell: 105–154).Google Scholar
Hadenius, Stig, Molin, Björn and Wieslander, Hans, 1988. Sverige efter 1900, 11th ed. (Stockholm, Bonniers).Google Scholar
Hamark, Jesper, 2018. “From Peak to Trough: Swedish Strikes and Lockouts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century,” Workers of the World, 1 (9): 137–166.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh, 1974. Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden (New Haven, Yale University Press).Google Scholar
Höglund, Sten, 1979. En fallstudie i organisationsförändring. (University of Umå, Research Reports from the Department of Sociology).Google Scholar
Huber, Evelyne and Stephens, John D., 2001. Development and Crisis of the Welfare State (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ibsen, Christian Lyhne and Thelen, Kathleen A., 2017, “Diverging Solidarity. Labor Strategies in the New Knowledge Economy,” World Politics, 69 (3): 409–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, Torben and Soskice, David, 2015. “Politics for Markets,” Journal of European Economic Social Policy, 25 (1): 76–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, Torben and Stephens, John D., 2008. “Partisan Politics, the Welfare State, and Three Worlds of Human Capital Formation,” Comparative Political Studies, 41(4/5): 600–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Järte, Otto and Koch, Fabian von, 1926. “Arbetslöshetspolitik 1914-1924,” in Hecksher, Eli, ed., Bidrag till Sveriges ekonomiska och sociala historia under och after världskriget (Stockholm, Norstedt & Söner: 292–348).Google Scholar
Johansson, Anders L. and Magnusson, Lars, 1998. LO andra halvseklet (Media Print AB, Uddevalla).Google Scholar
Kjellberg, Anders, 1998. “Sweden: Restoring the Model?,” in Ferner, Anthony and Hyman, Richard, eds, Changing Industrial Relations in Europe (Oxford, Blackwell: 74–117).Google Scholar
Korpi, Walter, 1978. The Working Class in Welfare State Capitalism (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul).Google Scholar
Korpi, Walter, 2002. “The Great Trough in Unemployment: A Long-Term View of Unemployment, Inflation, Strikes, and the Profit/Wage Ratio,” Politics & Society, 30 (3): 365–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korpi, Walter, 2006. “Power Resources and Employer-Centered Approaches in Explanations of Welfare States and Varieties of Capitalism. Protagonists, Consenters, and Antagonists,” World Politics, 58 (2): 168–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewin, Leif, Jansson, Bo and Sörbom, Dag, 1972. The Swedish Electorate 1887-1968 (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell).Google Scholar
Lindqvist, Mats, 1994. Klasskamrater. Om industriellt arbete och kulturell formation, 1880-1920 (Stockholm, Carlsson).Google Scholar
LO, 1928a. Protokoll fört vid sammanträde med representanter för Landssekretariatet, Kommunalarbetre- och Grov- och Fabriksarbetreförbundens Styrelser, 8 Februari 1928 (Stockholm, LO Arkiv).Google Scholar
LO, 1928b. Protokoll fört vid sammanträde med representanter för Landssekretariatet, Kommunalarbetre- och Grov- och Fabriksarbetreförbundens Styrelser, 8 Februari 1928 (Stockholm, LO Arkiv).Google Scholar
LO, 1936. Protokoll, fört vid Landssekretariatets sammanträde den 13 januari 1936 (Stockholm, LO Arkiv).Google Scholar
Magnusson, Lars, 1987. Arbetet vid en svensk verkstad. Munktells 1900-1920 (Lund, Arkiv).Google Scholar
Mahoney, James, 2000. “Path Dependence in Historical Sociology,” Theory and Society, 29 (4): 507–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molinder, Jakob, Karlsson, Tobias and Enflo, Kerstin, 2019. “The Power Resource Theory Revisited: What Explains the Decline in Industrial Conflicts in Sweden?,” Lund Papers in Economic History, 207: 1–38.Google Scholar
Molinder, Jakob, 2021. “More Power to the People: Electricity Adoption, Technological Change, and Labor Conflict,” The Journal of Economic History, 81 (2): 481–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson Lennart, K., 1975. Syndikalismen i Sverige 1903-1922 (Stockholm, Federativs Förlag).Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul, 1993. “When Effect Becomes Cause. Policy Feedback and Political Change,” World Politics, 45 (4): 595–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, Paul, 2000. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics,” American Political Science Review, 94 (2): 251–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scharpf Fritz, W., 1991. Crisis and Choice in European Social Democracy (Ithaca, Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Schattschneider, Elmer E., 1935. Politics, Pressures and the Tariff (New York, Prentice-Hall).Google Scholar
Schunck, Reinhard, 2013. “Within and Between Estimates in Random-Effects Models: Advantages and Drawbacks of Correlated Random Effects and Hybrid Models,” The Stata Journal, 13 (1): 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skarin-Frykman, Birgitta, 1987. Från yrkesgemenskap till klassgemenskap. Om bagare i Göteborg 1800-1919 (Göteborg, University of Gothenberg).Google Scholar
SKF (Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet), 1934. Historik över Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundets verksamhet beträfande nöhjälpsarbetarfrågan åren 1919-1933 (Stockholm, Tiden).Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda, 1992. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, Harvard University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Söderpalm, Sven Anders, 1975. “The Crisis Agreement and the Social Democratic Road to Power,” in Koblik, Steven, ed., Sweden’s Development from Poverty to Affluence 1750-1970 (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press: 258–278).Google Scholar
SOS (Sveriges Officiella Statistik), 1909a. Arbetsstatistik E: 1. “Arbetsinställelser under åren 1859-1902 ” (Stockholm, P.A. Nordstedt & Söner).Google Scholar
SOS, 1909b. Arbetsstatistik E: 1. “Arbetsinställelser under åren 1903-1907 ” (Stockholm, P.A. Nordstedt & Söner)Google Scholar
SOS, 1913. Arbetsinställelser i Sverige under år 1912 (Stockholm, P. A. Nordstedt & Söner).Google Scholar
SOS, 1972. Historisk statistik för Sverige. Del 3. Utrikeshandel 1732-1970 (Stockholm, Allmänna Förlaget).Google Scholar
SOU (Statens Offentliga Utredningar), 1931: 20. Arbetslöshetensutredningens betankänkande I, Arbetslöshetens omffatning, karaktär och orsaker (Stockholm, Norstedt & Söner).Google Scholar
SOU, 1936: 32. Svenskarbetslöshetspolitik åren 1914-1936 (Stockholm, Norstedt & Söner).Google Scholar
Swenson, Peter, 1991. “Bringing Capital Back In, or Social Democracy Reconsidered,” World Politics, 43 (4): 513–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swenson, Peter, 2002. Capitalists against Markets: The Making of Labor Markets and Welfare States in the United States and Sweden (New York, Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swenson, Peter, 2004. “Varieties of Capitalist Interests: Power, Institutions, and Regulatory State in the United States and Sweden,” Studies in American Political Development, 18 (1): 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, Kathleen, 2012. “Varieties of Capitalism: Trajectories of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity,” Annual Review of Political Science, 15: 137–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tingsten, Herbert, 1941. Den Svenska socialdemokratins utveckling II (Stockholm, Tiden).Google Scholar
Unga, Nils, 1976. Socialdemokratin och arbetslöshetsfrågan 1912-1934 (Stockholm, Arkiv).Google Scholar
Wooldridge, Jeffry M., 2002. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data (Cambridge, MIT Press).Google Scholar
Zivot, Eric and Andrews, Donald W., 1992. “Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis,” Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 10 (3): 251–270.Google Scholar