The article discusses the emergence and criticism of norm-critical pedagogy in Sweden and thedevelopment of the concept in relation to the societal contexts in which it has evolved, contextswhich has had significance for how norm-critical pedagogy has come to be interpreted and used.The article is partly built on arguments put forward in the anthology Norm critical pedagogy –perspectives, challenges and opportunities (Björkman & Bromseth, 2019) and on a study of texts fromthe Swedish National Agency for Education that includes norm-critical pedagogy (Hill, forthcoming).The ambition is to contribute to the Nordic discussion regarding the practice and developmentof norm-critical pedagogy.

The point of departure of the present thesis is the Swedish men’s movement that was formed in the mid-1970s. In the wake of the second wave of the women’s movement and its success, an increasing number of men started to question their own position in society. Men formed men’s groups and went to men’s camps. In 1978 the society Befria mannen (‘Liberate the Man’) was formed, whose goal was to contribute to abolishing gender roles and at the same time support the women’s struggle. This society is the main source of the thesis. Other important actors that are studied are Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (RFSU ‘the National Swedish association for Sexual Information’) and independent debaters about the male role issue. The theoretical point of departure of the thesis has been taken from theories about hegemonic masculinity, unmanliness and heteronormativity.

The thesis analyses the men’s movement’s development from a chiefly pro-feminist orientation to a movement assuming an antagonistic attitude to the women’s movement. In parallel with this development there was also a change in the view of masculinity. From having embraced gender role theory, in which gender roles were seen as culturally constructed and dysfunctional, the men in the men’s movement went on to assert the importance of their own masculinity. They had thereby adopted the ideology of gender difference, an ideology that had had become increasingly common throughout society in the 1980s.

Concurrently with changes in the men’s movement, a change in the reception of the movement is also discernible. The initially enthusiastic reception in the media changed into a critical and sometimes disparaging attitude. By questioning hegemonic masculinity ideals, the men’s movement had challenged the existing gender order. The men were more and more often stereotyped and characterized as “unmanly” and “feminine”. This gave rise to a fear of not appearing as a “real man” at the same time as norms for what was the right and natural way of being a man were produced and reproduced.

The men’s movement’s statements and practices may on the one hand be considered subversive. Merely by acting differently, they showed that it was possible to exist in different ways and that masculinity was not a stable and unchangeable phenomenon.

But the criticism against them and the definition of them as unmanly also gave rise to fear. The fear of being labelled as a velour daddy and softy may therefore also have served to consolidate the norms for masculinity and for who should be regarded as a “real man”.

Artikeln granskar Skolverkets rekommendationer och råd om att använda normkritik och normkritisk pedagogik i arbetet med att främja lika villkor samt förebygga och förhindra diskriminering och trakasserier i skola och förskola. Med utgångspunkt i en poststrukturalistisk förståelse av policy och politisk styrning analyseras Skolverkstexter mellan 2009 och 2014 med hjälp av Carol Bacchis och Susan Goodwins analysmetod ”What’s the problem represented to be” (WPR). Resultatet visar att normkritik ofta framställs som en ”teknik” som ska ”införas” och att det både är ”lätt” och ”enkelt” och normkritik beskrivs som ett ”vaccin” mot diskriminering. Det problem som konstrueras och tas för givet i texterna är att lärare och elever är omedvetna om de normer som existerar och att skapa medvetande om normer blir därför en viktig metod (teknik). Det underliggande förgivettagandet är att alla, såväl lärare som elever, har samma intresse av att omvandla diskriminerande normer liksom att de har samma syn på vad som är diskriminerande normer. Därmed synliggörs inte maktrelationer eller ojämlika strukturella villkor.

Begrepp som interkulturalitet och interkulturell undervisning har länge förts fram som en viktig grund för undervisning och utbildning. Där begreppet mångkultur ofta har kritiserats, bland annat för att essentialisera kulturer och befästa en syn på kulturer som klart åtskilda och statiska har interkulturalitet förts fram som ett alternativ som snarare fokuserar på ömsesidigt samarbete och processer mellan kulturer.

Liknande kritik som har riktats mot mångkultur har dock även riktats mot begreppet interkulturalitet. Samtidigt menar många forskare att begreppet inrymmer något viktigt som det är värt att bevara och hålla fast vid men på samma gång hela tiden utveckla och hålla levande. Södertörns högskolas lärarutbildning har i många år haft en interkulturell profil och här diskuterar lärare och forskare begreppet interkulturalitet från en rad olika perspektiv.

