Governing by partnerships: dilemmas in Swedish education policy at the turn of the millennium.

In recent years, governing through partnerships has become more and more common and is today reflected in a range of policy areas. In the following article, governing through partnerships is analysed in Swedish education policy around the turn of the millennium, where the notion of partnership has had a large impact. Using as its point of departure a theoretical perspective inspired by Michel Foucault, the article analyses the calls for partnership in Swedish education policy as part of a set of governmental rationalities forming individuals into partnering, that is active and responsible, citizens. In the article, some of the long-term consequences of the uses of the concept of partnership in Swedish education policy are discussed, focusing particularly on issues of inclusion/exclusion and democratic regeneration. With the idea of governing through partnerships, it is argued that the political landscape is redrawn. The role of the State, for instance, is increasingly to leave room for various voluntary and independent actors and associations, to co-ordinate and interact, as a partner, among others, rather than directing society 'from above'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]