The Swedish Contribution to Job Quality

Abstract

Abstract What is distinctive about the Swedish contribution to progressive work–life reform, and what does it contribute to the current job quality literature? Sweden has produced a disproportionate share of the world’s research into social and organizational aspects of work, and for a time led work democratization research and practice. In the late 1980s and 1990s work design at Volvo Uddevalla was a counterpoint to lean production. We argue that institutional and political characteristics of Sweden, partially registered as the ‘Swedish model’ underpinned these developments. In the ‘golden age’ of work-life reform from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, an unusual degree of employer support for job quality complemented trade union activism and supportive government research policies. The chapter argues that Sweden’s key contribution to current discussions around job quality lay in exploring the limits of work democratization by developing teamwork with high levels of autonomy, interacting with action-oriented research and design.