Att arbeta i det moderna : svenska tekniker i utlandet under 1800-talets andra hälft
(2025) HISS33 20251History
- Abstract
- In the following study a collection of almost 300 travelogues from the second half of the 19th century is investigated. The travellers were technicians in the sense that they were technically knowledgeable and skilled individuals. The technicians, most of them skilled workers, travelled through the industrialised countries in Europe as well as the United States. During their travels they worked in and visited industrial workplaces to gain occupational knowledge. The government funded these travels with scholarships since the practical knowledge the technicians gained was regarded as important for the development of Swedish industry. The need for a technically skilled workforce was substantial, especially when Sweden tried to catch up to... (More)
- In the following study a collection of almost 300 travelogues from the second half of the 19th century is investigated. The travellers were technicians in the sense that they were technically knowledgeable and skilled individuals. The technicians, most of them skilled workers, travelled through the industrialised countries in Europe as well as the United States. During their travels they worked in and visited industrial workplaces to gain occupational knowledge. The government funded these travels with scholarships since the practical knowledge the technicians gained was regarded as important for the development of Swedish industry. The need for a technically skilled workforce was substantial, especially when Sweden tried to catch up to the more industrialised countries on the continent. A history-from-below-perspective is offered on international technology transfer as an integrated part of industrialisation. At the centre of the study stands the people who carried out industrialisation¬—both through their work and through crossing national borders with industrial knowledge.
The technicians are understood to be valuable “carriers of knowledge” who contributed to Swedish industrialisation. They embodied the knowledge they gained during their travels, which made it inseparable from them. They were the ones who could transfer and translate it to Swedish workplaces. It is suggested that the foreign work experience turned into a valuable resource for the technicians, as the practical knowledge they gained could be used to improve their position on the labour market. The industrial era saw a general restructuring of the organisation of work and class structure, which could favour those able to occupy the new knowledge-bearing positions. The material class analysis indicates that nearly half of the investigated group underwent positive social mobility. Hence, geographical mobility seems to have provided good conditions for social mobility.
The main emphasis of the study is the technicians social and geographical mobility, as well as the knowledge they met abroad. However, the ambition has also been to tell the story of the technicians and their experience of working abroad. A broad spectrum of themes is analysed, showing the complexity of work migration in the 19th century. The travelogues tell stories of adventures, international networks and great opportunities as well as of obstacles such as unemployment, wars and disease. Their experiences and expectations varied and had to be adjusted as they met the realities of traveling in foreign countries. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9200149
- author
- Johansson Skaarud, Hedda LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HISS33 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9200149
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-18 16:22:35
- date last changed
- 2025-06-18 16:22:35
@misc{9200149,
abstract = {{In the following study a collection of almost 300 travelogues from the second half of the 19th century is investigated. The travellers were technicians in the sense that they were technically knowledgeable and skilled individuals. The technicians, most of them skilled workers, travelled through the industrialised countries in Europe as well as the United States. During their travels they worked in and visited industrial workplaces to gain occupational knowledge. The government funded these travels with scholarships since the practical knowledge the technicians gained was regarded as important for the development of Swedish industry. The need for a technically skilled workforce was substantial, especially when Sweden tried to catch up to the more industrialised countries on the continent. A history-from-below-perspective is offered on international technology transfer as an integrated part of industrialisation. At the centre of the study stands the people who carried out industrialisation¬—both through their work and through crossing national borders with industrial knowledge.
The technicians are understood to be valuable “carriers of knowledge” who contributed to Swedish industrialisation. They embodied the knowledge they gained during their travels, which made it inseparable from them. They were the ones who could transfer and translate it to Swedish workplaces. It is suggested that the foreign work experience turned into a valuable resource for the technicians, as the practical knowledge they gained could be used to improve their position on the labour market. The industrial era saw a general restructuring of the organisation of work and class structure, which could favour those able to occupy the new knowledge-bearing positions. The material class analysis indicates that nearly half of the investigated group underwent positive social mobility. Hence, geographical mobility seems to have provided good conditions for social mobility.
The main emphasis of the study is the technicians social and geographical mobility, as well as the knowledge they met abroad. However, the ambition has also been to tell the story of the technicians and their experience of working abroad. A broad spectrum of themes is analysed, showing the complexity of work migration in the 19th century. The travelogues tell stories of adventures, international networks and great opportunities as well as of obstacles such as unemployment, wars and disease. Their experiences and expectations varied and had to be adjusted as they met the realities of traveling in foreign countries.}},
author = {{Johansson Skaarud, Hedda}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Att arbeta i det moderna : svenska tekniker i utlandet under 1800-talets andra hälft}},
year = {{2025}},
}