Welcome to the party: A frame analysis of the construction of party identities in Swedish left parties’ new-member education

Abstract

This article discusses how study material created for intra-party education for the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Left Party constructs party identities, by analysing how study material developed for instructing new party members frames the party’s organisation, history, and ideology. While the analysis reveals that both parties frame their organisations as popular movements, they differ in their framing of history and ideology: the Social Democrats articulate their position as a governing party, whereas the Left Party situates itself in relation to a broader left-leaning movement and discusses contemporary political issues. Regardless of these differences, both parties construct flexible identities without clear excluding mechanisms. In short, everyone is welcome. The sparse emphasis on persuading members of the parties’ policies suggests that the parties assume that new members already agree with the righteousness of their politics. This leads to an educational situation that predominantly aims to create a feeling of belonging and to make members feel engaged in ‘the movement’.