De sista arbetarrörelsearkiven? Gemenskapsarkiv i förändring
(2025) ABMM34 20251Division of ALM, Digital Cultures and Publishing Studies
- Abstract
- The Swedish labour movement archives are an early example of community archives. Despite this, they have never been examined as such before. This study aims to examine how the labour movement archives functions as community archives, and how that function has changed over time. Since the first labour movement archive opened in Stockholm in 1903, and the subsequent archives opened in smaller Swedish cities in the 1940s, the Swedish labour movement has changed significantly. The overarching research question for the study is about how community archives change as the community changes over time. To examine this, interviews were conducted with representatives for the last four remaining labour movement archives in Sweden, and one... (More)
- The Swedish labour movement archives are an early example of community archives. Despite this, they have never been examined as such before. This study aims to examine how the labour movement archives functions as community archives, and how that function has changed over time. Since the first labour movement archive opened in Stockholm in 1903, and the subsequent archives opened in smaller Swedish cities in the 1940s, the Swedish labour movement has changed significantly. The overarching research question for the study is about how community archives change as the community changes over time. To examine this, interviews were conducted with representatives for the last four remaining labour movement archives in Sweden, and one representative of a recently closed labour movement archive. Firstly, institutional theory is used to analyse the empirical material and understand how the labour movement archives function as organizations, and the relationships between the labour movement archives and surrounding organizations and institutions that are having an impact on their organization. Theories on organisational identity were used to understand the archives’ self-perception. Then, using previous research identifying how community archives operate and function, the study shows how labour movement archives function as community archives.
The findings of the study show that the different labour movement archives are similarly organised, all with close ties to the labour movement. All labour movement archives in some degree depend upon politically directed public intuitions for funding. Currently, the most discernible differences are found between the two larger archives and the three smaller archives. The larger archives have a political function; were the representatives hold a view of the archival material as having a potential to be used in current political struggles. At the larger archives, professionalisation and community outreach has increased over time. The representatives from the smaller labour movement archives consider the archives to have a more general function as keepers of history. Over time, the history-keeping function has increasingly substituted the political function of the archives. Collection of archival material has decreased over time, as have the archives’ monetary resources. This is a consequence of a weakening labour movement, unable to support its’ own educative organizations. When the archives were founded, the public institutions funding them were run by political parties connected to the labour movement. Now in some cases as the public institutions are run by right-wing parties, the funding is being cut. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9191510
- author
- Eirefelt, Alma LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The last of the labour movement archives? Changing community archives
- course
- ABMM34 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Arbetarrörelsearkiv, arkiv, enskilda arkiv, gemenskapsarkiv, arbetarrörelse, institutionell teori, organisatorisk identitet, ABM, Labour Movement Archives, archive, community archive, labour movement, institutional theory, organizational identity, ALM
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9191510
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-25 08:48:19
- date last changed
- 2025-06-25 08:48:19
@misc{9191510,
abstract = {{The Swedish labour movement archives are an early example of community archives. Despite this, they have never been examined as such before. This study aims to examine how the labour movement archives functions as community archives, and how that function has changed over time. Since the first labour movement archive opened in Stockholm in 1903, and the subsequent archives opened in smaller Swedish cities in the 1940s, the Swedish labour movement has changed significantly. The overarching research question for the study is about how community archives change as the community changes over time. To examine this, interviews were conducted with representatives for the last four remaining labour movement archives in Sweden, and one representative of a recently closed labour movement archive. Firstly, institutional theory is used to analyse the empirical material and understand how the labour movement archives function as organizations, and the relationships between the labour movement archives and surrounding organizations and institutions that are having an impact on their organization. Theories on organisational identity were used to understand the archives’ self-perception. Then, using previous research identifying how community archives operate and function, the study shows how labour movement archives function as community archives.
The findings of the study show that the different labour movement archives are similarly organised, all with close ties to the labour movement. All labour movement archives in some degree depend upon politically directed public intuitions for funding. Currently, the most discernible differences are found between the two larger archives and the three smaller archives. The larger archives have a political function; were the representatives hold a view of the archival material as having a potential to be used in current political struggles. At the larger archives, professionalisation and community outreach has increased over time. The representatives from the smaller labour movement archives consider the archives to have a more general function as keepers of history. Over time, the history-keeping function has increasingly substituted the political function of the archives. Collection of archival material has decreased over time, as have the archives’ monetary resources. This is a consequence of a weakening labour movement, unable to support its’ own educative organizations. When the archives were founded, the public institutions funding them were run by political parties connected to the labour movement. Now in some cases as the public institutions are run by right-wing parties, the funding is being cut.}},
author = {{Eirefelt, Alma}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{De sista arbetarrörelsearkiven? Gemenskapsarkiv i förändring}},
year = {{2025}},
}