Book Reviews by Tomas Wedin
I den livliga franska skoldebatten hörs röster som är kritiska mot den individualistiska egalitar... more I den livliga franska skoldebatten hörs röster som är kritiska mot den individualistiska egalitarism som präglar skolväsendet i dag. Dessa kritiker menar att kunskapens auktoritet är underordnad barns välmående och att lärarna anpassar sig efter vad de tror att eleverna vill ha. Det leder till att barn uppmuntras att förbli vad de är i stället för att utvecklas. När skolan inte längre introducerar eleverna till en värld som ska delas med andra måste de i stället förlita sig på föräldrarnas förmåga att förmedla samhälleliga förväntningar och normer, vilket cementerar sociala inlåsningsmekanismer. Den franska debatten om skolan är livlig. Det går nästan inte en vecka utan att olika medier behandlar skolfrågan och den engagerar såväl vetenskapsmän, intellektuella som journalister. I detta avseende skiljer sig skoldebatten i Frankrike avsevärt från debatten i Sverige. Här är det förhållandevis få akademiker utanför det pedagogiska fältet som intresserar sig för skolan. De frågor som diskuteras i den franska kontexten är bland annat la laicité, skolans sekulära anspråk (till exempel förbudet mot religiösa symboler),
Papers by Tomas Wedin
Ce dossier s'intéresse à l'inscription historique des réformes de l'éducation en Euro... more Ce dossier s'intéresse à l'inscription historique des réformes de l'éducation en Europe du nord et à leurs résonances contemporaines, en particulier en Suède et en Finlande. Il revient sur les conflits politiques, les enjeux normatifs ou les questions d'évaluation dans des mondes scolaires en profonde mutation. Il interroge enfin les représentations que l'on peut avoir de ces expériences depuis la France, en particulier au sein du secteur de l'éducation lui-même
Books by Tomas Wedin
In the present thesis, I analyse how the idea of equality appeared in Swedish educa- tional polic... more In the present thesis, I analyse how the idea of equality appeared in Swedish educa- tional policy documents from 1946 to 2000. The dissertation aims to advance our understanding of equality as an educational ideal by analysing it as a politico- temporal problem. I do this by combining political thought with historiographical reflections. The material on which I draw is primarily governmental official reports (Statens offentliga utredningar) and Government bills. Utilising what I call the histo- rico-political approach, I examine the empirical material by focusing on how the idea of equality has been envisaged with regard to the past, present, and future. The chief problem is divided into five research questions, which in turn are analy- sed in four separate studies.
By exploring how the relationship between teacher, pupil, and content has appeared in key policy documents, I reveal a crucial dislocation in educational poli- cies that has been overlooked to date. Whereas the idea of centring education around the individual pupil was initially popularised in the post-war period and articulated as a more efficient means for ensuring that pupils assimilated greater knowledge, this successively morphed into a democratic goal in itself, in line with the overt attempt to further the democratisation of the educational system in the 1970s. Concurrently, the role of the teacher and the content taught also underwent substantial changes. I show how these transformations can be seen as indicative of a new way of temporally charging equality, where the present is given priority at the expense of both the past and the future. Building on and yet diverging from previous research on Sweden’s educational reforms, in which the reforms around 1990 are depicted as a break from earlier educational policies, my results showcase important and seldom noted strands of continuity in educational policies from 1946 to 2000. In short, this project shows how the desire to further equalise conditions in the educational system paradoxically undermined the democratic order that it was intended to strengthen, helping to pave the way for the changes around 1990, which are often depicted as manifestations of a major, systemic shift.
