<p>This study addresses the question of change in household structure and the reproduction of “life from day to day”. It is based on structuration theory, time-geography and Allan Pred’s theory of place as historically contingent process. Large households are viewed as tokens of the early modern era, and the appearance of small households can therefore be seen as signs of modernisation. But the decline in size of the average household was not dramatic, it went from 3.53 people per household in 1760 to 3.31 people in 1830. By the composition of different occupational groups in the city in 1760 and 1830, it is evident that the decline of the textile industry, the low activity in the building trades and the decrease of residential sailors – and the subsequent rise of petty trade and traditional handicrafts – gave a strong influx of traditional elements to the evolution of the household. In contrast to this there were a number of “new” or more modern elements that can be seen as precursors to the structure of daily life in the modern era. One of these was a rising number of households which were small and headed by people who earlier in history would have been household members – and not heads of households. The structure of daily life and its reproduction from day-to-day is also analysed in the study. This pattern was both affected by certain changes in the overall household structure, and by two phenomena that directly had an impact on the recreation of life from day to day. The first of these was the “food money”, a substitution of money for the right to food in the employers house, and the second was a move from the right to lodgings in the employers’ home to the need of living quarters elsewhere. Both of these phenomena acted on the “structure of daily life”, and helped to alter the focus of daily life, that is to turn it away from the productive households and put more attention on the streets and on the households that only served as reproductive units.</p>

This study addresses the question of change in household structure and the reproduction of “life from day to day”. It is based on structuration theory, time-geography and Allan Pred’s theory of place as historically contingent process. Large households are viewed as tokens of the early modern era, and the appearance of small households can therefore be seen as signs of modernisation. But the decline in size of the average household was not dramatic, it went from 3.53 people per household in 1760 to 3.31 people in 1830. By the composition of different occupational groups in the city in 1760 and 1830, it is evident that the decline of the textile industry, the low activity in the building trades and the decrease of residential sailors – and the subsequent rise of petty trade and traditional handicrafts – gave a strong influx of traditional elements to the evolution of the household. In contrast to this there were a number of “new” or more modern elements that can be seen as precursors to the structure of daily life in the modern era. One of these was a rising number of households which were small and headed by people who earlier in history would have been household members – and not heads of households. The structure of daily life and its reproduction from day-to-day is also analysed in the study. This pattern was both affected by certain changes in the overall household structure, and by two phenomena that directly had an impact on the recreation of life from day to day. The first of these was the “food money”, a substitution of money for the right to food in the employers house, and the second was a move from the right to lodgings in the employers’ home to the need of living quarters elsewhere. Both of these phenomena acted on the “structure of daily life”, and helped to alter the focus of daily life, that is to turn it away from the productive households and put more attention on the streets and on the households that only served as reproductive units.

This essay studies and compares three clergymen that were stationed in Sápmi during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their writings that deal with the Saami population of the northern parts of Sweden. How they portray the Saami people and their culture is analyzed though postcolonial concepts as Edward Said’s othering and other concepts by the likes of Loomba, Lincoln and Pratt.  The three priests portrayal of the Saami people and their culture are similar In that way that they all confirm some of the colonial stereotypes of the Saami during the time they were writing. But especially one of the priests stands out in his effort to give a nuanced portrayal of the Saami people.

Famines were recurring events in the early-modern world. This thesis aims to identify and analyse institutional, social, and political parameters that improved or reduced the society’s capacity for crisis management and institutional adaptations in Stockholm in times of foodshortages during the period 1650–1750. The study consists of four case studies. The study shows that the government effectiveness improved during the investigated period, which increased the possibilities to mitigate the consequences of famine. Furthermore, the ambition to protect the social order seems to have been the most important driving force to take measures to ease and prevent famines in Stockholm. I conclude that very few institutional adaptations to prevent future famines were made during the period. Most likely because the elite lacked political incentives to act. The study provides knowledge on societal resilience in the early-modern era

This essay aims to contextualize the placement of deviant and atypical graves within the landscape of Västerbotten county in Sweden, in relation to the contemporary Christian cemeteries from the Middle Ages to the year 1960. To understand the need and reasoning for deviant and atypical graves from a religious standpoint several medieval laws are studied, such as the Cannon law of the Catholic church, the Swedish medieval landscape laws, and the Norwegian medieval regional laws. The revision and the annulment of the medieval laws are also taken into consideration to understand how the regulations surrounding deviant and atypical graves changes over time in Sweden and Norway. To build an understanding how deviant and atypical graves has been utilized in Västerbotten county throughout history, ethnographic and historical literature is studied. Geographical and historical contexts are also considered to contextualize the placement of the graves within the landscape. The placement of Churches and cemeteries within the landscape over time is also studied to understand how the need for atypical graves changed over time.