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Peasants and entrepreneurship in the nineteenth-century agricultural transformation of Sweden

Svensson, Patrick LU (2006) In Social Science History 30(3). p.387-429
Abstract
In post-World War II agricultural research, a new perspective on "peasant society" developed. This approach is still vigorous today and implies that peasant society defined by subsistence production, the safety-first principle, and a stable village system with moral obligations-leads to conservative behavior toward change. It also assumes that only external forces can tear down the system and force peasants into markets. However, many researchers throughout Europe have challenged these opinions of peasant mentality and peasant behavior. This study investigates five parishes in southern Sweden (Scania) to analyze the behavior of peasants during the agricultural transformation (c. 1750-1850). Important organizational and institutional... (More)
In post-World War II agricultural research, a new perspective on "peasant society" developed. This approach is still vigorous today and implies that peasant society defined by subsistence production, the safety-first principle, and a stable village system with moral obligations-leads to conservative behavior toward change. It also assumes that only external forces can tear down the system and force peasants into markets. However, many researchers throughout Europe have challenged these opinions of peasant mentality and peasant behavior. This study investigates five parishes in southern Sweden (Scania) to analyze the behavior of peasants during the agricultural transformation (c. 1750-1850). Important organizational and institutional changes, such as enclosures, the emergence of a formal credit market, and the growing land market, are analyzed. Results reveal that some peasants actively participated in the agricultural transformation in a number of ways and that peasant farmers in Scania did not demonstrate a conservative attitude toward change. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Social Science History
volume
30
issue
3
pages
387 - 429
publisher
Duke University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000240268000003
  • scopus:33748803310
ISSN
0145-5532
DOI
10.1215/01455532-2006-003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6d6f1726-360d-4801-ae88-24e182d9fcb1 (old id 686186)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:36:25
date last changed
2022-01-27 07:22:55
@article{6d6f1726-360d-4801-ae88-24e182d9fcb1,
  abstract     = {{In post-World War II agricultural research, a new perspective on "peasant society" developed. This approach is still vigorous today and implies that peasant society defined by subsistence production, the safety-first principle, and a stable village system with moral obligations-leads to conservative behavior toward change. It also assumes that only external forces can tear down the system and force peasants into markets. However, many researchers throughout Europe have challenged these opinions of peasant mentality and peasant behavior. This study investigates five parishes in southern Sweden (Scania) to analyze the behavior of peasants during the agricultural transformation (c. 1750-1850). Important organizational and institutional changes, such as enclosures, the emergence of a formal credit market, and the growing land market, are analyzed. Results reveal that some peasants actively participated in the agricultural transformation in a number of ways and that peasant farmers in Scania did not demonstrate a conservative attitude toward change.}},
  author       = {{Svensson, Patrick}},
  issn         = {{0145-5532}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{387--429}},
  publisher    = {{Duke University Press}},
  series       = {{Social Science History}},
  title        = {{Peasants and entrepreneurship in the nineteenth-century agricultural transformation of Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/01455532-2006-003}},
  doi          = {{10.1215/01455532-2006-003}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}