ABSTRACT
Much social policy and education research on marketisation reforms has focused on Anglo-Saxon countries, where institutional changes towards more choice. Despite the numerous similarities in the direction of education reforms, the existing literature on marketisation does not capture the peculiarities of the Nordic education policy settings, where choice and competition coexist with a strong sense of education as a public good. This chapter describes the key characteristics of the privatisation of Swedish education, the policy contexts that gave rise to this and some consequences of these reforms, including effects on school leaders and teachers. Sweden has traditionally been classified as a universalistic social democratic welfare state regime with a long-lasting culture of emphasis on equal access to equivalent education for all citizens, regardless of gender, social and geographic origin. Within a short time, Swedish education shifted from a strictly state-regulated and state-delivered system, to one inviting and encouraging private interests in the provision of education.
