We live in a society that has changed rapidly in recent years. The Swedish welfare state identity consisted of structures that had been formed from an emancipatory project. Today, these structures seem to have been erased and replaced by a different form of society. When a society is changing it affects the political, social and economic levels.

In this social change Social Democracy seems to have lost its hegemonic position in society and describes itself as standing in a crisis. An effort to modernize the party has therefore begun. This crisis has thus not just happened by chance but must be understood in terms of the social change that can be identified in terms of class pattern, individualization and globalization. The aim of this study is therefore to describe the Swedish Social Democratic Party’s awareness of societal changes. The survey is based on interviews with key people in the party, as well as extracts from various political texts.

What the study shows how the Social Democrats adapted to globalization at an ideological level, embracing concepts such as the individual, competition and freedom of choice, but without describing the reason for their adaptation. Not having any reference to social changes shows that adaptation is an unconscious act, and in this lies a false consciousness.