The Forgotten Union

The personal union between Norway and Sweden, established in 1319, has received little interest by historians, and is usually seen as terminated in 1363, if not earlier. But it was, in fact, an important factor in Scandinavian politics all the way until the establishment of the Kalmar Union under Queen Margrete in 1389. Important parts of western Sweden stayed in the union with Norway, which gave the now Norwegian-based old Swedish dynasty an important bridge-head and opened for contacts between Margrete and Swedish oppositionals. The territorial uncertainty along the western Swedish border also played a part when the Swedish lords opted for a union with Denmark and Norway.     

The Nordic 'Cultural Industries': A Cross-National Assessment of the Place of the Cultural Industries in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt is made to measure the cultural industries in a cross‐national context. The paper starts with a discussion of the definition and delineation of the term the ‘cultural industries’. It is argued that a large range of goods and services may be considered to be cultural industry products and that it is important to place the production and exchange of such products in the context of an industrial systems approach. Following this the concept is operationalised using data on employment and firm activity from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Results are presented which suggest that overall growth in both employment and firm numbers has been especially strong in the cultural industries. However, interesting differences between the countries emerged from the data. Thus regional dimensions are then examined resulting in the finding that in all four countries cultural industries have a strong attraction to urban areas but an even stronger propensity to agglomerate. It is suggested that the spatial dynamics observed may be key to the development of the industries' competencies and success. In summary the paper presents results of extensive data analysis that show the cultural industries' important contribution to Scandinavian economies and labour markets.     

Politics of Debt,War and Peace: Scandinavia 1800–1830

This article explores the dynamic relationship between war finance and economic and political developments in Scandinavia during the period 1800–1830. By comparing the organization of government debt in Denmark-Norway and Sweden, it is shown that the Danish system relied on revenues from trade and consumption, while the Swedish system was heavily influenced by internal political factors such as a divided fiscal authority. The leadership in Copenhagen was committed to maintaining existing relationships with creditors even when faced with severe fiscal constraints, while the Swedish government chose partial defaults as the politically expedient option when faced with fiscal difficulties.     

Gender equality: a core dimension in Rural Development Programmes in Austria?

The supranational gender equality regime of the European Union (EU), in place since the 1990s, affects gender-related social policy including the so-called ‘gender-neutral’ policy fields such as the common agricultural policy and rural development policy. Especially, the implementation of gender equality in all policy fields through the strategy of gender mainstreaming in EU Structural Funds and Rural Development Programmes has become a key challenge for political and administrative players and stakeholders. Analysis reveals that the existing institutional, political and social barriers for an effective implementation of gender equality in rural development policy are manifold. Instead of promoting rural women's agency and empowerment, Rural Development Programmes and processes in Austria are preserving and perpetuating traditional gender roles and patriarchal structures in rural society.     

‘Concrete bodies’: young Latina women transgressing the boundaries of race and class in white inner-city Stockholm

This article examines young Latina women's interactions in the urban landscape of Stockholm, with a particular focus on white, middle-class areas, and how social difference and racial positioning are produced in and through the processes of urban segregation. Although Stockholm consists of different multiethnic and middle-class white suburbs, a discourse of sharp division between ‘the suburb’ and the inner-city is prevalent in the daily press. Here ‘the suburb’ is either portrayed as dangerous or exotic. This article is based on qualitative research with 29 young Latina women living and attending schools in both the suburban and inner-city areas. This approach facilitates an understanding of how gendered, racialized and classed aspects of segregation are embodied in multiple directions and how mechanisms of spatial exclusion prevail in predominantly white areas – often seen as ‘neutral’ or non-racialized areas. In conclusion, in order to capture the realities of young people's lives within materialized discourses of race and space, I argue that it is crucial to include white settings in the analysis, and experiences of exclusion.     

The Historical Constitution of the Political Forms of Capitalism

Abstract: This article provides a general overview and critique of approaches to state theory, from the Marxist “state derivation“ debate of the 1970s, through to regulation and world‐systems perspectives, to theories which encompass imperialism. It proposes that a theory of the political forms of capitalism should have three elements: it should be based on analysis of the different historical processes by which capitalist states have been and are constituted; it should elucidate the specificities of the various political forms of capitalism; and it should explain the continuing existence of a plurality of states and imperialist relations.     

Homicide rates in rural southern Norway 1300–1569

Fairly good data enable us to estimate mid-16th-century homicide rates (to between 10 and 15 per 100,000). Data from the earlier centuries, documents from the standardized process for homicides, and occasional other mentions are at first sight not promising, but can be treated with advanced statistical methods. With these, the homicide rates for the region and period in question can be estimated to between 8 and 13 per 100,000 for the part of Norway that they cover: southern rural Norway.     

POOR MEN: ON THE MASCULINIZATION OF POVERTY IN SWEDEN, 1957–1981

This paper discusses the underlying causes behind the masculinization of poverty during the period of 1957–1981 in Sweden. Testable hypotheses are derived from a theoretical framework. The findings suggest that the male role as breadwinner disappeared during the analysed period. Lowly educated men and especially male immigrant labour lost their labour market position when industrial society gave way to a new post-industrial society, with an expanding service sector bringing numerous new employment opportunities for women. When sick or unemployed, social assistance was the only social security these men had available. On the other hand, the welfare-state expansion targeted women, particularly single mothers and widows, and thus reduced the number of native women claiming social assistance. The findings also point to the process character of the masculinization of poverty, arguing that women gained significantly more than men from the expansion of the welfare state.     

