Välfärdens motsträviga utkant : lokal praktik och statlig styrning i efterkrigstidens nordsvenska inland
(1998)- Abstract
- The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between local practices and state steering by examining how post-World War II welfare policy changed the life conditions in a number of small villages in northern Sweden. Three themes tie the discussion together. The first theme revolves around questions about how the northern Swedish inland region was transformed in the post-war period and how it became a "sparsely populated area". By choosing a more peripheral area as my point of departure I question the general picture of the "People's Home". The second theme in the dissertation analyzes how the ambitions and efforts of individuals towards attaining their goals make them unwilling to being totally subjugated to the ideals... (More)
- The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between local practices and state steering by examining how post-World War II welfare policy changed the life conditions in a number of small villages in northern Sweden. Three themes tie the discussion together. The first theme revolves around questions about how the northern Swedish inland region was transformed in the post-war period and how it became a "sparsely populated area". By choosing a more peripheral area as my point of departure I question the general picture of the "People's Home". The second theme in the dissertation analyzes how the ambitions and efforts of individuals towards attaining their goals make them unwilling to being totally subjugated to the ideals of planners. But neither do they act heroically in resistance. They act in a manner that I summarize in the concept of "reluctance". Through this concept I also examine how state policy becomes a part of local reality. The third theme in the dissertation is about how the consequences of welfare policy come to expression in spatial terms. The political discourse's concentration on time, progress and modernity is converted in the villages of the northern Swedish inland region to conceptions, which primarily have a spatial basis.
In the decades after World War II the population in the inland region declined drastically. Migration not only changed actual life conditions but also became the dominant interpretive framework for understanding developments during the whole of the post-war period. By reviewing how agricultural, educational and housing policy were carried out in the inland region a picture of how state steering slowly restructured the countryside emerges. The perspective of the villagers is marked by attempts to selectively include certain aspects of welfare policies while at the same time excluding aspects which do not coalesce with their own ambitions. However, state policy challenged the basic conceptions in the villages, above all with regard to what is considered sensible. The general character of the measures afforded the villagers the opportunity to compare themselves with other groups. Through these comparisons, a consciousness of the particularity of the locality was formulated. Local life was written into a political context which came to expression in reluctance and evasion. A more manifest resistance only came to expression in the regional movement, which also developed in Jämtland. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Avhandlingens syfte är att belysa relationerna mellan lokal praktik och statlig styrning med utgångspunkt i hur efterkrigstidens välfärdspolitik förändrade livsbetingelserna i ett antal byar i norra Sveriges inland. Tre teman knyter samman diskussionen. Det första temat knyts till frågorna kring hur det nordsvenska inlandet omvandlats under efterkrigstiden och till hur det blivit "glesbygd". Genom att välja en mer perifer utgångspunkt söker jag problematisera den generella bilden av folkhemmet Avhandlingens andra tema analyserar hur människors ambitioner och strävan att nå egna mål gör att de inte låter sig underordnas planeringens ideal totalt. Inte heller uppträder de som heroiska motståndsmän.... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Avhandlingens syfte är att belysa relationerna mellan lokal praktik och statlig styrning med utgångspunkt i hur efterkrigstidens välfärdspolitik förändrade livsbetingelserna i ett antal byar i norra Sveriges inland. Tre teman knyter samman diskussionen. Det första temat knyts till frågorna kring hur det nordsvenska inlandet omvandlats under efterkrigstiden och till hur det blivit "glesbygd". Genom att välja en mer perifer utgångspunkt söker jag problematisera den generella bilden av folkhemmet Avhandlingens andra tema analyserar hur människors ambitioner och strävan att nå egna mål gör att de inte låter sig underordnas planeringens ideal totalt. Inte heller uppträder de som heroiska motståndsmän. Snarare agerar de på ett sätt som jag sammanfattat med begreppet motsträvighet. Härigenom problematiseras också hur den statliga politiken blir en del av en lokal verklighet. Avhandlingens tredje tema kretsar kring hur välfärdspolitikens konsekvenser problematiserades i rumsliga termer. Den politiska diskursens koncentration på tid, på framsteg och modernitet, omvandlades i det nordsvenska inlandets byar till föreställningar som primärt var rumsligt förankrade.
