Förnuftet och folkhavet : Vetenskap och rörelse i den svenska marknadsretoriken för ideologisk förnyelse 1978–1983
(2026) In Studia Rhetorica Lundensia 11.- Abstract
- This dissertation examines rhetorical aspects of market-oriented political thought in Sweden during the turn towards market-liberalism during the 1970s and 1980s. While there is a vast body of literature that demonstrates the importance of employers’ organisations in the dissemination of market-liberal ideas in Sweden, less attention has been paid to the rhetorical aspects through which ideological renewal was carried out and political engagement was cultivated. The aim is to further explore how political ideologies can be understood as significant to political life, as well as what a rhetorical perspective can offer for such an understanding. To investigate rhetorical aspects of the ideological renewal for market-oriented political... (More)
- This dissertation examines rhetorical aspects of market-oriented political thought in Sweden during the turn towards market-liberalism during the 1970s and 1980s. While there is a vast body of literature that demonstrates the importance of employers’ organisations in the dissemination of market-liberal ideas in Sweden, less attention has been paid to the rhetorical aspects through which ideological renewal was carried out and political engagement was cultivated. The aim is to further explore how political ideologies can be understood as significant to political life, as well as what a rhetorical perspective can offer for such an understanding. To investigate rhetorical aspects of the ideological renewal for market-oriented political thought carried out by employers’ organisations in Sweden between 1978–1983, the dissertation focuses on two overarching directions of those efforts at ideological renewal: The scientific council of Ratio and the 4 October protest. Through these two cases, specificities of political thought oriented towards science and movement respectively is demonstrated. Through rhetorical-political analysis of published texts from Ratio and 4 October, the political thought investigated is both situated and evaluated in relation to their possibilities and limitations in the context of ideological renewal. The dissertation shows that the pictures of politics and society projected in the political thought manifested through scientific-theoretical modes of argumentation and more movement-oriented forms of political mobilisation, offered different ways of understanding what was central to political disputes of the period. Ultimately, the dissertation shows how a rhetorical perspective can illuminate the situated character of political thought, and that efforts at ideological renewal matter for those seeking to make a difference for a society’s political trajectory. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/ce27587c-37fa-47b6-8ebe-b82364a71cde
- author
- Sundby, Martin LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- lektor Kristine Marie Berg, Köbenhavns universitet
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-08-21
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Rhetoric, Political Ideologies, Ideological Renewal, Market-Liberalism, Political Mobilisation, Political Argument, Realist Style, Populist Style, Sweden, Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF), Timbro, Ratio, 4 October
- in
- Studia Rhetorica Lundensia
- volume
- 11
- pages
- 308 pages
- publisher
- Lunds universitet, Språk- och litteraturcentrum
- defense location
- LUX B152
- defense date
- 2026-09-18 09:00:00
- ISSN
- 2002-2018
- ISBN
- 978-91-90206-07-2
- 978-91-90206-06-5
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ce27587c-37fa-47b6-8ebe-b82364a71cde
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-20 11:39:05
- date last changed
- 2026-08-21 10:49:37
@phdthesis{ce27587c-37fa-47b6-8ebe-b82364a71cde,
abstract = {{This dissertation examines rhetorical aspects of market-oriented political thought in Sweden during the turn towards market-liberalism during the 1970s and 1980s. While there is a vast body of literature that demonstrates the importance of employers’ organisations in the dissemination of market-liberal ideas in Sweden, less attention has been paid to the rhetorical aspects through which ideological renewal was carried out and political engagement was cultivated. The aim is to further explore how political ideologies can be understood as significant to political life, as well as what a rhetorical perspective can offer for such an understanding. To investigate rhetorical aspects of the ideological renewal for market-oriented political thought carried out by employers’ organisations in Sweden between 1978–1983, the dissertation focuses on two overarching directions of those efforts at ideological renewal: The scientific council of Ratio and the 4 October protest. Through these two cases, specificities of political thought oriented towards science and movement respectively is demonstrated. Through rhetorical-political analysis of published texts from Ratio and 4 October, the political thought investigated is both situated and evaluated in relation to their possibilities and limitations in the context of ideological renewal. The dissertation shows that the pictures of politics and society projected in the political thought manifested through scientific-theoretical modes of argumentation and more movement-oriented forms of political mobilisation, offered different ways of understanding what was central to political disputes of the period. Ultimately, the dissertation shows how a rhetorical perspective can illuminate the situated character of political thought, and that efforts at ideological renewal matter for those seeking to make a difference for a society’s political trajectory.}},
author = {{Sundby, Martin}},
isbn = {{978-91-90206-07-2}},
issn = {{2002-2018}},
keywords = {{Rhetoric; Political Ideologies; Ideological Renewal; Market-Liberalism; Political Mobilisation; Political Argument; Realist Style; Populist Style; Sweden; Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF); Timbro; Ratio; 4 October}},
language = {{swe}},
month = {{08}},
publisher = {{Lunds universitet, Språk- och litteraturcentrum}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Studia Rhetorica Lundensia}},
title = {{Förnuftet och folkhavet : Vetenskap och rörelse i den svenska marknadsretoriken för ideologisk förnyelse 1978–1983}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/258658837/Martin_Sundby_-_avhandling.pdf}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2026}},
}