During the fall, SVT will address various topics that clearly share the views of the Swedish people. Many people believe that the contradictions in our society are greater today than they used to be - that is, increased polarization. Some subjects clearly divide the population. This can be about vegan diet or meat, hunting for wolf or not, more or less immigration to Sweden.

City and countryside

Professor Charlotta Mellander at the Jönköping University College of Business has looked more closely at how the labor market and the difference between city and countryside have changed. What she has seen is that a large proportion of middle-class jobs have disappeared due to increased automation or that this type of job has moved to low-wage countries. There are still low-paid jobs in the service sector and high-paid jobs.

This is something that could be called an increasingly polarized labor market. There has also been an increased polarization between the city and the countryside as more and more people live in cities compared to the countryside.

Politicians need to be concrete

To counter the increased polarization between rural and urban, which Charlotta Mellander believes has contributed greatly to Donald Trump being elected US President and to Brexit in the UK, she believes politicians need to be clearer.

- Politicians must actively explain what to expect if you do not live in a city. How long should my children go to school, how long will it take before a police officer is in place if a crime has been committed, how far is it reasonable for me to have to go to give birth to children. The politicians need to provide answers to these questions, they haven't really done that, says Charlotta Mellander.