Passioner, värden och kontradiktioner: Tre röster om läsfrämjandets hinder och möjligheter

Abstract

In an ongoing research project, we examine reading promotion work in Sweden, where reading is framed as being in crisis, and where different actors offer solutions for this. This article centres on three prominent and influential reading promoters in Sweden. The purpose is to highlight some of the passions, values, and contradictions that characterize discourses on reading and reading promotion. The theoretical and methodological framework draws on concepts from Science and Technology Studies. We investigate the following research questions: What values are attributed to reading? What passions, threats, and contradictions emerge within the networks that these reading promoters participate in? Our findings show that the informants are driven by strong passions and values that are both deeply personal and oriented toward society. They identify the absence of reading role models, along with digitization and social media, as significant threats. The reading-promotion networks that the informants initiate and/or participate in differ significantly in terms of magnitude and complexity. They consist of both human and non-human actors, and foster a shared belief in the fundamental importance of reading, while also exposing discursive cracks and contradictions.