COVID-19 Stories from the Swedish Welfare State

The Pandemicracy

Barbara Czarniawska, Josef Pallas, Elena Raviola

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9781529243123
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781529243130
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

This book offers a unique perspective on Sweden's COVID-19 response in its publicly funded welfare sector, which was initially highly criticised but later recognised as exemplary on the global stage in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Using diaries, stories and interviews from 73 workers across 30 professions, it reveals the everyday experiences of those maintaining welfare services, both on the front lines and behind the scenes. Covering 2020 to 2022, it spans major cities and smaller municipalities across Gothenburg, Uppsala and Stockholm and introduces 'pandemicracy,' a concept exploring pandemic-era governance and organisation of the public sector.

This insightful analysis sparks a wider discussion on adapting to unforeseen challenges in public welfare.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• 1 In the Shadow of the Pandemic
• 2 The Public Sector and the Pandemic: The State of Knowledge
• 3 Waking Up to a New World
• 4 The New, the Old and the New Old
• 5 Working in the New Normal
• 6 The Pandemic Comes in Waves
• 7 Making Magic
• 8 School: A Profession with Multiple Responsibilities
• 9 Librarians, Libraries and Social Mission during the Pandemic
• 10 Courts and the Pandemic – Virtual Trials and Algorithmic (In)justice
• 11 Organizing Welfare under Extraordinary Circumstances
• 12 Pandemicracy
• Epilogue
• Appendix 1: Commentaries on Method for Chapters 9 and 10
• Appendix 2: Details of Field Work
• Notes
• References
• Index