Utbildning till salu - konkurrens, differentiering och varumärken

Abstract

Previous studies show that the Swedish educational system is now driven to a great extent by market politics but the question of what discourses are constructed within the educational field as part of this has not been clearly mapped out. The study uses two different forms of data to try to do so: interviews with different school actors in four municipalities and marketing materials. By using concepts from Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis it shows that the discourse regime focuses on economy, competition and above all differentiation. A repertoire of opinions has been identified. These have focused on the importance of diversity and that students are now regarded as customers and commodities rather than aspiring democratic citizens in a future society.