Tomas Widing
Contact
Name and title: Tomas Widing
Workplace: Department of History Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room D858Universitetsvägen 10 D, plan 8 och 9
Postal address Historiska institutionen106 91 Stockholm
About me
I recieved my PhD in 2026 with the dissertation Social Reform or Revolution? The Communist Party of Sweden and the Peaceful Road to Socialism 1943–1953.
Research interests:
- Modern history
- Labour history
- Communism
- Anti-fascism
- Welfare policies
- I am a member of the urban history network Nordic Urban Welfare 1840–1940.
- I received my PhD in 2026 with the dissertation Social Reform or Revolution? The Communist Party of Sweden and the Peaceful Road to Socialism 1943–1953. The dissertation addresses the research problem of why left-wing revolutionary parties abandon the ambition to overthrow capitalist society and instead pursue reforms within it. It engages with Swedish scholarship on the reformist development of social democracy and develops a new analytical model drawing on social practice theory. However, rather than focusing on social democracy, the study examines the Communist Party of Sweden (SKP) between 1943 and 1953. This period saw the party adopt the 'peaceful road to socialism' and expand significantly in parliament, municipal politics, and the trade union movement, before subsequently losing its newly gained influence. Parliamentary politics, municipal politics, and the trade union movement are analysed as three distinct practices to which the SKP either adapted or attempted to transform (practice change). Based on extensive source material, including local-level studies, the dissertation shows that the SKP largely adapted to the practices in which it operated, while attempts at practice change were limited. At the same time, the effort to build a communist mass party is analysed as a potential bridge between everyday reform demands and the revolutionary objective. The dissertation thus provides a deeper understanding of the processes through which revolutionary parties gradually move in a reformist direction.
- Prior to my doctoral studies, I conducted research at both undergraduate and Master’s level on two antifascist organisations closely associated with the Communist Party of Sweden.
- Social Reform or Revolution? The Communist Party of Sweden and the Peaceful Road to Socialism 1943–1953 [Sociala reformer eller revolution? Sveriges kommunistiska parti och den fredliga vägen till socialismen 1943–1953], Diss. Department of History, Stockholm University, 2026.