SCANDINAVIANS AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS SECRETARIAT, 1919–1946

This article reintroduces the Scandinavian perspective on interwar internationalism by mapping and analysing the Scandinavian staff in the League Secretariat. Combining quantitative and qualitative sources, the article explores how the Scandinavian members of staff were viewed by and situated in the institutional topography of the League Secretariat; how they were related to and positioned towards the national foreign policy establishment; and what the postwar trajectories of the Scandinavian League staff looked like. With these perspectives, the article offers three key insights: First, the interplay between the League Secretariat and the foreign policy strategies pursued by the Scandinavians, was highly productive, and the international issues that different Scandinavian countries engaged with through the League staff was substantially determined by the institutional set-up of the League. Second, we note clear differences in terms of strategy and commitment between the three countries’ Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs). Third, the careers of the Scandinavians working in the Secretariat show a clear continuity of Scandinavian internationalism across the Second World War. The experience, prestige and networks gained from working in the League Secretariat often translated into key positions in postwar IOs or within the new multilateral parts of the MFAs.     

‘I couldn't hold the whole thing’: the role of gender,individualisation and risk in shaping fertility preferences in Taiwan

Taiwan has one of the lowest fertility rates in Asia. High direct and indirect costs of childbearing have been identified as key drivers behind this at the macro-level, but little is known about the mechanism of these influences at the individual-level. In 32 qualitative interviews with parents in Taipei, we sought to explore the salient factors for couples in their decisions about having further children. We identified a tension between gendered expectations of childcare responsibilities and women's desire to ‘build a life of one's own’ – a life with options and the freedom to pursue career and social aspirations. Based on our grounded analysis, we reflect on the high relevance of individualisation, risk society and incomplete gender revolution theories for understanding why many couples – and women in particular – choose to cease childbearing at parity one.     

From the Parish to the Publich Realm

The parish church held a central place in local communities in the 18th century, both physically and symbolically; however, the institutions and practices governing the churches differed significantly between the Scandinavian countries. This article traces the development of local church government in Norway from its position under 18th-century absolutism to its inclusion into the new system of local self-government, established in 1837. It is compared to the very different institutions of self-government in Sweden in the same period. Although there were many lines of continuity within local government across the political dividing line marked by the Norwegian constitution of 1814, both local church offices and the parish community underwent conceptual changes related to the new constitutional system. Local church government therefore provides an example of how the notion of the population in general changed from absolutism to constitutional rule; from commoners in contradistinction to the state to communities constituting the very foundation of the state.     

Status,Estate, or Profession?

This article focuses on how social stratification was performed in everyday practice in 1730s Sweden. By studying the titles people were given in the court material of three communities – Uppsala town, Lagunda härad, and Sala town with its silver mine – three factors defining social categorization can be identified: status, estate, and profession. Only people who rose above the commoners were entitled, which means that all titles denoted status. Some titles were shared by different social groups that had little in common, and therefore cannot be said to mark anything other than status. Other titles were exclusive to definable groups. Among those, some were given to groups whose exclusivity was based on legal and fiscal privileges, rather than education or competence. They were simply feudal corporations, or estates. In other groups – all defined by occupations – the members had completed specialist education that included formal exams. In those, social stratification was the result of professionalism.     

‘It was entirely his fault’: constructing white masculinities and the Haga Man assaults in Umeå, Sweden 1998–2006

Several cases of single repeat offenders in urban space have raised public concern in Sweden during recent decades. Few studies have been conducted on the consequences of the ‘hostage situations’ that emerge when one individual offender causes fear and affects a large group of people in a specific place. The concern of this article is to examine consequences of the Haga Man phenomenon: the case of a serial rapist operating between 1998 and 2006 in Umeå, a medium-sized Swedish city. The article focuses on the construction of white masculinities among male respondents in Umeå during the time of the attacks. I examine how men positioned themselves in relation to the public image of the offender as a ‘normal Swede’ and how they related to women's increasing fear of violence in urban space. Three prominent constructions of masculinity emerged from the research data: the dangerous stranger, the suspect and the protector. These three constructions of masculinity were not clear-cut and did not ‘belong’ to specific men – several of the interviewees articulated various forms of masculinities but stressed them in different ways depending on, for instance, age and/or ethnicity/race. I conclude that men largely positioned themselves as protectors as a strategy to distance themselves from the perpetrator (the image of the ‘normal Swedish man’ performing the rapes) and to ensure that they would not be perceived as suspects. However, men largely perceived that women's increased fear of crime was ‘one man's fault’ and broader issues about gendered power relations in space were not raised.     

Agrarian restructuring and gender – designing family farms in Central and Eastern Europe

This article attempts to describe the gender dimensions and aspects of agrarian transition/transformation in post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe with a focus on family farms. This farming model is characterised by a conflation of labour, land, capital, management and human bonding and was promoted by the privatisation policy of post-socialist restructuring. Several problems of the new family farms are looked at with a gender perspective, singling out ideological, social and economic parameters.