The Road Once Taken. Transformation of Labour Markets, Politics, and Place Promotion in Two Swedish Cities, Karlskrona and Uddev
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Åsa-Karin Engstrand The Road Once Taken Transformation of Labour Markets, Politics, and Place Promotion in Two Swedish Cities, Karlskrona and Uddevalla 1930–2000 Department of Work Science Göteborg University ARBETSLIV I OMVANDLING WORK LIFE IN TRANSITION | 2003:2 ISBN 91-7045-665-8 | ISSN 1404-8426 National Institute for Working Life The National Institute for Working Life is a national centre of knowledge for issues concerning working life. The Institute carries out research and develop- ment covering the whole field of working life, on commission from The Ministry of Industry, Employ- ment and Communications. Research is multi- disciplinary and arises from problems and trends in working life. Communication and information are important aspects of our work. For more informa- tion, visit our website www.niwl.se Work Life in Transition is a scientific series published by the National Institute for Working Life. Within the series dissertations, anthologies and original research are published. Contributions on work organisation and labour market issues are particularly welcome. They can be based on research on the development of institutions and organisations in work life but also focus on the situation of different groups or individuals in work life. A multitude of subjects and different perspectives are thus possible. The authors are usually affiliated with the social, behavioural and humanistic sciences, but can also be found among other researchers engaged in research which supports work life development. The series is intended for both researchers and others interested in gaining a deeper understanding of work life issues. Manuscripts should be addressed to the Editor and will be subjected to a traditional review proce- dure. The series primarily publishes contributions by authors affiliated with the National Institute for Working Life. ARBETSLIV I OMVANDLING WORK LIFE IN TRANSITION Editor-in-chief: Eskil Ekstedt Co-editors: Marianne Döös, Jonas Malmberg, Anita Nyberg, Lena Pettersson and Ann-Mari Sätre Åhlander © National Institute for Working Life & author, 2003 National Institute for Working Life, SE-112 79 Stockholm, Sweden ISBN 91-7045-665-8 ISSN 1404-8426 Printed at Elanders Gotab, Stockholm The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost (1874-1963) iii Acknowledgements I have discovered that writing a thesis is like joining an endless cycling class, several hours per day. You are cycling in a group with a leader, but still you’re riding on your own. Sometimes you’re in a downhill and sometimes you’re facing the worst hill ever. And some days you feel like you can ride for a very long time. Somedays you wish you didn’t join that class at all. Now finally it is time for me to get off that bike and do something completely different. It will be interesting to see what kind of ‘training’ a ‘real’ researcher performs… I want to thank my supervisor Professor Bernt Schiller and Professor Birger Simonson at the Department for Work Science, Göteborg University, who taught me as an undergraduate and encouraged me to continue with Phd studies. Thanks for your support! Thanks also to Bernt for fruitful discussions through the years. Many thanks also to Christer Thörnqvist at the Department for Work Science for all your help through the years with articles and literature. This thesis was financed by the National Institute for Working Life (NIWL) in Stockholm. Thanks to Lars Magnusson, Klas Levinson, Kurt Lundgren, and Göran Brulin. I am very grateful for all the help I got from my supervisor at NIWL, Professor Eskil Ekstedt. Thanks for your support, especially towards the end! I also want to thank PhD Henrik Lindberg, Uppsala University, Senior Lecturer Annette Thörnqvist, NIWL, and Professor Anita Göransson, Göteborg University for reading and commenting earlier drafts of the thesis. Many thanks also to Ann- Britt Hellmark for proof-reading an early version of the MS. Many thanks to Erik Stam, Utrecht University, for enlighting comments on the embeddedness dilemma and a fruitful cooperation. I also wish to thank those involved in the Research School at Uppsala University for letting me participate in interesting seminars on labour market issues. Thanks also to all of you involved with the International Working Life Research School at Göteborg University, Keele University, UK, and Université d’Évry, France. Thanks also to those of you who have assisted me concerning sources of various kinds; the interviewees and other civil servants in Karlskrona and Uddevalla, Jonny Hall at Statistics Sweden, and Anders Wiberg, now at ITPS. Many thanks also to the great staff at the NIWL library for providing all the literature although it might have seemed strange some times. I would also like to thank some Phd-students, Monica Weikert at the Department of History, Göteborg University, for providing social activities and letting me stay at her place in Göteborg. Malin Junestav, thanks for insightful comments concerning the thesis and other important areas in life. May the source be with you! Thanks to Anna Lundstedt for endless discussions on postmodernism, discourses, and comments on the introduction. Thanks to Fredrik Hertzberg for fruitful discussions v on football and other necessities in life. I also want to thank all nice colleagues at floor 10 at the Institute for providing a good “social capital”. I wish to thank Lars-Erik, Gudrun, Lis-Anna, Anders, and other family members and friends who have taken an interest in “what is going on”. Very special thanks to Pål Frenger for standing by me all the way: ända in i kaklet. Nothing compares to you! Last, but not least, I must tell you Smilla, that no thesis in the world can give me the happiness you give me. I dedicate this book in memory of my mother, Marja-Liisa. Stockholm December 2002 Åsa-Karin Engstrand vi Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................v I The Road Once Taken Introduction .....................................1 The Problem .........................................................................................................4 Purpose and Questions........................................................................................5 Theory and Previous Research ...........................................................................6 Path-dependence..................................................................................................................6 Local/Regional Perspectives..............................................................................................7 Cognitive Embeddedness: Discourse .............................................................................11 Political Embeddedness: Local Economic Policies and Place Promotion................15 Concluding Remarks .........................................................................................................19 Methods...............................................................................................................20 Discourse Analysis.............................................................................................................20 The Comparative Perspective ..........................................................................................22 Sources.................................................................................................................26 The Business Structure......................................................................................................26 Discourses...........................................................................................................................32 Political Practice.................................................................................................................35 Definitions...........................................................................................................36 The Swedish Local Government.....................................................................................36 Swedish Regional Structure..............................................................................................36 The Application of Local and Regional..........................................................................37 Different Policies ...............................................................................................................37 Outline of the Thesis.........................................................................................................38 II Economic Changes 1930-2000............................................41 Economic Crisis and Recovery in Sweden 1930-1945...................................42 Economic Structure in Karlskrona .................................................................................45 Economic Structure in Uddevalla