Conference Presentations by Tomas Wedin
My paper highlights the potentiality of concentrating on temporal aspects within the field of pol... more My paper highlights the potentiality of concentrating on temporal aspects within the field of political theory. I will present what I refer to as a historical-political approach, which is constituted of four different perspectives. Three of these perspectives regard ways of contextualising an object of inquiry and are fairly well-known. I will highlight a fourth perspective that I refer to as a political-temporal perspective and showcase its pertinence for studies in political theory by conducting a case study in which I compare it with the three more common perspectives. The three refer to different forms of historicising, or contextualising, an object of inquiry: whether it be the study of political ideas, individual thinkers, political/social movements, or something else. I discern two forms of synchronic contextualisation. One focuses on how the object could be interpreted in light of its context at a given moment in history. The Cambridge School is a clear example of this. A second form of synchronic contextualisation is to consider the object of inquiry an abstract contemporary. This can be exemplified by the tradition of political thought known as the Great Conversation. A third way is the diachronic form of contextualization, where an object of inquiry is analysed with regard to how it fits in between precedent and subsequent traditions of thought. Marx and Hegel are examples of the latter. These are the three more well-known perspectives. In the paper, I wish to highlight how we can gain new political-theoretical insights by analysing how an object of inquiry can be related to various ways of orienting temporally. Independently of the status of the object (an idea, a political movement etcetera), this perspective concentrates on how it, either explicitly or implicitly, relates towards the past, present and future, and if applicable, the a-temporal dimension of eternity. I will refer to this as a political-temporal perspective. Together with the three previously mentioned perspectives, it forms the basis of what I refer to as a historical-political approach. To exemplify the relevance of the perspective, I will conduct a case study and analyse a debate concerning human rights that took place in Paris around 1980 between Claude Lefort, Pierre Manent and Marcel Gauchet. The debate prefigures some of the key positions taken in the more recent historical turn in human rights. I will concentrate on how the three thinkers maintained that
On May 25-26th 2021, a symposium will be arranged at the University of Gothenburg on the history ... more On May 25-26th 2021, a symposium will be arranged at the University of Gothenburg on the history and future of human rights, to be streamed via Zoom. Against the background of rampant economic inequality, increased social polarization and the rise of authoritarian populism, it is motivated to revisit the role and status of human rights. To discuss how we can understand human rights as a historical and political problem, we have invited some of the foremost authorities in the world to discuss the topic. The symposium will be streamed online and participation is for free.
The Future of Education 9th Edition, 2018
An expanding field of research in educational sciences are analyses of the relationship between f... more An expanding field of research in educational sciences are analyses of the relationship between feelings and education. According to an important strand within this field, the new discourses regarding emotions that have emerged in educational policies more recently are concomitant with new societal -in particular economic -demands; it is argued that the emotionally loaded discourses are manifestations of new techniques of governmentality -a form of emotional management. In reaction to these tendencies, variously described as "postmodern relativism" and/or a "neoliberalisation" of education, some researchers, e.g.
Published Essays and Articles by Tomas Wedin
The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deepcleavage between scholars w... more The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deepcleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights inthe Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars whoinstead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970sin particular as a breakthrough decade for international humanrights. Against the background of what has been described as thethreatened status of human rights today, we contend that theproblem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that theway in which it is conceived is outdated and in need ofreconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should beseen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focusedon origins and historical continuity and rupture, and a more recent,ongoing phase addressing the relationship between human rightsand the concomitant neoliberalization of society and increasingeconomic inequality. We contend, secondly, that the debate itselfneeds to be historicized, and that the two thematic phases arerooted in two specific political, ideological, and economic contexts.The debate about origins relate to a pre-2007-2008 financial crisis era,marked by near-universal acceptance of human rights. Meanwhile,the issues of inequality and neoliberalism predominantly emerged inthe post-crisis period as human rights faced more and morechallenges. Thirdly, we present a theoretical argument for why thedistinct issues constituting the two thematic phases should not beseparated from each other. Indeed, in this setting, we demonstratethat the question regarding the relation between neoliberalism andhuman rights presupposes an account of the origins of human rights.