Författarna tar utgångspunkt i egna erfarenheter av undervisning på lärarutbildningen såväl som i pågående forskningsprojekt. Texterna behandlar vitt skilda områden som vad interkulturalitet betyder för lärarprofessionen, interkulturalitet i relation till de nationella minoriteterna, Sverige som ett mångreligiöst samhälle, interkulturalitet i en specifik lärarsituation samt begreppets historiska rötter. Den gemensamma tråden är dock att de alla diskuterar och reflekterar över vad interkulturalitet kan betyda och hur det kan förstås liksom dess relevans för en utbildning som tar utgångspunkt i alla barns och elevers lika värde och villkor.

During the 1980s, a number of new protest movements emerged that protested against the welfare state and right-wing politics. Influenced by punk, anarchism and the libertarian left, activists often met in so-called autonomous social centers. In many European countries, resistance became contentious, but resistance also took the form of everyday practices. The aim of this article is to study political resistance in the 1980s Sweden, carried out by the cultural association Ultra between 1980 and 1988. Based on theories of everyday resistance, contentious politics and prefigurative politics, ideas, and practices in Ultrahuset (the Ultra house) are examined. I study how the everyday resistance developed toward a more contentious resistance, as the relationship with the local authorities changed, and how the concept of prefigurative politics contributes to an understanding of the relationship between everyday practices and resistance. Source material consists of texts and illustrations produced in Ultrahuset, media material and interviews with former members. The result show that the activism in Ultrahuset can be understood as a way of doing prefigurative politics through everyday resistance, but also that during the 1980s, when the relation between Ultra and the surrounding society changed, the resistance also changed, becoming more outward-looking and contentious.

Under 1960- och 70-talet uppkom en rad nya sociala och politiska vänsterrörelser som arbetade för revolution och jämlikhet i det svenska samhället. Det visade sig snart att de nya rörelserna i hög grad dominerades av män och att det var män som satte den politiska agendan. På 1970-talet var kritiken från exempelvis den nya kvinnorörelsen hård och åtskilliga kvinnor har vittnat om den mansdominans som rådde i de revolutionära rörelserna. Samtidigt fanns det en rad kvinnor som förstökte bedriva kvinnokamp inom vänsterns organisationer, men de möttes ofta av motstånd. I Revolutionärer. Kön klass och kvinnokamp i svensk 1970-talsvänster undersöks kvinnokamp, maskulinitet och feminitet inom den revolutionära vänstern och Hill diskuterar i vilken utsträckning manliga revolutionära arbetarklassideal hade betydelse för och satte gränser för den politik som utvecklades. 

This edited volume discusses the emergence and development, and in some cases also the disappearance, of social movements and activism in the Swedish 1980s. The introductory chapter gives the background and aim of the volume and discusses why the Swedish case is interesting from a European perspective. The 1980s have often been described as a decade when the radical social movements of the 1960s and 1970s lost their influence in society and instead, right-wing politics and neoliberalism gained increasingly more impact in many parts of the world. However, this image needs to be problematized, since the decade encompassed a number of social movements that opposed the political development and protested against neoliberal and conservative politics. This introductory chapter discusses the historical background to the development in Sweden and argues that the ideas of a Swedish exceptionalism and development through consensus needs to be problematized. Contentious social movements have had an important role in democratization processes of Scandinavian societies. The chapter describes the right-wing wave that took place during the 1980s but also the many protests and resistance that occurred against it. It also discusses the importance of complex and multidimensional historiographies. This is followed by a section on political development during the 1980s, both internationally and in Sweden, and what new social movements emerged during the decade. After that, we describe key concepts and theories in research on social movements that some or all contributions engage with. Finally, the common thread in the anthology’s contributions and their main content is described. 

This open access book discusses the emergence and development, and in some cases also the disappearance, of social movements and activism in Sweden during the 1980s. Its aim is to nuance and problematize the image of the 1980s as unilaterally dominated by right-wing politics and neoliberalism, as well as the idea of a conflict-free Scandinavian model. The 1980s have often been described as a period when the influence of radical-left movements during the 1970s diminished. Instead, this book argues that the 1980s was a decade in which new radical social movements emerged in opposition to the prevalent political order, including the nuclear disarmament movement, the women's movement, anti-fascist movements, and the punk and environmental movements. The authors also demonstrate how issues such as squatting, nuclear resistance, rent strikes and the environment, included a variety of contentious collective action. Sweden, therefore, presents an interesting example of how resistance and conflict in a strong welfare state have been influenced by contentious social movements. Placing Sweden within the wider context of Scandinavia and Europe, this edited collection makes an important contribution to the history of social movements.