Drawing from previous commentaries on developments in Sweden and recent poll data, this article reviews the emergence of the movement for workers' control of companies in Sweden, presents some research findings on its impact, and discusses the implications of the Swedish approach to workplace democracy. Personal interviews and mail surveys among workers in Gothenburg in 1977 and 1980 reveal that the new Codetermination Law has brought a noticeable but not drastic improvement in employees' opportunities to participate in decisions at the workplace. The law's implementation has apparently neither pacified nor radicalized the workforce, and support for further reforms remains strong.
BoardJoseph B., Jr. (1970) The Government and Politics of Sweden. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
6.
BroströmAnders (1982) MBLs gränser: den privata äganderätten. Stockholm: Arbetslivscentrum.
7.
CarlsonBo (1969) Trade Unions in Sweden. Stockholm: Tiden.
8.
CasparssonRagnar (1966) Saltsjöbadsavtalet i historisk belysning. Stockholm: Tiden.
9.
Dagens Nyheter (1979) ‘MBL först — chef sedan: AD fällde företag’. (18 October): 10.
10.
DahlgrenB. (1975) Medinflytande eller maktövertagande? Stockholm: SAF.
11.
DahlströmEdmundKjellErikssonBertillGardellOlleHammarströmRutHammarström (1971) LKAB och demokratin: Rapport om en strejk och ett forskningsprojekt. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.
12.
EdinPer Olof (1977) ‘Ekonomisk demokrati’. Lecture given at SSU meeting, 5 May, Gothenburg.
13.
EdlundStenStigGustafsson (1976) Medbestämmanderätten: Lagar med kommentar. Borås: Tiden.
14.
ForsebäckLennart (1980) Industrial Relations and Employment in Sweden. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
15.
FredrikssonGunnar (1979) ‘Results of the 1979 Swedish Parliamentary Elections’, Current Sweden, 238, 7 (November).
16.
GardellBertilBjørnGustavsen (1980) ‘Work Environment Research and Social Change: Current Developments in Scandinavia’, Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 1: 3–17.
17.
GonäsLenaKlasLevinson (1980) ‘Union Strategies and Structural Change. The Case of Emmaboda Glassworks’, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 1, 2 (May): 249–62.
18.
Göteborgs-Posten (1976) ‘Ökat Meidner-motstand även bland LO-anslutna’. (1 December): 17.
19.
HaasAin (1980) ‘Workers' Views on Self-Management: A Comparative Study of the United States and Sweden’, pp. 276–95 in MauriceZeitlin (ed.), Classes, Class Conflict, and the State: Empirical Studies in Class Analysis. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Winthrop.
20.
HancockM. Donald (1981) ‘Modifying Change or Fundamental Transformation. The Swedish Employee Fund Debate: Update and Prospects’, Political Life in Sweden, 9 (May).
21.
HartHorstMariannSterner (1978) Berol Kemi. Gothenburg: Sociologiska Institutionen, Göteborgs Universitet.
22.
HörteSven Åke (1980) Arbetet, facket och medbestämmandet Pilotstudie 1979. Gothenburg: Sociologiska Institutionen, Göteborgs Universitet.
23.
JenkinsDavid (1968) Sweden: The Progress Machine. London: Robert Hale.
24.
JenkinsDavid (1974) Job Power: Blue and White Collar Democracy. Baltimore: Penguin.
25.
KorpiWalter (1978) The Working Class in Welfare Capitalism: Work, Unions and Politics in Sweden. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
26.
LarssonJanerik (1978) ‘The Political Scene in Sweden between the 1976 and 1979 Elections’, Current Sweden, 198 (August).
27.
LogueJohn (1978) ‘On the Road toward Worker-run Companies? The Employee Participation Act in Practice’, Working Life in Sweden, 9 (December).
28.
LogueJohn (1980) ‘Sweden 1980: The Labor Conflict — and After’, Political Life in Sweden, 7 (November).
29.
MartinAndrew (1977) ‘In Sweden, a Union Proposal for Socialism’, Working Papers for a New Society (Summer): 46–58.
30.
MartinAndrew (1979) ‘From Joint Consultation to Joint Decision-making: The Redistribution of Workplace Power in Sweden’, pp. 5–14 in FryJohn A. (ed.), Industrial Democracy and Labour Market Policy in Sweden. Oxford: Pergamon.
Ministry of Labor (1974) ‘Issues of the Working Environment: Current Features of Swedish Policy’. Mimeographed report, Stockholm.
33.
Ministry of Labor (1977) Towards Democracy at the Workplace. Stockholm.
34.
NygrenPer (1980) ‘Varberg tvingas betala 15.000 för brott mot MBL’, Arbetet (19 June): 17.
35.
OskarssonKayIngeOskarsson (1971) Stuvarstrejken i Ådalen 1970: Ett politiskt reportage. Stockholm: Prisma.
36.
PetrénGustaf (1977) ‘Har vi råd med MBL?’ Göteborgs-Posten (6 April): 3.
37.
RessnerUlla (1980) ‘Former för medbestämmande ur ett fackligt ideologiskt perspektiv’, pp. 35–49 in OlleHammarström et al., Förhandling eller partssamm-ansatta grupper: om former för lokala partskontakter. Stockholm: Arbetslivs-centrum.
38.
RifkinJeremy (1977) Own Your Own Job. New York: Bantam.
SchillerBernt (1974) LO, paragraf 32 och företagsdemokratin. Stockholm: Prisma.
41.
SvenskaArbetsgivareföreningen (1975) Om demokrati på arbetsplatsen. Stockholm.
42.
Svenska Dagbladet (1976) ‘Meidner — efter valet’, (1 December): 2.
43.
Svenska Dagbladet (1977) ‘Facket och makten’, (29 April): 2.
44.
Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (1975) Demokrati på arbetsplatsen. Stockholm.
45.
SöderMårten (1980) MBL vid landstingens nämnder och förvaltningar. Stockholm: Arbetslivscentrum.
46.
Teeland, Lawrence and Gunn Rimfors-Jonsson (1980) Arbetet, facket och medbestämmandet. ESAB. Gothenburg: Sociologiska Institutionen, Göteborgs Universitet.
47.
TingstenHerbert (1973) The Swedish Social Democrats: Their Ideological Development. Tr. from 1941 edition by GretaFrankelPatriciaHoward-Rosen.Totowa, New Jersey: Bedminster.
48.
Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation (1978) Medbestämmande i praktiken: fackliga erfarenheter på sex företag och förvaltningar. Stockholm: SAMKO.
49.
VänsterpartietKommunisterna (1975) Material till arbetsplatsremissen. Stockholm.
50.
ÅsardErik (1980) ‘Employee Participation in Sweden 1971–1979: The Issue of Economic Democracy’, Economic and Industrial Democracy. 1, 3 (August): 371–93.
