”Det känns som att jag bara sitter och väntar på att det ska explodera” - politisk påverkan på de kommunala folkbibliotekens verksamhet i sex sydsvenska regioner.

Abstract

Public libraries are one of several institutions that uphold Swedish democracy. The representative liberal democratic model, expressed in the Library Act, is increasingly being questioned and challenged. Political actors, mainly from the radical right, advocate a democracy focused on the will of the people at the expense of the rights of individuals. With the notion of plural agonistics, public libraries can be seen as important arenas for debates and meetings between people, offering ways to handle conflicts within democratic institutions. Methodologically, this study employs the perspective of institutional ethnography, and the aim of this paper is to develop knowledge about public libraries’ experiences of political pressure and how this is enacted in a time of political turbulence. This paper reports findings from the first stage of a survey study directed at public library managers in 77 municipalities from the six southernmost regions of Sweden. Based on replies in these surveys, interviews were conducted with seven of the participating library managers. Findings show that the interplay between libraries and the local political level, and between national and local political levels, generally functions without notable opposition. Illegitimate political pressure is uncommon, but when it occurs, it is primarily triggered by issues connected to cultural diversity. Results further indicate that local public libraries tend to respond to illegitimate political pressure by development and use of professional policy documents, but also, in some cases, by avoiding certain activities.

Drag story hour at public libraries: the reading child and the construction of fear and othering in Swedish cultural policy debate

“…These attacks illustrate how institutions conveying fact-based knowledge are challenged by anti-pluralist and anti-expert sentiments from the radical right (Waller et al, 2017). Additionally, Carlsson et al (2022) show how library programming activates promoting diversity, in particular LGBTQ issues and the rights of sexual minorities, are often the main sources of ideologically motivated conflicts around library activities in contemporary Sweden (see also Carlsson et al, 2023;Hanell et al, 2023). The study presented in this paper adds new insights to these findings by providing an in-depth analysis of the lines of conflicts drawn in the "culture war" discourse that the public library is drawn into.…”

“…, 2017). Additionally, Carlsson et al . (2022) show how library programming activates promoting diversity, in particular LGBTQ issues and the rights of sexual minorities, are often the main sources of ideologically motivated conflicts around library activities in contemporary Sweden (see also Carlsson et al.…”

Revisiting the notion of the public library as a meeting place: challenges to the mission of promoting democracy in times of political turmoil

“…These attacks illustrate how institutions conveying fact-based knowledge are challenged by anti-pluralist and anti-expert sentiments from the radical right (Waller et al, 2017). These attacks may undermine the potential of public libraries discussed in previous research (Rivano Eckerdal, 2017: to serve as important democratic institutions providing venues for antagonistic debate and struggle (see also Carlsson et al, 2022;Hanell et al, 2022).…”

“…A different view on democracy with implications for the role of public libraries is provided by Mouffe (1999), who instead of rational consensus and deliberation place conflict and passion at the center of political debate. Building on Mouffe, we argue in this paper that current political turmoil calls for the idea of the meeting-place to be revisited and possibly rethought (see also Hansson, 2010; Rivano Eckerdal, 2017, 2018; Engström, 2022; Carlsson et al. , 2022).…”

“…, 2017). These attacks may undermine the potential of public libraries discussed in previous research (Rivano Eckerdal, 2017, 2018): to serve as important democratic institutions providing venues for antagonistic debate and struggle (see also Carlsson et al. , 2022; Hanell et al.…”