Spelet om teaterpolitiken : Det svenska regionteatersystemet – från statligt initiativ till lokal realitet

Sammanfattning: The aim of this dissertation is to examine the impact that the new cultural policy had on the field of Swedish theatre in the 1970s. Of special interest is the system of regional theatres that emerged from the new cultural policy. In focus are the central political process, and the founding of three regional theatres.Theoretical tools for this investigation are Anthony Giddens’ theories of structure and modernity, and Pierre Bourdieu’s theories about cultural fields. Nobuko Kawashima’s analysis of decentralization in cultural policy is of interest, as is Willmar Sauter’s model of the theatrical event.One of the main questions concerns why the government chose to support new institutional theatres at a time characterized by a free-group movement. The way a number of agents – such as the national touring company Riksteatern – tried to influence the new cultural policy is clarified.Question that arise include whether the new national goals for cultural policy did function as governing tools; what regional and local political motivations were significant; as well as whether the development of the regional theatres had a lasting impact on the aesthetics of theatre and on relations between audiences and actors.When the regional theatres were launched, different ideas about their role were current. The politicians and some of the powerful theatre critics and leading writers in the local newspapers, who had supported the new cultural policy, also wanted a traditional theatre.The new regional theatres were in the beginning supported by national theatre critics, but in the long run their interest diminished. They had been using the regional theatres to pressure the dominant institutions.The regional theatres were disciplined through the institutional organization model, with the local political levels interfering in repertoire and employment questions, and the press campaigns against the theatres. This resulted in the long run in a theatre that was less political and that did not change the relations between audience and actors. The traditional values in the field of theatre were secured, and the dominant institutions were not threatened.