Computers and Welfare: The Swedish Debate on the Politics of Computerization in the 1970s and the 1980s

Paper in proceeding, 2015

In the 1950s and 1960s computers became part and parcel of the great modernization project – the creation of the modern welfare state. The ability to control and rationalize provided by the digital technology proved indispensable for the expanding public sector as well as for trade and business. At the turn of the decade, the effects of the new technology on Swedish society became increasingly apparent. This paper examines the debate on computer and politics in Sweden during the 1970s and the 1980s. It particularly discusses two issues that were hotly debated: integrity and jobs. The debate was occupied with the centralized solutions and systemic effects large-scale computing implied. In this debate computing technology was perceived as a threat, but at the same time there was a widely shared belief amongst debaters that it was possible to take control of the technology