Familjejordbruk utan familjer? : Syskonjordbruk på svensk landsbygd
Dackling, Martin LU
(2017)
In Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift
35(73).
p.29-46
- Abstract
- This article analyses sibling farms in Sweden during the 20th century. The term sibling farm refers to a farm that two or more adult siblings have taken over from their parents. Although varied research themes have focused on a range
of topics, this form of extended family constellation is traditionally associated with the past, whereas the smaller, nuclear family is characterized as modern. When researching modern family farming, the nuclear family invariably
forms the starting point. However, a couple of Swedish studies have included examples of siblings who took over their parents’ farm in the early 20th century, which does not fit with the accepted pattern. This article therefore aims to
discuss the prevalence of sibling... (More) - This article analyses sibling farms in Sweden during the 20th century. The term sibling farm refers to a farm that two or more adult siblings have taken over from their parents. Although varied research themes have focused on a range
of topics, this form of extended family constellation is traditionally associated with the past, whereas the smaller, nuclear family is characterized as modern. When researching modern family farming, the nuclear family invariably
forms the starting point. However, a couple of Swedish studies have included examples of siblings who took over their parents’ farm in the early 20th century, which does not fit with the accepted pattern. This article therefore aims to
discuss the prevalence of sibling farms, what characterized them, and how they can be explained. The study draws on three sources – inheritance questionnaires from the first decades of the 20th century; various agricultural statistical reports from the 1950s; and an analysis of households in five rural parishes between 1870 and 1990. The questionnaires record the nature of inheritance in various parts of Sweden between 1907 and 1935. At this time it became increasingly common for siblings, following the death of their parents, to take joint control of the family farm, a phenomenon recorded throughout the
country. This change seems to relate to evolving marriage patterns: many heirs remained single, which questionnaires sometimes cite as the reason why heirs continued to live together under the same roof. In the 1950s statistical reports a
similar pattern emerges. At this time more than ten per cent of farms were owned by the estates of deceased persons or had been partitioned
between various unmarried siblings, which was described as a growing problem for the State rationalization policy.
To deepen the analysis, households in five parishes were studied using census data. A clear chronology emerged: sibling farms were unknown in 1870, increased in number until the 1940s, but gradually declined in the latter part
of the century. Until c.1945 a farm of this kind usually comprised two to four siblings; nearly all were unmarried and female and male siblings
were equally common. In the latter part of the century sisters tended to disappear and a different pattern emerged wherein two brothers took joint control of a farm, and marriage became more common. The results suggests that the sibling farm was not a past relic but a modern phenomenon with a clear chronology: an emergence, a heyday – by c.1930 numbering as many as one in five farms, and a gradual decline. One explanation for this sequence is that sibling farms provided a vital labour reserve in a phase of agricultural development when employees were becoming expensive and mechanization was not yet fully developed. The prevalence of sisters before 1950 relates to
the numerous unmarried men: sisters seem to have adopted the role of the traditional housewife, becoming a form of surrogate wife. Finally, elderly parents who continued to live with their children probably exerted an influence too.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/bd212505-4659-46b6-9eb1-46c478be2446
- author
- Dackling, Martin
LU
- publishing date
- 2017
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Syskon, Syskonjordbruk, hushåll, familj, bönder, jordbruk
- in
- Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift
- volume
- 35
- issue
- 73
- pages
- 17 pages
- ISSN
- 0349-2834
- project
- Istället för äktenskap. Syskonjordbruk i Sverige
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- bd212505-4659-46b6-9eb1-46c478be2446
- alternative location
- http://media.bebyggelsehistoria.org/pdf/BHT73_2017.pdf#page=30
- date added to LUP
- 2020-02-05 11:52:28
- date last changed
- 2020-04-14 11:04:23
@article{bd212505-4659-46b6-9eb1-46c478be2446,
abstract = {{This article analyses sibling farms in Sweden during the 20th century. The term sibling farm refers to a farm that two or more adult siblings have taken over from their parents. Although varied research themes have focused on a range<br/>of topics, this form of extended family constellation is traditionally associated with the past, whereas the smaller, nuclear family is characterized as modern. When researching modern family farming, the nuclear family invariably<br/>forms the starting point. However, a couple of Swedish studies have included examples of siblings who took over their parents’ farm in the early 20th century, which does not fit with the accepted pattern. This article therefore aims to<br/>discuss the prevalence of sibling farms, what characterized them, and how they can be explained. The study draws on three sources – inheritance questionnaires from the first decades of the 20th century; various agricultural statistical reports from the 1950s; and an analysis of households in five rural parishes between 1870 and 1990. The questionnaires record the nature of inheritance in various parts of Sweden between 1907 and 1935. At this time it became increasingly common for siblings, following the death of their parents, to take joint control of the family farm, a phenomenon recorded throughout the<br/>country. This change seems to relate to evolving marriage patterns: many heirs remained single, which questionnaires sometimes cite as the reason why heirs continued to live together under the same roof. In the 1950s statistical reports a<br/>similar pattern emerges. At this time more than ten per cent of farms were owned by the estates of deceased persons or had been partitioned<br/>between various unmarried siblings, which was described as a growing problem for the State rationalization policy.<br/>To deepen the analysis, households in five parishes were studied using census data. A clear chronology emerged: sibling farms were unknown in 1870, increased in number until the 1940s, but gradually declined in the latter part<br/>of the century. Until c.1945 a farm of this kind usually comprised two to four siblings; nearly all were unmarried and female and male siblings<br/>were equally common. In the latter part of the century sisters tended to disappear and a different pattern emerged wherein two brothers took joint control of a farm, and marriage became more common. The results suggests that the sibling farm was not a past relic but a modern phenomenon with a clear chronology: an emergence, a heyday – by c.1930 numbering as many as one in five farms, and a gradual decline. One explanation for this sequence is that sibling farms provided a vital labour reserve in a phase of agricultural development when employees were becoming expensive and mechanization was not yet fully developed. The prevalence of sisters before 1950 relates to<br/>the numerous unmarried men: sisters seem to have adopted the role of the traditional housewife, becoming a form of surrogate wife. Finally, elderly parents who continued to live with their children probably exerted an influence too. <br/>}},
author = {{Dackling, Martin}},
issn = {{0349-2834}},
keywords = {{Syskon; Syskonjordbruk; hushåll; familj; bönder; jordbruk}},
language = {{swe}},
number = {{73}},
pages = {{29--46}},
series = {{Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift}},
title = {{Familjejordbruk utan familjer? : Syskonjordbruk på svensk landsbygd}},
url = {{http://media.bebyggelsehistoria.org/pdf/BHT73_2017.pdf#page=30}},
volume = {{35}},
year = {{2017}},
}