Research project Private interests versus the common good. Swedish political conflicts on organizing public services

The project included five case studies: 1650, 1750, 1850, 1900 and the late 20th century respectively. The research has been divided in two parts; Magnus Linnarsson has studied debates in the Swedish Riksdag while Mats Hallenberg has focused on discussions among municipal authorities in the city of Stockholm. This made it possible to compare discourses from different political arenas, as well as over time.

The project’s results show that the notion of private gain has long been the subject of conflict and discussion. However, from circa 1850 a clear distinction between private and public began to emerge. This division became the basis for political intervention in the name of public interest, as the mixing of public and private interests was viewed as something to be avoided.

In the late twentieth century, a new notion of publicness was launched that placed individual freedom of choice before collective rights to equal access. This in turn, has produced a new mixture of private and public interest that has stirred up conflict on the relation between private profit and public service.

Go to the Swedish page for the project to find a list of publications