ABSTRACT
Sweden is the only country that has formally adopted an 'internationalised approach' to all aspects of education. This chapter examines both the context in which the process of Swedish internationalisation of education has taken place, and the ways in which it has been implemented. It expresses that the internationalisation programme is an example of the legitimation process of new educational knowledge. Both the socio-historical and cultural context within which an education system develops and changes, as well as the particular features of an educational system and their inter-relationships, are relevant to an analysis of the ways in which knowledge becomes incorporated into formal curricula. The concept of internationalisation arises out of general political concerns within Sweden and about her relations with the wider world. Minority interpretations of internationalisation will be progressively delegitimised as the formal machinery, dominated by bureaucrats and experts, entrusted with the realisation of Palme's vision, systematically assimilate, modify and implement it.