Critical Horizons, 2024
The present article revolves around the notion of universality and its relation to freedom and te... more The present article revolves around the notion of universality and its relation to freedom and temporal orientation in contemporary political thought, with a focus on Susan Buck-Morss’ notion of universality. The purpose is twofold. Firstly, I discern and critique the historico-political premises of her approach. Secondly, I suggest an alternative historico-political approach to universality addressing the drawbacks of her approach. I present three objections to her approach. Drawing on Arendt’s distinction between liberation and the practice of freedom, I first present a critique of the conceptualisation of freedom on which Buck-Morss’ approach hinges, arguing that she overemphasises the moment of liberation. Thereafter, I turn to her reflections on historical orientation. My third objection concentrates on Buck-Morss’ concept of universality. As a heuristic tool to expound on my critique, I activate the distinction between fictive and ideal universality as suggested by Étienne Balibar. I contend that Arendt’s distinction between liberation and the practice of freedom efficiently elucidates the questions at stake in Balibar’s discussion, as well as how his distinction points to the limits of Buck-Morss’ argumentation. Ultimately, I contend that these critical remarks open up for a more dialectical approach to universality as a historical-political problem.
Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 2024
The point of departure for this paper is Anne Phillips' concept of equality as enactment. I ident... more The point of departure for this paper is Anne Phillips' concept of equality as enactment. I identity two interpretations hereof. The first emphasizes immediate enactment but neglects the role of mediating institutions. This, I contend, severely limits its political effectiveness. The second highlights the importance of such institutions in sustaining and continually enacting equality among citizens. To illustrate the pitfalls of stressing an unmediated enactment, the study analyses the experiences from the postwar evolution of Sweden's educational system. Subsequently, I expound on the political-theoretical implications of the empirical findings and propose a more institutionally cohesive understanding of equality as enactment. I do this by engaging in a close dialogue with the French philosopher Marcel Gauchet and one of Anne Phillips' foremost sources of inspiration, Hannah Arendt, particularly her perspectives on education's role in modern society and its correlation with the concept of the world.
This article focuses on the acclaimed interconnections between human rights, inequality, and neol... more This article focuses on the acclaimed interconnections between human rights, inequality, and neoliberalism. I first turn to the thought of one of the most influential scholars on the question, historian Samuel Moyn. I unveil a hitherto unacknowledged shift in his historical-political approach to human rights: from a focus on what I shall refer to as a critique of ‘political minimalism’ in The Last Utopia (2010) to a focus on economic minimalism in Not Enough (2018). This is the article’s first, historical aim. The second aim is to criticize Moyn’s more recent position. I unpack my argument by drawing on one of Moyn’s most important sources of inspiration: French social philosopher Marcel Gauchet. Gauchet’s conceptualization of the role of human rights in late modernity (the 1970s and onwards) played a crucial role in Moyn’s first 2010 study; in his last publication, it plays a much more marginal role. I maintain that Gauchet’s analysis highlights the limits not only of Moyn’s latest publication but of the dominant strands in the current Anglophone debate on human rights and inequality more generally. The drawback of the debate, and thus Moyn’s intervention, is that it disregards the relationship between human rights and equality—in contrast to its great focus on human rights’ relationship to inequality—in late modernity. The strength of Gauchet’s approach is that it highlights the potentiality of taking the relationship between human rights and equality into consideration when attempting to conceptualize the relationship between human rights and neoliberalism.
Perspektiv på politisk idéhistoria, 2023
Arkiv: tidskrift för samhällsanalys, 2023
Sammandrag: Mot bakgrund de förvaltningspolitiska förändringarna i Sverige under de sista decenni... more Sammandrag: Mot bakgrund de förvaltningspolitiska förändringarna i Sverige under de sista decennierna, präglade av new public management, analyserar Tomas Wedin och Emelie Hantelius en av de snabbast expanderande yrkesgrupperna inom den offentliga förvaltningen under samma period: kommunikatörerna. Artikeln fokuserar på yrkesgruppens både organisationsinterna uppdrag och dess externa, demokratiska uppdrag gentemot medborgarna och visar hur spänningar uppstår inom båda dessa uppdrag som en konsekvens av kommunikatörernas strävan att stärka sin autonomi. Författarna visar hur kommunikatörerna i sin roll som länken mellan myndighet och medborgare skulle kunna verka för att stärka den offentliga organisationens demokratiska kärnuppdrag, men att detta förutsätter att de i sin professionaliseringssträvan inte låter blicken grumlas av den marknadslogik som kommit att prägla offentlig sektor i det senmoderna samhället.
