Research
My research interests concern new forms of governing, including theorization of democracy, politics, and politicization, as well as critical policy analysis—particularly within the fields of artificial intelligence, gender equality, and regional development. My research also addresses questions of place/space and power, which has led to an interest in urban, rural, and rurban studies. I also have a strong interest in issues related to qualitative methodology and feminist theory.
Currently, I am primarily active in the research program The New Land of the Future? (funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond), where I am responsible for the work package studying planning and governance in relation to the so-called green transformation of northern Sweden. The program is based at CERUM, Umeå University, where I am also affiliated as a professor in regional science.
Between 2025 and 2030, I am one of three lead researchers in the cluster AI and the Welfare State, funded by WASP-HS.
I conduct my research within the framework of the research group PPG, Research Group on Power, Politics and Governing. More information is available on our website: https://sola.kau.se/ppg/
Recently completed research projects include: Artificial Intelligence – Destroyer or Enabler of Democracy and Self-Determination (funded by WASP-HS), where I studied the relationship between AI and the organization of our democratic system, and Separatist Spaces/Safe Spaces (funded by FORMAS), where we explored the relationship between separatism, power, and politics.
Between 2019 and 2025, I was a member of the Scientific Committee for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Swedish Research Council, serving as chair during the last three years.
Teaching
I primarily teach in the Master's Programme in Political Science, where I contribute to courses in Political Theory, Democracy – Theories, Practices and Dilemmas, and Methods in Political Science. I will also be teaching in our new Master's Programme with a focus on Psychological Defence and Disinformation.
I also teach regularly at the doctoral level.
Selected publications
Rönnblom, M., & Edwards, R. 2026. Innovations in Critical Policy Analysis. What's the Problem Represented to Be? Polity Press.
Rönnblom, M., & Edwards, R. 2025. A critical explanation of uses of Carol Bacchi’s WPR approach. Critical Policy Studies, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2025.2555388
Rudnik, Alesia and Malin Rönnblom. 2024. ‘TikTok and Telegram as platforms for political mobilization in Belarus and Russia’, Baltic Worlds, XVIII:4. (Peer-reviewed)
Björling, Nils and Malin Rönnblom. 2023. ”Politics of the rurban void”, Space and Polity, DOI: 10.1080/13562576.2023.2248036 (Peer-reviewed)
Rönnblom, Malin, Vanja Carlsson and Andreas Öjehag-Pettersson. 2023. “Gender equality in Swedish AI policies. What's the problem represented to be?”, Review of Policy Research, Vol. 40:5, doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12547 (Peer-reviewed)
Carlsson, Vanja, Malin Rönnblom and Andreas Öjehag-Pettersson. 2023. “Automated decision-making in the public sector”, in Lindgren, Simon (ed) Handbok of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence, Edward Elgar. (Peer-reviewed)
Carlsson, Vanja and Malin Rönnblom. 2022. From politics to ethics: Transformations in EU policies on digital technology, Technology in Society, Vol. 71, doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102145 (Peer-reviewed)
Scott, David and Malin Rönnblom. 2022. “Projectifying feminism – Exploring the conditions for feminist politics in international development aid”, The European Journal of Politics and Gender, Vol 5: 2. https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16467490969176 (Peer-reviewed)