Pictured Political Projects: Sunshine Over a Welfare State in the Shadow of War

Children had a prominent position in welfare discourse in Sweden during the 1930s and 1940s. In this article, the visual display of children in a pamphlet published by the Swedish wartime coalition government is scrutinized. It was a negotiated position, marked by important political compromises, but at the same time on terms identifiable as postwar social-democratic welfare visions, in which government, professionals, and institutional support is of major importance. The images and text tell a narrative of the state, as the direct supporter of children without mediation through the family.