SOU 1945:22. Nojesbetankandet
SOU 1947:12. Utredning om ungdomens fritidsverksamhet
SOU 1974:90-93. AlkoholpoIitiska utredningen
SOU 1985:15. Handel med alkoholdrycker
SOU 1993:31. Kommunernas rall på alkoholområdet och inom missbrukarvården
SOU 1993:50. Serveringsbestammelser. Forslag till andringar
i lagen (1977:293) om handel med drycker (LHD). Delbetankande av alkoholpolitiska kommissionen.
Tidningsreportage och insandare
Dagens Nyheter (1992-01-12): Matbutiker redo att salja vin.
Reportage
Dagens Nyheter (1992-07-29): Enklare alkoholregler. Insandare av Rydberg, L., Socialborgarråd
Dagens Nyheter (1992-08-07). Intervju med Vattenfestivalgeneral Caj Malmros
Dagens Nyheter (1992-10-23): Kortare ko på bolaget. Reportage
Dagens Nyheter (1992-11-06): Låt Gotland testa vin i matbutiker. Insandare av Ankers, M., VD i Sveriges livsmedelshandIarforbund
Nojesguiden nr 2:1993. Ol-bar-o-meter
Nojesguiden nr 11:1993.: Svågerpolitik och mygel- Vattenfestivalens smutsiga affarer. Artikel om Vattenfestivalen.
Opublicerade kallor
Socialtjansten
Stockholm. Tillståndsgruppen, PM
1989-01-17
Socialtjansten i Stockholm. Tillståndsgruppen, tjansteutlåtande, 1992-01-28
Socialtjansten i Stockholm. Tillståndsgruppens register januari 1993
Egna intervjuer
Landshovding Ulf Adelsohn (1992-09-16)
Forre bitradande socialborgarrådet Kjell E. Johansson
(1992-09-18)
Socialborgarrådet Lennart Rydberg (1992-08-21)
Alkoholsektionen vid Lansstyrelsen (1991-09-16)
Tillståndsgruppen vid socialtjansten i Stockholm (1991-09-04
och 1991-10-04)
Tillståndsenheten vid Norrmalmspolisen (1991-09-23)
Nojesguidens redaktion, telefonforfrågan (1993-10-18).
ENGLISH
SUMMARY
Maria Abrahamson: Swedish alcohol and restaurant policy in the 19805: A historicai perspective ( Svensk alkoholoch restaurangpolitik -
1980-talets foråndringor i historisk belysning)
This article discusses, from the historicai perspective, certain factors
that contributed to the rapid proliferation of restaurants in Sweden in
the 1980s and to the development of the current tension between restrictive legislation, legal praxis and public alcohol culture.
Alcohol, and especiaIly alcohol served in restaurants, has been
strictly regulated in Sweden. In the early days af industrialism, the
restaurant became an important meeting place for the growing working class in the cities. The temperance movement and the city Establishment saw restaurants as breeding grounds for alcohol abuse, to
be regarded with profound mistrust. In the cities, municipal
monopolistic companies took over the management of restaurants
and cut their numbers. Only upper·class restaurants were granted private licences. As there was hardly any competitian, they could keep
prices very high and still retain a sufficiently large clientele.
In the initial stages of industrialization, the princip le af temperance became a powerful and unifying political force. The working
class, the temperance movement and the revivalist movement joined
forces to vote advocates of temperance into political assemblies.
When total prohibition was put to the vote in 1922, neorly half of the
population was in favour of total prohibition. The alternatives to prohibition - the ration bo ok and individual reta iI control - enhanced
the position of upper·class restaurants and gave Swedish restaurant
culture a character of refinement.
During the war years, social conditions demanded a change in the
role of restaurants; however, a mora Ily indignant public opinion forcefully rejected any such tendency. What was impossible in the 1940s,
however, became possibie in the 1980s. Certain changes in society
which occurred during those 40 years may shed some light on the
cultural upheaval that permitted the spread of restaurants in the
'80s. These changes include transformation in towns and in public
life, the transition from modernity to post·modernity, the emergence
of a new middle class and the redefinition of women's use of alcohol
from being morally reprehensible to legitimately acceptable.
Significant departures from the strict controlof restaurants were
made in the late '50s and in the earl y '60s. During the 1980s, the restrictive laws governing restaurants gradually began to lose legitimacy. Provincial governments and other supervisory authorities settled
for retaining what could be retained. Areport on the trade in alcoholic beverages (SOU 1985:15) made an attempt to reconcile the letter
of the law with what had become the practice in alcohol policy. The
proposition put forward in the report, however, had to be withdrawn
folIowing strong protests, particularly from the temperance movement.
The old legislation remained in force while legal praxis continued
to be applied in a more liberal spirit, during the world riding championships, for instance, and during the Stockholm Water Festival and
the European Football Championships. During the annual Stockholm
Water Festival, central parts of the city are transformed into a gigantic beer hall. The event has proved a huge succes s with the public,
and consequently a financial success for the restaurants. To maintain established principles of alcohol policy in such a situation would
ottract unwanted media attention and would involve considerable
political risk-taking. As in many other countries, age limits have, in
the end, become the only actual restriction to the availability of alcohol. The only social group borred from restaurants today is young
people. Alcohol policy, specifically policy concerning the right to
serve alcohol, is a field where former truths are no longer valid. Con·
cerning young people, however, there is perfect consensus showing
that drinking os a social problem depends an who is drinking and in
what circumstonces drinking tokes ploce. However, a fundamentally
chonged attitude in official quarters towords olcohol policy issues is
reflected in an interim report from the government committee working an overhauling olcohol policy (SOU 1993:50). The oim of alcohol
policy todoy, at least the port concerned with serving alcohol, is on
minimization of damage, not o general protection, os formerly.
Nordisk Alkoholtidskrift Vol. 17, 1994:2
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