Kampanjen mot atomvapen och det tidiga 1960-talets svenska protestrepertoar
(2024) In Scandia 90(1). p.85-114- Abstract
- A new social movement was formed in Sweden in 1961: Kampanjen mot atomvapen (KMA, “The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament”). Opposing the military’s plans to acquire Swedish nuclear bombs and protesting against the escalating tensions of the Cold War, KMA in the years 1961‒1963 rallied young people and students and introduced several new forms of collective political actions in the Swedish repertoire of contention. One example was peace or disarmament marches between Swedish cities while another consisted of illegal sit-downs. This article analyzes these new forms of collective action, focusing on the question of how they spread to Sweden. It is here argued that KMA must be seen as a Swedish part of a broad, transnational social movement... (More)
- A new social movement was formed in Sweden in 1961: Kampanjen mot atomvapen (KMA, “The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament”). Opposing the military’s plans to acquire Swedish nuclear bombs and protesting against the escalating tensions of the Cold War, KMA in the years 1961‒1963 rallied young people and students and introduced several new forms of collective political actions in the Swedish repertoire of contention. One example was peace or disarmament marches between Swedish cities while another consisted of illegal sit-downs. This article analyzes these new forms of collective action, focusing on the question of how they spread to Sweden. It is here argued that KMA must be seen as a Swedish part of a broad, transnational social movement against nuclear weapons in the years around 1960. The most important national branch of this movement was the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) formed in the late 1950s. Swedish activists travelled to London and participated in CND activities, learning how to organize “easter marches” for disarmament as well as sit-downs. Back in Sweden, they adopted these new forms of collective action (and were, in turn, visited by British as well as Danish activists). For example, they arranged illegal sit-downs outside the Soviet Embassy in Stockholm to protest atmospheric nuclear bomb tests in the fall of 1961 and organized peace marches to military facilities in the vicinity of the capital as well as from the city of Södertälje to Stockholm. KMA also used the same symbols as CND, such as the by now well-known circular peace symbol designed by British artist Gerald Holtom. This means that not only new forms of collective action were introduced but also new political identities and ways of organizing new forms of social movements. In turn, this turns KMA into an important precursor of the broader (and more studied) radicalization of Swedish youth in the late 1960s. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- 1961 grundades en ny social rörelse i Sverige. Den fick namnet Kampanjen mot atomvapen (KMA) och var en svensk gren av en internationell, gränsöverskridande rörelse som startat året innan med bas i Västeuropa. Målet med rörelsen var att få supermakterna att avrusta sina kärnvapenrörelser och, för svensk del, att få Sverige att upphöra med sitt pågående kärnvapenprogram. I Sverige spelade KMA en viktig roll för det tidiga 1960-talets politiska kultur på två sätt. För det första mobiliserade rörelsen tonåringar och studenter, grupper som senare skulle bli viktiga i den vänsterinriktade sextiotalsradikaliseringen. För det andra introducerade KMA nya sätt att göra politik på i det svenska offentliga gaturummet. Till exempel genomförde rörelsen... (More)
- 1961 grundades en ny social rörelse i Sverige. Den fick namnet Kampanjen mot atomvapen (KMA) och var en svensk gren av en internationell, gränsöverskridande rörelse som startat året innan med bas i Västeuropa. Målet med rörelsen var att få supermakterna att avrusta sina kärnvapenrörelser och, för svensk del, att få Sverige att upphöra med sitt pågående kärnvapenprogram. I Sverige spelade KMA en viktig roll för det tidiga 1960-talets politiska kultur på två sätt. För det första mobiliserade rörelsen tonåringar och studenter, grupper som senare skulle bli viktiga i den vänsterinriktade sextiotalsradikaliseringen. För det andra introducerade KMA nya sätt att göra politik på i det svenska offentliga gaturummet. Till exempel genomförde rörelsen sittblockader utanför Sovjetunionens ambassad i protest mot atmosfäriska kärnvapentester. KMA arrangerade också så kallade pingstmarscher i protest mot kärnvapen, en aktionsform som de svenska deltagarna fått inspiration till genom att delta i liknande marscher i Storbritannien och Danmark. I artikeln undersöks KMA som en gränsöverskridande social rörelse i ett tidigt 1960-tal som för svensk del är relativt outforskat, men då många nya politiska idéer och aktionsformer introducerades ‒ ofta med inspiration från andra länder. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a5aae03d-4e7e-4e70-acd6-ff733b7f5374
- author
- Ericsson, Martin LU and Gustafsson, Jenny
- organization
- alternative title
- The Swedish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Introduction of a New Repertoire of Contention in the 1960s
- publishing date
- 2024-05-22
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Compaign for Nuclear Disarmament,, transnational social movements, Sweden, 1960s
- in
- Scandia
- volume
- 90
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 85 - 114
- publisher
- Stiftelsen Scandia
- ISSN
- 0036-5483
- DOI
- 10.47868/scandia.v90i1.26313
- project
- Kampanjen mot atomvapen 1961-1967: Protestrepertoar och världsbild
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a5aae03d-4e7e-4e70-acd6-ff733b7f5374
- date added to LUP
- 2024-05-22 09:42:46
- date last changed
- 2024-05-30 12:41:03
@article{a5aae03d-4e7e-4e70-acd6-ff733b7f5374,
abstract = {{A new social movement was formed in Sweden in 1961: Kampanjen mot atomvapen (KMA, “The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament”). Opposing the military’s plans to acquire Swedish nuclear bombs and protesting against the escalating tensions of the Cold War, KMA in the years 1961‒1963 rallied young people and students and introduced several new forms of collective political actions in the Swedish repertoire of contention. One example was peace or disarmament marches between Swedish cities while another consisted of illegal sit-downs. This article analyzes these new forms of collective action, focusing on the question of how they spread to Sweden. It is here argued that KMA must be seen as a Swedish part of a broad, transnational social movement against nuclear weapons in the years around 1960. The most important national branch of this movement was the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) formed in the late 1950s. Swedish activists travelled to London and participated in CND activities, learning how to organize “easter marches” for disarmament as well as sit-downs. Back in Sweden, they adopted these new forms of collective action (and were, in turn, visited by British as well as Danish activists). For example, they arranged illegal sit-downs outside the Soviet Embassy in Stockholm to protest atmospheric nuclear bomb tests in the fall of 1961 and organized peace marches to military facilities in the vicinity of the capital as well as from the city of Södertälje to Stockholm. KMA also used the same symbols as CND, such as the by now well-known circular peace symbol designed by British artist Gerald Holtom. This means that not only new forms of collective action were introduced but also new political identities and ways of organizing new forms of social movements. In turn, this turns KMA into an important precursor of the broader (and more studied) radicalization of Swedish youth in the late 1960s.}},
author = {{Ericsson, Martin and Gustafsson, Jenny}},
issn = {{0036-5483}},
keywords = {{Compaign for Nuclear Disarmament,; transnational social movements; Sweden; 1960s}},
language = {{swe}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{85--114}},
publisher = {{Stiftelsen Scandia}},
series = {{Scandia}},
title = {{Kampanjen mot atomvapen och det tidiga 1960-talets svenska protestrepertoar}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.47868/scandia.v90i1.26313}},
doi = {{10.47868/scandia.v90i1.26313}},
volume = {{90}},
year = {{2024}},
}