Imagining the Neoliberal State

When the Lindbeck report was released in 1993, it was heralded as a neoliberal coup d’état, marking a significant shift in the governance of Sweden. By the mid-2020s, the radical proposals initially outlined in the report have become deeply ingrained in the Swedish political mainstream, influencing areas well beyond just economics. This doctoral thesis offers a genealogical exploration of Swedish neoliberalism through the works of economist Assar Lindbeck, the principal author of the 1993 report. The study traces the roots of its radical neoliberal proposals to Lindbeck’s early writings from the 1950s, exploring their development through key debates of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This exploration reveals a unique and eclectic form of neoliberalism, shaped significantly by its Swedish context. This form, influenced by the theories of Hayek, Buchanan, Becker, Coase, and Friedman, uniquely blends elements of the welfare state and active labour unions within its broader vision of what can be described as a Swedish neoliberalism. Victor Pressfeldt, born in 1984, is an historian at Lund University, Sweden. Imagining the Neoliberal State is his doctoral dissertation.