Under decennierna efter andra världskrigets slut minskade befolkningsmängden drastiskt i inlandet. Migrationen förändrade inte bara de faktiska förutsättningarna för livet, utan etablerades också som det dominerande tolkningstemat för hela efterkrigstidens utveckling. Genom en redovisning av hur jordbruks-, utbildnings- och bostadspolitiken genomfördes i inlandet framträder en bild av hur den statliga styrningen långsamt omstrukturerade bygderna. Bybornas förhållningssätt präglades av att försöka infoga delar av välfärdsåtgärderna i den egna livsformen och att utesluta sådant som inte passade in i de egna ambitionerna.
Den statliga politiken utmanade emellertid grundläggande föreställningar i byarna, framför allt när det gällde vad som räknades som förnuftigt. Genom att vara generella införde åtgärderna dessutom en möjlighet för byborna att jämföra sig med andra grupper. Ur denna jämförelse formulerades en medvetenhet om det lokalt säregna. Det lokala livet skrevs in i ett politiskt sammanhang som uttrycktes som motsträvighet och undanglidande. Ett mer öppet motstånd kom bara till uttryck i den regionala rörelsen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/18832
- author
- Hansen, Kjell LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Ekman, Ann-Kristin, Danderyd
- organization
- alternative title
- The Reluctant Margins of Welfare. Local practice and state steering in Northern Sweden's inland regions
- publishing date
- 1998
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- ethnology, Cultural anthropology, welfare policies, Local identity, marginal areas, sparsely populated areas, resistance., regional movements, Kulturantropologi, etnologi
- pages
- 256 pages
- publisher
- Historiska Media
- defense location
- N/A
- defense date
- 1998-12-11 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUHFDA/HFET-98/1035-SE+256
- ISBN
- 91-88930-39-4
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c0c91a5c-8895-403f-b029-2272ced42311 (old id 18832)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 12:22:56
- date last changed
- 2021-12-02 10:14:06
@phdthesis{c0c91a5c-8895-403f-b029-2272ced42311,
abstract = {{The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between local practices and state steering by examining how post-World War II welfare policy changed the life conditions in a number of small villages in northern Sweden. Three themes tie the discussion together. The first theme revolves around questions about how the northern Swedish inland region was transformed in the post-war period and how it became a "sparsely populated area". By choosing a more peripheral area as my point of departure I question the general picture of the "People's Home". The second theme in the dissertation analyzes how the ambitions and efforts of individuals towards attaining their goals make them unwilling to being totally subjugated to the ideals of planners. But neither do they act heroically in resistance. They act in a manner that I summarize in the concept of "reluctance". Through this concept I also examine how state policy becomes a part of local reality. The third theme in the dissertation is about how the consequences of welfare policy come to expression in spatial terms. The political discourse's concentration on time, progress and modernity is converted in the villages of the northern Swedish inland region to conceptions, which primarily have a spatial basis.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the decades after World War II the population in the inland region declined drastically. Migration not only changed actual life conditions but also became the dominant interpretive framework for understanding developments during the whole of the post-war period. By reviewing how agricultural, educational and housing policy were carried out in the inland region a picture of how state steering slowly restructured the countryside emerges. The perspective of the villagers is marked by attempts to selectively include certain aspects of welfare policies while at the same time excluding aspects which do not coalesce with their own ambitions. However, state policy challenged the basic conceptions in the villages, above all with regard to what is considered sensible. The general character of the measures afforded the villagers the opportunity to compare themselves with other groups. Through these comparisons, a consciousness of the particularity of the locality was formulated. Local life was written into a political context which came to expression in reluctance and evasion. A more manifest resistance only came to expression in the regional movement, which also developed in Jämtland.}},
author = {{Hansen, Kjell}},
isbn = {{91-88930-39-4}},
keywords = {{ethnology; Cultural anthropology; welfare policies; Local identity; marginal areas; sparsely populated areas; resistance.; regional movements; Kulturantropologi; etnologi}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Historiska Media}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Välfärdens motsträviga utkant : lokal praktik och statlig styrning i efterkrigstidens nordsvenska inland}},
year = {{1998}},
}