In this article the historical background to the reactivation of the concept of Bildung in the Sw... more In this article the historical background to the reactivation of the concept of Bildung in the Swedish school debate during 1980s is presented. The article argues that the resurrection of this concept is intimately related to the foundation of the discourse of the Knowledge School (Kunskapsskolan), and shows how these two terms were central in school political program developed by the Knowledge Movement (Kun-skapsrörelsen) in the early 1980s. The article shows how the concept of Bildung since it was resurrected not only has been highly contested, but that it was actually reactivated within the same movement that helped pave the way for the manifest economic-instrumentalist school discourse that dominates the current curriculum.
History of Education, 2017
According to an influential narrative in Swedish educational historiography, the Swedish educatio... more According to an influential narrative in Swedish educational historiography, the Swedish educational system underwent a drastic change during the 1990s, moving towards a more individualistic and marketised system. Without denying the relevance of this perspective, this article argues that we can trace antecedents to the reforms undertaken in the 1990s far back in post-war education policies. It maintains that the endeavour to democratise the educational system during the post war years when radicalised, started to counteract these democratic tendencies. Applying what French historian François Hartog names ‘regimes of historicity’ as an analytical tool, it argues that a politically pertinent shift took place in the 1970s. Since then, an increasingly stronger emphasis on the present at the expense of both past and future has contributed to an undermining of the centralised comprehensive school.
Confero, 2017
In the last decade, a number of studies have been published relating the in media highlighted pro... more In the last decade, a number of studies have been published relating the in media highlighted problems of the Swedish school to the cluster of reforms launched around 1990. It has been pointed out that, e.g., the municipalization of the school, the introduction of a management by objectives as well as an educational system structured by a voucher model, all carried out in the years around 1990, substantially have contributed to the current problems in Swedish schools. As has been shown in a number of studies, the ideas permeating the reforms are not specific to the educational sector, but can be related to other societal reforms aiming at increasing decentralization as well as a further market orientation.
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Book Reviews by Tomas Wedin
Papers by Tomas Wedin
Books by Tomas Wedin
By exploring how the relationship between teacher, pupil, and content has appeared in key policy documents, I reveal a crucial dislocation in educational poli- cies that has been overlooked to date. Whereas the idea of centring education around the individual pupil was initially popularised in the post-war period and articulated as a more efficient means for ensuring that pupils assimilated greater knowledge, this successively morphed into a democratic goal in itself, in line with the overt attempt to further the democratisation of the educational system in the 1970s. Concurrently, the role of the teacher and the content taught also underwent substantial changes. I show how these transformations can be seen as indicative of a new way of temporally charging equality, where the present is given priority at the expense of both the past and the future. Building on and yet diverging from previous research on Sweden’s educational reforms, in which the reforms around 1990 are depicted as a break from earlier educational policies, my results showcase important and seldom noted strands of continuity in educational policies from 1946 to 2000. In short, this project shows how the desire to further equalise conditions in the educational system paradoxically undermined the democratic order that it was intended to strengthen, helping to pave the way for the changes around 1990, which are often depicted as manifestations of a major, systemic shift.
Conference Presentations by Tomas Wedin
Published Essays and Articles by Tomas Wedin
By exploring how the relationship between teacher, pupil, and content has appeared in key policy documents, I reveal a crucial dislocation in educational poli- cies that has been overlooked to date. Whereas the idea of centring education around the individual pupil was initially popularised in the post-war period and articulated as a more efficient means for ensuring that pupils assimilated greater knowledge, this successively morphed into a democratic goal in itself, in line with the overt attempt to further the democratisation of the educational system in the 1970s. Concurrently, the role of the teacher and the content taught also underwent substantial changes. I show how these transformations can be seen as indicative of a new way of temporally charging equality, where the present is given priority at the expense of both the past and the future. Building on and yet diverging from previous research on Sweden’s educational reforms, in which the reforms around 1990 are depicted as a break from earlier educational policies, my results showcase important and seldom noted strands of continuity in educational policies from 1946 to 2000. In short, this project shows how the desire to further equalise conditions in the educational system paradoxically undermined the democratic order that it was intended to strengthen, helping to pave the way for the changes around 1990, which are often depicted as manifestations of a major, systemic shift.