Science for Welfare and Warfare: Technology and State Initiative in Cold War Sweden

摘要

The edited volume Science for Welfare and Warfare investigates the establishment of state-led science and technology in the economic and industrial development of Cold War Sweden. The research task is to examine how the state took a new role during and after World War Ⅱ, how the role of the state was justified and how the new role of the state transformed Swedish society and economy during the post-war era. The starting point for the research is that during the first decades after the War,the economic and industrial development process permeated virtually all sectors of Swedish society: government committees were assigned to survey the needs and propose reforms, new institutions were formed to provide necessary expertise and large-scale technological initiatives were launched to facilitate the development. In short, the book analyzes how Sweden became a strong state with functional welfare institutions and supportive warfare machinery after World War Ⅱ. Special focus is on the role of 'reform technocrats', i.e. scientists and decision-makers who believed that the strong commitment of the state would create welfare and maintain national independence in Cold War Sweden.