In many countries, there have been changes in the way in which education is governed, with greater fragmentation of responsibility between the state, local government, schools, individuals and the market often accompanied by a move from detailed regulation to framework legislation. Previously, these developments have been seen as part of the move from government to governance whereby the state is forced to step back and allow other interests to play a role. However, in recent years more subtle theories of governance have been developed which argue that, rather than retreating, the state is adapting to changing circumstances and finding new ways of governing. The importance of education not only in terms of creating and maintaining national identity but also for economic development suggests that this is an area from which the state will not willingly abdicate its role. This article suggests that support for the new governance theories can be found in the field of education. It argues that the growth in the attempts to control educational outputs through, for example, demands for quality controls, standardized testing, evaluations and so on and the introduction of national bodies responsible for carrying out these controls can be interpreted as a sign that the state, far from relinquishing its role, is finding other ways of controlling education. A comparative approach is adopted and these ideas are explored in relation to education systems in the Nordic and British countries. The article draws on a qualitative analysis of official policy documents, legislation and official statements concerning education in the respective countries.
Abstract. This article uses a discursive approach to analyze how gender equality has and is being constructed and given meaning in the context of Swedish regional policy. Drawing on Carole Bacchi's ‘What's the Problem? Approach’, we explore how arguments concerning the new forms of regional policy are assigning different categories of people different subject positions and, in particular, we focus on the kind of subject positions that are being given to women as a group in this context. The discourse being shaped in national policy is, however, interpreted in specific contexts. Accordingly, we compare the way this new discourse is being (re)interpreted and (re)constructed and the subject positions being ascribed to women in the regional development partnerships and growth strategies in two Swedish regions: Västerbotten and Jönköping. Finally, we draw attention to how both the form and the content of Swedish regional development policies create great difficulties for politicizing gender as a power dimension in society. We suggest that regional politics has become de‐politicized and argue for the need for it to be re‐politicized with gender included as a conflict dimension.
Regional development partnerships were introduced in Sweden in 1998 as part of a new regional policy. Here it is argued that these partnerships can provide support for the concept of governance in which the state continues to play an important role in steering the direction of policy. On the surface, as a decentralized organizational form, emphasizing inclusion of a broad range of regional stakeholders in the production of regional growth agreements/programmes, the partnerships would seem to fit a strategy of 'letting other regimes rule' on the part of the state. However, the central role played by the Swedish county administrative boards (the extended arm of the state in the region), suggests that the partnerships could also be a way for central government to retain control over the direction of regional development. In this way, they become an example of the state's ability to adjust to a changing environment rather than its 'hollowing out'.
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