International Journal of Cultural Policy Vol. 14, No. 1, February 2008, 25–35 ISSN 1028-6632 print/ISSN 1477-2833 online © 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/10286630701856476 http://www.informaworld.com What turn will cultural policy take? The renewal of the Swedish model Emma Stenström* Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden Taylor and Francis Ltd GCUL_A_285811.sgm 10.1080/10286630701856476 International Journal of Cultural Policy 1028-6632 (print)/1477-2833 (online) Original Article 2008 Taylor & Francis 14 1 000000February 2008 Dr EmmaStenström emma.stenstrom@hhs.se In this article, the development of the Swedish cultural policy is studied, particularly the interplay between arts and business, between public and private funding. Using institutional theory and interviews with actors within the cultural field, several areas are studied. After the peak of the welfare era, a change seems to have taken place, at least on a rhetorical level. Artistic organizations seem to a higher extent to be regarded, and regard themselves, as private businesses, and need to try to find sponsors in order to be considered legitimate. On the other hand, no reforms have yet taken place in order to encourage private funding. Part of this might be due to a lack of belief in the civil sector, which could suit many artistic organizations better, and open up for more private funding – if that is what one wants. Keywords: arts and business; sponsoring; donations; foundations; civil sector; institutional theory; Sweden Some would argue that the Swedish model for cultural policy is nothing but a parenthesis in history; it flourished during a short period of time, during the heights of the welfare state, but has since diminished. An interesting perspective is that the development can be regarded as a curve, where in the beginning of the last century, artistic organizations had to make it more on their own, relying on a mixture of public funding, the market, and private charity. Then came the height of the welfare state, where cultural policy turned public, and many artistic organizations were either built or incorporated into the system. But starting in the 1970s, the public resources again became more limited, and artistic organizations were once again, slowly, pushed towards the market and, perhaps, charity. At least this is the simplified conclusion that can be drawn from a study of the financing of the Royal Dramatic Theatre over the past 100 years (Östman 2006). There we are today. Public funding is still fundamental, but there are – at least on a rhetorical level – signs that we are witnessing a change, where both the market, and perhaps also charity, might play a more important role in the future. International experiences point in the same direction, and there is no reason to believe that Sweden will stay very different from other welfare states. It is this change I would like to explore in this paper, with particular attention paid to the inter- play between arts and business, between public and private funding. The aim is to look at the development of cultural policy and the perception of it by some actors in the field. And, finally, from a theoretical point of view, come up with a very tentative answer to what turn cultural policy could take in the future. Background From a cultural policy view, I would argue that Sweden has been rather slow in adopting policies which other countries have done long ago. Instead, Sweden has in many ways succeeded in *Email: emma.stenstrom@hhs.se