Sweden in the Global Leader's Jersey : Constructing Leadership for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Sammanfattning: In September 2015, the leaders of the world agreed to head on a journey towards a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable future at 2030 by the adoption of the 2030 Agenda containing 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Sweden pledged to be the global leader in this transition. This study explores how Sweden constructs this leadership narratively and in which manner it is legitimized, using concepts borrowed from Pierre Bourdieu as an added dimension to the narrative analysis. The result is that the main narrative of Sweden’s identity in this context is one of being an experienced role-model. The most salient characteristics underpinning this main narrative are being ambitious, a moral power, economically rational, and knowledgeable. Its legitimacy is argued to rest on knowledge, social and good-will capital. Tensions are found between the logic of the field from the Swedish perspective and what is aimed for in the 2030 Agenda in terms of competing in contrast to collaborating, promoting one model of development in contrast to national ownership and assuming market logic versus a logic where sustainability in all three pillars is the superordinate goal.