Maktkampen bakom arbetsrätten. : Diskursanalys på Svensk Näringslivs och LO:s remissvar på regeringen utredning om en moderniserad arbetsrätt

The main research question that this study intends to answer is: "What power relations between the parties of the labour market can be found in the contemporary discourse on a modernization of the labour law?". The purpose is to expose in what way an unequal power relationship be- tween employers and employees is maintained and reproduced through problem representation in policy documents, using discourse analysis applied to the referral statements from Svenskt Näringsliv (confederation of Swedish enterprise) and Landsorganisationen i Sverige - LO (the national unions organization in Sweden) to the government inquiry into a modernized labour law, and thus add arguments in the continued debate on labour law, and contribute puzzle pieces to the larger whole, whose purpose is to uncover hidden power relations that affect the Swedish labour market in general. The study is expected to concretize these power structures with the help of Steven Luke's theories from “Power: A Radical View” and through Carol Bacchi's anal- ysis tool "What's the problem represented to be" approach.The results show that the power relationship between Svenskt Näringsliv and LO is primarily characterized by a struggle for hegemony and over the members 'and the public's image of which values should weigh most heavily in the issue of labour law and the parties' roles in the labour market. The struggle for the hegemonic takeover and the influence over the members' preferences is more tangible than the power the parties possess and exercise towards each other