Klass, marxism och Vänsterpartiet : En studie av Vänsterpartiet kommunisterna/Vänsterpartiets klassbegrepp 1987-2012

After a period of silence surrounding the concept of class it has been re-introduced to the cultural and political debate. For a political party to the left it should however always be of relevance. At least it has been traditionally. But since the concept of class is not a coherent one, it is not obvious how it is employed by those who use it. This calls into question how political parties view the concept of class, especially those parties for which the concept is central but that have also witnessed changes, like the Swedish Left Party. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to describe if and in what way the Swedish Left Party has changed its concept of class since it left communism in 1987. To serve the purpose the following question is posed: How has the Swedish Left Party’s concept of class changed, with specific regard to Marxism, since it left communism until 2012? The question is answered through a qualitative text analysis of the party’s political platforms from 1987 until 2012. The analysis explores four specific dimensions of the concept of class. These dimensions are: the foundation or the origin of the class structure, whether the concept of class is relational or not, the character of the class relations (if such exist) within the class structure and the existence and description of “other classes”. The conclusion is that the Swedish Left Party abandoned a Marxist concept of class in the 1990s while it started to engage in post-communist politics. However, the party returned to and has kept a Marxist concept of class since 2000. So while communism can be viewed as a long parenthesis in the party’s history, Marxism cannot