Empowerment and Dominance : A Critical Discourse Analysis of Swedish Development Aid Policy 2023–2025 from a Postcolonial Perspective

The aim of this study is to analyze whether Sweden’s new strategic orientation in foreign aid during 2023–2025 fosters equal partnerships or perpetuates postcolonial power relations. The study draws on postcolonial theories and concepts and applies Fairclough’s three-dimensional model to conduct a critical discourse analysis. The analysis indicates that although the textual dimension partially challenges postcolonial power relations by framing foreign aid as more inclusive and equal, the dominant discourses at the discursive practice level and the broader structures at the social practice level nevertheless continue to reproduce postcolonial and unequal power relations. It can thus be argued that Sweden’s new strategic orientation in foreign aid contributes to the reproduction and legitimation of hierarchical power relations, eurocentrism, and Western hegemony.