Why Such a Permissive Attitude towards Monopolistic Associations?: social democracy up to the first Swedish law on cartels in 1925

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, Swedish industry was characterized by an increased occurrence of monopolistic associations, known as cartels. The first Swedish law on cartels (1925) did not go against the cartel system as such. It has been said that ‘political struggle against the trusts and cartels was one of the characteristics of the early labour movement’; a struggle that eventually led to legislation. In this article, however, it is argued that social democracy had a permissive attitude towards the cartels. Indeed, the Social Democrats had critical remarks, but there were counteracting factors outweighing the Social Democratic critique against the monopolistic associations. In the article those counteracting factors are traced and analysed. There is an emphasis on ideological factors related to an idea of cartels as suitable targets for future socialization. In that context the article contributes to the debate of whether there was or was not a significant ideological change within social democracy in the 1920s and early 1930s. Another argument in favour of cartels was their alleged effects on overall economic efficiency. Thirdly, since the Social Democrats feared that trade unions might be labelled as cartels, there were also political and tactical reasons for a lenient attitude towards cartels.

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