From Salamanca to Sweden : Inclusive Education as Policy in Transit

This article illustrates the complexities of inclusive education as international policy to affect educational practices in schools, using Sweden as an example. The article views inclusive education as education-policy which lands in national and regional policy-contexts where it competes for prioritization among other policies. The article shows ambiguities in the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994), how the context of Swedish education politics has de-prioritized inclusion, and how material prerequisites for inclusive practices have been deteriorating. It concludes suggesting that by understanding the contextualization of policy, we can identify challenges to the radical potential of inclusive education, and address them.