Framed Negotiations and Negotiated Frames

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is a study of decision‐making processes in the Swedish educational system. The empirical focus is on the Swedish curriculum revision process during the 1970s, specifically the introduction of a new compulsory school subject, technology. The purpose of the article is two‐fold. First, the objective is to demonstrate that this decision‐making process can be fruitfully analysed in terms of negotiation theory. Secondly, the aim is to integrate negotiation theory with frame‐factor theory. In this context, we highlight the analytical distinction between substantive negotiations and meta‐negotiations. The results of two case‐studies point out the existence of both distributive bargaining games and integrative problem‐solving bargaining processes. Organizations are negotiated orders. Furthermore, the importance of ideational structures—dominating configurations of norms and values—as a frame‐factor, constraining the intellectual space of actors in the bargaining process, is stressed.