I husbondens bröd och arbete. Kön, makt och kontrakt i det svenska tjänstefolkssystemet 1730-1860
Uppenberg, Carolina LU
(2018)
- Abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to analyze the power relations of labour and gender in the servant institution during the agrarian revolution in Sweden. The positions of servant, master and mistress are analyzed theoretically as a gendered, contracted position with both economic and moral dimensions attached to them. The analysis is applied together with a theory on bases of power, which are those areas where pretentions to power come in to force through material conditions; in this study being masculinity and access to land. The sources used are the Servant Acts, didactic and debate literature, and court cases. Though the formal condition for a servant system to evolve is inequality – in the agrarian setting primarily between landed and... (More)
- The aim of this thesis is to analyze the power relations of labour and gender in the servant institution during the agrarian revolution in Sweden. The positions of servant, master and mistress are analyzed theoretically as a gendered, contracted position with both economic and moral dimensions attached to them. The analysis is applied together with a theory on bases of power, which are those areas where pretentions to power come in to force through material conditions; in this study being masculinity and access to land. The sources used are the Servant Acts, didactic and debate literature, and court cases. Though the formal condition for a servant system to evolve is inequality – in the agrarian setting primarily between landed and landless people – previous research has tended to view the servant system primarily as a solution to the changing need for labour over time in the agrarian household. Through the Servant Acts, the Crown delegated control over landless people to farmers and could thereby ensure that farmers had access to labour, but the Crown also demanded farmers to use inflexible yearlong contracts for servants. I show that by using the well-established year-long contract as a frame, masters and male servants were able to create flexibility. At the same time, the subservient position of a servant became less acceptable for men, since the possibility to become a landed head of household at the end of the period of service was eroded during the agrarian revolution. I find that the servant position underwent a discursive feminization, and those aspects point to a situation where the servant position became feminized and wage labour became a new power base for men. The analysis of servants’ wages shows that there were considerable opportunities to use the court to demand unpaid wages, for both male and female servants, although only a quarter of the cases concerned females. However, the legal right to be taken care of in the event of sickness does not seem to have been complied with. Taken together, this leads to the conclusion that servants were already regarded less as family members and more as part of modern labour relations during the agrarian revolution. Finally, the concept of agency is analyzed, showing a subtle gender difference in that the labour of female servants was taken more for granted than that of male servants. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Under den tidigmoderna och förindustriella perioden arbetade en stor del av den unga, ogifta allmogebefolkningen i Sverige som tjänstefolk, som drängar och pigor i andras hushåll. Där var de legalt underordnade husbonden och matmodern enligt särskilda tjänstehjonsstadgor och de hade begränsade möjligheter att söka annan försörjning, samtidigt som de ofta delade arbete och vardag med husbondfolket. I denna avhandling studeras de maktrelationer som fanns i tjänstefolkssystemet som arbetsrelationer och utifrån ett genusperspektiv. Genom en analys av tjänstehjonsstadgorna, didaktiska skrifter och rättsfall visas hur och i vilken utsträckning tjänstefolk och husbondfolk kunde förhandla kring sina positioner, hur det skiljde sig åt för män och... (More)
- Under den tidigmoderna och förindustriella perioden arbetade en stor del av den unga, ogifta allmogebefolkningen i Sverige som tjänstefolk, som drängar och pigor i andras hushåll. Där var de legalt underordnade husbonden och matmodern enligt särskilda tjänstehjonsstadgor och de hade begränsade möjligheter att söka annan försörjning, samtidigt som de ofta delade arbete och vardag med husbondfolket. I denna avhandling studeras de maktrelationer som fanns i tjänstefolkssystemet som arbetsrelationer och utifrån ett genusperspektiv. Genom en analys av tjänstehjonsstadgorna, didaktiska skrifter och rättsfall visas hur och i vilken utsträckning tjänstefolk och husbondfolk kunde förhandla kring sina positioner, hur det skiljde sig åt för män och kvinnor och hur utvecklingen av tjänstefolkssystemet under den agrara revolutionen lade grunden för utbredningen av en lönearbetsmarknad samt en feminisering av tjänstefolkspositionen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1e1dd885-f64b-4238-a01c-f4fa09cdfb23
- author
- Uppenberg, Carolina
LU
- supervisor
- alternative title
- Servants and masters. Gender, contract, and power relations in the servant institution in Sweden, 1730-1860
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- servant, maid, farmhand, master, mistress, rural household, agrarian revolution, life-cycle servant, 18th century, 19th century, gender, patriarchy, contract, labour, Servant Acts, proletarianization, feminization, compulsory service
- publisher
- Department of Economy and Society, Unit for Economic History, Gothenburg University
- ISBN
- 978-91-86217-21-1
- 978-91-86217-19-8
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 1e1dd885-f64b-4238-a01c-f4fa09cdfb23
- alternative location
- http://hdl.handle.net/2077/55921
- date added to LUP
- 2019-03-19 10:28:14
- date last changed
- 2023-04-27 10:29:43
@phdthesis{1e1dd885-f64b-4238-a01c-f4fa09cdfb23,
abstract = {{The aim of this thesis is to analyze the power relations of labour and gender in the servant institution during the agrarian revolution in Sweden. The positions of servant, master and mistress are analyzed theoretically as a gendered, contracted position with both economic and moral dimensions attached to them. The analysis is applied together with a theory on bases of power, which are those areas where pretentions to power come in to force through material conditions; in this study being masculinity and access to land. The sources used are the Servant Acts, didactic and debate literature, and court cases. Though the formal condition for a servant system to evolve is inequality – in the agrarian setting primarily between landed and landless people – previous research has tended to view the servant system primarily as a solution to the changing need for labour over time in the agrarian household. Through the Servant Acts, the Crown delegated control over landless people to farmers and could thereby ensure that farmers had access to labour, but the Crown also demanded farmers to use inflexible yearlong contracts for servants. I show that by using the well-established year-long contract as a frame, masters and male servants were able to create flexibility. At the same time, the subservient position of a servant became less acceptable for men, since the possibility to become a landed head of household at the end of the period of service was eroded during the agrarian revolution. I find that the servant position underwent a discursive feminization, and those aspects point to a situation where the servant position became feminized and wage labour became a new power base for men. The analysis of servants’ wages shows that there were considerable opportunities to use the court to demand unpaid wages, for both male and female servants, although only a quarter of the cases concerned females. However, the legal right to be taken care of in the event of sickness does not seem to have been complied with. Taken together, this leads to the conclusion that servants were already regarded less as family members and more as part of modern labour relations during the agrarian revolution. Finally, the concept of agency is analyzed, showing a subtle gender difference in that the labour of female servants was taken more for granted than that of male servants.}},
author = {{Uppenberg, Carolina}},
isbn = {{978-91-86217-21-1}},
keywords = {{servant, maid, farmhand, master, mistress, rural household, agrarian revolution, life-cycle servant, 18th century, 19th century, gender, patriarchy, contract, labour, Servant Acts, proletarianization, feminization, compulsory service}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Department of Economy and Society, Unit for Economic History, Gothenburg University}},
title = {{I husbondens bröd och arbete. Kön, makt och kontrakt i det svenska tjänstefolkssystemet 1730-1860}},
url = {{http://hdl.handle.net/2077/55921}},
year = {{2018}},
}