Configuring the 'industrial collective': : A controversy on the use of Swedish forests, 1989–2009

• We introduce a theoretical vocabulary highlighting a neglected area in industrial change theory, the outsider role. Industries cannot be fully examined without considering the influence of concerned groups, i.e. actors concerned with the industrial activity. Our empirical focus is a mature, stable, and highly homogeneous industrial sector, namely, the Swedish forest industry. We identify, analyse, and discuss the development and configuration of various truth claims and standpoints regarding the characteristics and potential uses of Sweden’s forest resources, 1989–2009. We follow the translation of the forest industry from producing solely pulp and paper products to producing electricity, heat, and bio-fuels. We argue that, without the pressure of concerned groups and ‘industrialists in the wild’ on the industry, forest industrial activity would never have been reconfigured.       

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Keyword

industrial collective

translation

concerned groups

confined industry

forest industry

industrialists in the wild

bio-energy

Business studies

Företagsekonomi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)