The neoliberal monarch

In this well-researched and thought-provoking book on the world’s longest reigning monarch today, Sweden’s Carl XVI Gustaf, sociologist Mikael Holmqvist examines how monarchies and royals exercise corporate power, and how they contribute to consecrating and legitimizing neoliberalism. Europe’s royals remain immensely popular all around the world, and they are constantly the subject of great media interest – whatever they do and say gets attention. Nevertheless, they are rarely the subject of systematic and comprehensive scrutiny by social scientists. In this well-researched and thought-provoking book, sociologist Mikael Holmqvist, an expert on elites, business, and power, offers a convincing argument for why we need to take the royals seriously. Based on an extensive study of the world’s longest-reigning monarch today, Sweden’s Carl XVI Gustaf, the author convincingly describes how he has been fabricated as “the leadership king,” against a background of the wave of neoliberalism since the 1970s. Through his many speeches, media interviews, and public appearances, the king consecrates such corporate ideals as entrepreneurship, individual responsibility, positive thinking, healthy lifestyle, productivity, and self-management, thus contributing to legitimizing neoliberalism in society at large. By awarding them prestigious royal medals, inviting them to lavish state dinners, and offering them exclusive networking opportunities with other elites, the king also promotes the standing and status of neoliberalism’s architects and leaders: the corporate and financial elites. At the same time, they contribute to his and the monarchy’s legitimacy and power. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the power of monarchies and royals in contemporary market society. In this well-researched and thought-provoking book, sociologist Mikael Holmqvist, an expert on elites, business, and power, offers a convincing argument for why we need to take royals seriously. Through his many speeches, media interviews and public appearances the king consecrates such corporate ideals as entrepreneurship, individual responsibility, positive thinking, healthy lifestyle, productivity, and self-management, thus contributing to legitimizing neoliberalism in society at large. By awarding them prestigious royal medals, inviting them to lavish state dinners, and offering them exclusive networking with other elites, the king also promotes the standing and status of neoliberalism’s architects and leaders: the corporate and financial elites. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the power of monarchies and royals in contemporary market society.