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In the second half of the twentieth century, the car industry became a lightning rod for debates about human contributions to climate change. Widespread motorisation galvanised the green movements of the 1960s and 1970s, regulators increasingly demanded the use of pollution and climate mitigation technologies, and carmakers responded to this changing consumer and regulatory environment by gradually observing stricter emissions standards and innovating away from combustible engines at the turn of the millennium. This chapter traces the arc of the relationship between car manufacturing and climate change through a business historical lens, from the development of internal combustion engines and their alternatives to the political economy of an energy transition and the decision to prioritise electric vehicles. This analysis aims to lay a foundation for further historical research on car manufacturing and climate change.

Det krävs en bred och oberoende analys av experter med olika kompetens. Låt den oberoende forskningen vid svenska lärosäten vara med och bidra med kunskap i syfte att öka sannolikheten för att den har typen av investeringar i framtiden ska bli lyckade ur ett klimat, samhällsekonomiskt, demokratiskt och socialt hållbart perspektiv

Regeringens ointresse för människors livsvillkor i kämpande kommuner riskerar att underminera tron på den gröna omställningen, skriver tre forskare.

This paper uses register data and open vacancy data to determine if green industries require different skills than other employers. This is done by focusing on how the entry of the battery producer Northvolt changed the labour demand when establishing in Skellefteå (Sweden). Using data on all vacancies in Sweden 2016–2023 we analyse the skill- and knowledge demand in Northvolt's job ads and compare that to the labour demand at the local, regional and national level. In terms of occupations, we find only minor tendencies towards a higher demand of higher-skilled jobs compared to incumbent local employers, but an increase of service work and a reinforcement of the local manual work specialization. Using language models, we combine the vacancies with a scheme of skills and knowledge from the ESCO-taxonomy. Interestingly, Northvolt deviates in both the skill- and knowledge requirements compared to similar jobs in the rest of the country. This especially concerns a greater emphasis on information, collaboration and communication skills in contrast to other employers who stress manufacturing experience. Despite these skill-specific differences, our experimental approach finds little evidence that the entry spurred a significant diversification and upgrading of the regional labour market.

Using a broad range of materials (media and interviews), we analyse the development of three green megaprojects in the two northernmost regions of Sweden. We find support for the presence of a strong ideological fantasy tied to a few “green heroes”, supporting the notion that the investments are the ultimate answer not only to climate crisis but also to the territory’s perceived left-behindness. The symbolic construction of the fantasy also contributes to the production of killjoys through marginalizing and feminizing opposition to the megaprojects. Our analysis thereby points to the importance of a feminist intervention and critique of the neoliberal ideology that frames green megaprojects.

This research note contains an update of the research program “A promised land? Drivers, challenges and opportunities related to the (green) industrialization of Northern Sweden,” (nr. M22-0029) awarded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond’s in 2022. The document summarizes work in progress and is updated annually in different versions according to the requirements of the program. 

This interdisciplinary program aims to understand the economic, social, and political challenges and opportunities of the ongoing industrial transformation in northern Sweden. A key element of the program is to identify drivers, obstacles, and preconditions in a historical, present, and forward-looking process-perspective. 

Northvolt är i kris och olyckskorparna flockas. Det säkra i sammanhanget är att inta en pessimistisk hållning. Men, om vi lyfter blicken ochser Northvolt som det företaget de facto är – en del i den europeiskabilindustrins omställning – finns det skäl att våga sig på en meroptimistisk hållning, skriver ekonomihistorikern Mattias Näsman

Recent large investments in northern Sweden connected to the green transition – primarily within mining and manufacturing (fossil-free steel, batteries) – have led to substantial increases in local demand for labour. In a territory with low unemployment and a decreasing labour supply due to ageing and a history of net outmigration, there is a substantial risk that this increased labour demand will, particularly in the short term, draw at least to some extent from the public sector.

Against this backdrop, the chapter examines the dynamic effects of employment expansion in the mining and manufacturing industries on public sector employment in northern Sweden during the period 1990–2019. It also analyses which factors affect the probability of a worker leaving the public sector for a job in manufacturing or mining.

Our results suggest that the expansion of manufacturing and, in particular, mining has a negative short-term effect on public sector employment. The largest effect is attributable to poaching from public administration, with education and health less affected. Assuming a linear trend based on previous labour market interdependencies, a three standard deviation increase in mining (about 2,700 new jobs) and manufacturing (about 10,800 new jobs) could potentially lead to 8% of the current public administration workforce being poached. The results also indicate that younger individuals, low- and high-income earners, and those highly educated in the social or technical sciences are the most likely to leave the public sector. In the longer perspective, these vacancies go on to be filled by skilled but inexperienced workers.

A number of policy implications arise from the above findings. First, given the regional dimension of job mobility, policy-makers should consider how large investments influence the other parts of a regional economy, rather than simply attending to the immediate demands of focal industries. Second, while the poaching of public sector employees will inevitably occur, the functioning of the public sector also hinges on the supply of workers entering the labour market. There is therefore a pressing need to bolster the status of key public sector jobs and improve working conditions, thereby ensuring they are regarded as viable career opportunities when mining and manufacturing expands. The public sector should also ensure that it is in a position to attract and retain workers crowded out of the mining and manufacturing in the event of future rationalisation. Third, general policy interventions may not serve local needs, especially the spatial mismatch of available jobs and supply of workers. Support for relocation tailored to local demands is therefore crucial.

This article utilizes news media representations to scrutinize the symbolic construction and legitimizing support for green megaprojects, with a particular focus on Northvolt’s battery factory in Skellefteå, Sweden. The study reveals that the media portrayed the project as crucial for local development, driven by Northvolt’s explicit competition, Sweden’s national ambition to lead in green technology, and a neoliberal agenda for regional economic growth. These narratives, deeply rooted in ideological fantasies about the implications of such a megaproject for a small, struggling community, effectively suppressed concerns about colonialism, environmental risks, and indigenous rights. The media’s emphasis on perceived benefits overshadowed potential risks, prompting questions about the long-term impact of such projects on local communities and the environment. The article argues that while these investments are framed as opportunities for progress, they may perpetuate historical patterns of exploitation and overlook critical socio-environmental issues.