Cinema studies in the service of liberty? : The early research on media effects by “Filmforskningsgruppen” at the Swedish Film Institute 1964–1971

• An often-neglected aspect of the Swedish film reform in 1963 is the ambition to liberalize the governmental censorship. In 1964 the founder of the Swedish Film Institute (SFI), Harry Schein, initiated a Group of scholars from different academic fields (sociology, psychology, pedagogy, political science) with the purpose to study the effects of films on audiences. The group worked with individual or collective projects, studying audiences and genres. The aim for the research from Scheins point of view was crystal clear – films cannot be proved to cause damage. For the researchers the initiative from SFI rather provided an opportunity to institute new research on media effects. In this paper I will deal with the tension between Scheins intentions and the scientific practice of the group, and I will also discuss the impact the project might have had on the Swedish film and media studies of the 1970s and 1980s.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Filmvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Studies on Film (hsv//eng)

Keyword

censorship

knowledge

research

film politics

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)