Research project Structural change, education, and the radical right: The political realignment of young men in rural Sweden
Sweden is undergoing a major political realignment, with young rural men increasingly supporting radical rightwing parties, while young women move in the opposite direction. How can we understand this shift?
This project introduces the concept of intersectional grievance to examine how structural transformations—such as deindustrialization, and public sector retrenchment—have disproportionately impacted men in rural areas, while young women increasingly migrate to urban centers for education. We investigate if these patterns have made the Sweden Democrats particularly attractive to this demographic, reinforcing their rising support.
Unlike previous research, which often examines economic and demographic drivers separately, this project explores their interaction, the role of party appeals, and potential reversals—assessing whether labor market expansion and population growth in rural areas can mitigate these trends.
The project employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating Swedish registry, survey, electoral data, and survey experiments to analyze individual-level political responses to structural change. The experiments will causally assess the effectiveness of radical right-wing appeals across demographic groups. By addressing one of Sweden’s most significant electoral shifts, this project advances research on political polarization, labor market transformations, and gendered voting behavior, contributing to broader debates on structural change and political realignment.