En nyliberal agenda: Sture Eskilsson och Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningens opinionsbildning i Sverige

Sammanfattning: Since the formation of the international think-tank Mont Pelerin Society, in 1947, neoliberal ideas have spread widely across the globe, and this thesis takes a closer look at the emerge of neoliberalism in Sweden. From the 1950’s, until the 1970’s, Sture Eskilsson worked as head of communication at Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen (SAF), and played a major role in creating SAF’s communication platform and book publishing label Timbro AB. This thesis investigates Sture Eskilsson’s career and his ideas, and analyzes these ideas in comparison to the foundational neoliberal ideas formulated in actions, speech-acts and published works linked to the formation of the Mont Pelerin Society. The thesis also argues that Eskilsson was inspired by Walter Lippmann and Friedrich Hayek’s ideas about how to gain political and ideological influence over the public opinion. Sture Eskilsson therefore plays an important role in presenting neoliberal ideas and shaping the neoliberal opinion in Sweden during the latter half of the 20th century. In addition to putting Sture Eskilsson in a broader, international context, this thesis argues that it is of great significance to compare them to the foundational neoliberal and populist ideas, to be able to understand the emerge of neoliberalism in Sweden.