Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse discourses of
parenting training in official inquires in Sweden that explicitly deal with the
bringing up of children and parental education and how the representations of
the problems and their solutions affect parental subject positions in the early
welfare state and at the onset of the 21st century. Method: We
carried out a discourse analysis of two public inquiries of 1947 and 2008,
drawing on theories about governmentality and power regimes. Tools from
political discourse analysis were used to investigate the objectives of
political discourse practices. Results: Both inquiries referred
to a context of change and new life demands as a problem. Concerning suggestions
for solutions, there were discrepancies in parents’ estimated need of expert
knowledge and in descriptions of parental capacity. In a discourse of trust and
doubt, the parents in 1947 were positioned as trusted welfare partners and
secure raisers of future generations, and in 2008, as doubted adults, feared to
be faltering in their child-rearing tasks.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.