Olof Palme and the Winds of History
Olof Palme, chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (Sap)
from 1969 to 1986, and prime minister from 1969 to 1976 and again from
1982 to 1986, was a politician well-known abroad and controversial at
home: the two-volumes biography written by Kjell Östberg – the first
volume covers the period 1927-69 (from Palme’s birth to his appointment
to chairman), while the second is on his years both as prime minister and
in opposition – is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of Palme’s
achievements (his first mandate is related to the golden age of Swedish
reformism) as well as ambiguities (his radicalism as a speaker, but not as a
politician). His murder is still a mystery: but the hatred he was surrounded
by is reason for thinking about the challenges issued to those who are
intended to reform market society.