"shaking the habitual" takes its title from a quote by french philosopher michel foucault. the album is inspired by the duo's readings in feminist and queer theory, while discussing environmentalism and structuralism. olof attended a course in gender studies at stockholm university and shared his reading list with karin. on 9 april 2013, the knife released a marit östberg-directed video titled "shaking the habitual – the interview", explaining the process of making the album. they state, "what we do is political. that should be impossible to misunderstand." they criticise the institution of the royal family and the nuclear family calling it "an institution that conserves inequality, injustice and exclusion", while advocating for living "in solidarity beyond nuclear families, nations and economical unions." in an interview with "pitchfork", karin suggested that "people would be happier sharing things and being much more of a collective rather than working from these neo-liberal ideas of just looking after yourself."