Att skola entreprenörer : Ung Företagsamhet och den svenska skolans omvandling 1980–2011

In 2011, entrepreneurship was added to the curricula of Swedish schools at all levels. In the 1980s, however, the educational organization Junior Achievement (JA), that focuses on entrepreneurship education for young people, was considered ideologically controversial. Over the course of 30 years, the view of entrepreneurship and the status of JA has changed fundamentally. This thesis investigates how and why entrepreneurship became a knowledge area in Swedish schools. The study focuses on JA from its foundation in 1980 to the inclusion of entrepreneurship as a central goal in Swedish curricula in 2011. Using perspectives from the history of knowledge, the history of education and childhood studies, I analyze the development and reception of JA in relation to the broader changes in society and those in the school system as well as in what is considered important knowledge for future citizens. In so doing, the thesis sheds light on the conditions for an external educational actor to become established in the school system and shows how a change in school activities can take place. The study thus contributes a new perspective on the social transformation of the “knowledge society” and operationalizes part of the conceptual apparatus of the history of knowledge in relation to factors that condition the establishment of new knowledge content in a particular knowledge arena.The analysis adds a new perspective on the transformation of the Swedish welfare state and school system. Entrepreneurial knowledge came to be viewed as a solution to challenges that arose in connection with societal changes at that time. This study also highlights the change in the perception of children and young people in relation to enterprise and entrepreneurship as well as the establishment of the view of entrepreneurship as a skill that can be trained through education. This change cannot be explained merely by policy development. It needed to be established with the help of proactive actors. The educationalization that turned societal challenges into a need for entrepreneurial education took place in practice before the change happened at the policy level. The analysis thus indicates that we also need to consider the work of educational organizations to fully understand how school change happens.This study underscores the significance of the knowledge form. The ideological coding of the knowledge content contributed to the criticism of JA in the 1980s, while the knowledge form was seen as successful by most observers. The difference between knowledge content and knowledge form also provides insight into why JA failed in its first attempt to establish an educational concept for compulsory schools. The content was in line with current trends in the social debate and within pedagogy, but the form was poorly adapted to the target group – subject teachers – as well as to the lower secondary school context. In relation to schools, the grammar of schooling and the needs and wishes of teachers were shown to be of particular importance for the establishment of new educational concepts.JA and entrepreneurship in schools were part of an international trend. However, the Nordic countries stand out, where the organization has become particularly influential and well-integrated into the school system. Nevertheless, JA in Sweden is exceptional. Part of the explanation for JA’s strong position and speedy early establishment in Sweden should be found in the strong and rapid market turn, as well as in the ongoing ideological conflict and debate about wage earner funds, in which JA became involved. Paradoxically, the special position of JA in Sweden can be partly explained by the fact that the program wascontroversial in the 1980s.