Sweden and social democracy has been described as a “realistic utopia”, the “prototype of contemporary society”, and “the most successful society the world has ever known”. So, what’s become of Swedish social democracy?

In 2019, compared with other OECD countries, Sweden holds the crown for the most rapid increase in inequality since the 1990s; the richest in Sweden have enjoyed unprecedented tax breaks, homelessness and poverty is rife particularly for immigrants; for-profit companies are thriving running schools; the far-right have 18% of support. In the context of this crisis in Swedish social democracy, I am interested in social class and class consciousness, particularly addressing the question: what is the prospect for Left socio-political transformation?

Dr Alpesh Maisuria is the author of Class Consciousness and Education in Sweden: A Marxist Analysis of Revolution in a Social Democracy.