The Swedish Corona Strategy – Constitutional Security Management?

• In Event: Critical Approaches to the Study of the Crisis in Politics and Policymaking

Abstract

The global spread of the COVID-19 virus in the spring of 2020 quickly became a global pandemic causing severe political, social and economic turmoil across the globe. What is puzzling is that states across the world choose different strategies for how to cope with the pandemic threat; whereas some countries have adopted strict laws and exceptional measures through ‘state of exceptions’ and ‘national emergency’ to control the circulation of the population, other countries have been more liberal and relied on recommendations and individual responsibility. Sweden have been identified as one of the more liberal countries that seem to muddle through the pandemic with recommendations and voluntary actions, placing the responsibility for social distancing on the individual, with outspoken aims to avoid authoritative enforcements. Are we witnessing a failed ‘securitization’ process or a sensible constitutional and political response to complex biopolitical security issues? This article offers an in-depth analysis of the Swedish case, its strategies for coping with COVID-19 and argues that the Swedish case illustrates that serious security threats could be dealt with while avoiding authoritarian security measures.

Author

• Oscar Leonard Larsson, The Swedish Defence University