Limitless research as a path to development – newly installed professor Mattias Bengtsson raises interdisciplinary awareness

It was the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu who caught his attention in the late 1990s. As a student of the history of ideas and learning, Mattias Bengtsson then came into contact with Bourdieu’s writings, focussing on power perspectives and social inequality.  

“When I read them, I immediately felt a sense of being at home. At the time I didn't have a good grasp of sociology as a subject, but Bourdieu became an eye-opener. I discovered what exciting questions there are in sociology,” said Mattias Bengtsson. 

•   On Friday, 9 May, at 09:00, Mattias will give a public inaugural lecture entitled “When the welfare state was contracted: From social engineering to a revolution in freedom of choice.”  
  Read more about the inaugural lecture  

Now, decades later, he can see how the influential sociologist from Paris affects even those he teaches. “Bourdieu’s thoughts are so important and appreciated by students because they are so concrete and a way to understand how social inequality is reproduced in society and also how to resist it.” 

The pandemic as a window of opportunity

These are questions that have permeated Mattias Bengtsson’s entire academic career. He is primarily interested in sociology at the intersection of work and welfare and sees it as an important task to highlight societal trends and discuss their possible consequences. In addition to studying the changes in labour market policy, he has been interested in the transformation of social security systems and on that journey has been guided by the question of what has actually happened to Swedish welfare policy.  

“There has been a clear shift here since the 1970s and 1980s, with a much stronger emphasis on the individual’s responsibility for their own employability, as well as extensively the central government’s withdrawal and spending on labour market policy being sharply reduced,” said Mattias Bengtsson. 

But his research has shown that external existential crises and threats can bring rapid change in the other direction. 

“The pandemic became a unique window of opportunity for policy change. In Sweden, it turned out that several of the reforms implemented in unemployment benefit and sickness benefit remained in place when the pandemic subsided. COVID-19 became the ‘policy accelerator’ for changes in social security systems – which have been debated for a long time in Sweden, but have not previously received sufficient support,” he said.   

Battery factory studies took unexpected turn 

In relation to another mega-event, climate change, Mattias Bengtsson also studies welfare issues and social inequalities in connection with “green” transition processes in the automotive industry in western Sweden. In particular, the establishment of battery factories is monitored in relation to global competitive conditions and their possible impact on social sustainability at regional and municipal levels. Studies that took an unexpected turn through Northvolt's bankruptcy. 

“It’s very exciting; we are following what’s happening in real time. Some interviews were conducted during the autumn and many still had a positive attitude and said that what happened to Northvolt and Skellefteå will not happen in West Sweden. But a few months ago, they begin to realise that the situation is more serious than they imagined.” 

Mattias Bengtsson points out the important questions raised, such as “What happens if battery factories in West Sweden are not established? What does that mean for the further green transformation of the automotive industry there? What consequences does this have for the municipalities that have planned for expansion?” he said, giving the example of Mariestad, which expects about 3,000 new jobs through the planned factory, which would entail a major expansion of schools and healthcare, for example. 

“The green transition entails a lot of major societal challenges and this is where questions of social inequality come in. Who will be winners and who will be losers? We are following the developments and it is very interesting,” said Mattias Bengtsson. 

Existential meaning should be woven into the analysis 

His research has also focused on retirement and the meaning of work. Society wants people to work more and longer and often it has been assumed that the main incentives for doing so are financial, but his studies have shown that it is rather often about creating meaning in work. He sees it as a flaw that existential questions are not usually a part of analysis in modern social sciences and has therefore developed a sociology of existence together with a colleague. They point out how the unpredictability of life, such as loss of relatives or work, causes people to reevaluate or construct new meaning, which affects life choices and, by extension, society’s working life and welfare. 

“My ambition as a professor is to inspire more social scientists to weave together issues of social inequality with themes that touch on existential meaning,” said Mattas Bengtsson. 

Want to spread knowledge for positive change 

Societal benefit is the ultimate goal of his research. 

“The foundation is of course to get an in-depth explanation and understanding of the social phenomena that I study, but ultimately it will also lead to change,” he said. 

Mattias Bengtsson sees it as a very strong driving force through his research not only to make visible what is wrong, problematic or functioning in different organisations, but to be out in society and spread this knowledge and talk to politicians, officials and other actors and thereby contribute to positive changes. 

To achieve this, he sees it as fruitful to now be working at such an interdisciplinary setting as the Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare. 

“Collaborating with their different subjects like sociology and health science is different from my experiences in the university environment and it will be exciting to think in new ways and find new forms of collaboration. I believe that I will be a professor who works across borders so that we can develop research at the university; these are important goals,” said Mattias Bengtsson.   

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