<p>This thesis deals with the space for action available to women of the regional elite. The interaction of such categories as gender and class are discussed. The overall purpose is to describe and analyze the role of the county governor’s wife during the period 1900- 1940. The study takes its point of departure in the lives of Ellen Widén and Hanna Rydh, both wives of county governors, and especially treats the area of cultural heritage as the potential public arena for women. Special attention is focused on the cultural heritage as a possible public sphere of activity for women at that time. Cultural heritage has been defined as the cultural and material expressions that were regarded as possessing symbolic value and that have therefore been the focus for various kinds of preservation. Cultural heritage is associated here with a growing field for professional interest and work.</p><p>Women in general were given specific tasks within the nation. One of these was to safeguard aesthetic and cultural characteristics within the nation, the province and the home region. By working within the sphere of cultural heritage, with arts and crafts and with the preservation of the home region, women were regarded as links between the older and younger generations. The specific characteristics of the home region could be expressed through various textiles. The work of creating specific parish costumes can be seen as one of many examples of a female cultural heritage.</p><p>The study has shown that the wives of county governors could have a direct and immediate influence on activities in the area of cultural heritage. This research has established that these women formed a more independent power factor than earlier research has maintained. The county governor’s wife did not automatically gain a position of power. She had potential power, an opportunity derived from both class and gender. To transform this potential into power and influence demanded success and skill in the field.</p><p>When Hanna Rydh, the wife of a county governor, declared herself a candidate for the position of county governor in 1938, it was too much of a challenge to the prevailing gender order. Through a form of ”tyranny of difference” women were prevented from establishing themselves within public spheres that were more masculine by tradition. This could be true of specific fields or of the formal power exercised by the parliament, the government and public offices. If the female elite challenged the men of their own class, their opportunities were circumscribed. I have chosen therefore to speak of both power and “non-power.” Within certain contexts there were good opportunities for the regional female elite to obtain their own space for action. Yet, in other situations the limitations were greater than the opportunities; “non-power” also existed. </p>

This thesis deals with the space for action available to women of the regional elite. The interaction of such categories as gender and class are discussed. The overall purpose is to describe and analyze the role of the county governor’s wife during the period 1900- 1940. The study takes its point of departure in the lives of Ellen Widén and Hanna Rydh, both wives of county governors, and especially treats the area of cultural heritage as the potential public arena for women. Special attention is focused on the cultural heritage as a possible public sphere of activity for women at that time. Cultural heritage has been defined as the cultural and material expressions that were regarded as possessing symbolic value and that have therefore been the focus for various kinds of preservation. Cultural heritage is associated here with a growing field for professional interest and work. Women in general were given specific tasks within the nation. One of these was to safeguard aesthetic and cultural characteristics within the nation, the province and the home region. By working within the sphere of cultural heritage, with arts and crafts and with the preservation of the home region, women were regarded as links between the older and younger generations. The specific characteristics of the home region could be expressed through various textiles. The work of creating specific parish costumes can be seen as one of many examples of a female cultural heritage. The study has shown that the wives of county governors could have a direct and immediate influence on activities in the area of cultural heritage. This research has established that these women formed a more independent power factor than earlier research has maintained. The county governor’s wife did not automatically gain a position of power. She had potential power, an opportunity derived from both class and gender. To transform this potential into power and influence demanded success and skill in the field. When Hanna Rydh, the wife of a county governor, declared herself a candidate for the position of county governor in 1938, it was too much of a challenge to the prevailing gender order. Through a form of ”tyranny of difference” women were prevented from establishing themselves within public spheres that were more masculine by tradition. This could be true of specific fields or of the formal power exercised by the parliament, the government and public offices. If the female elite challenged the men of their own class, their opportunities were circumscribed. I have chosen therefore to speak of both power and “non-power.” Within certain contexts there were good opportunities for the regional female elite to obtain their own space for action. Yet, in other situations the limitations were greater than the opportunities; “non-power” also existed.

Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitetet, 2005. / Recension: RIG, 2006:3, s. 161-163.

Cette thèse montre que la violence a suivi une géographie et un calendrier particuliers au cours de la deuxième guerre civile au Sud Soudan. Elle n'a par conséquent pas affecté les Sud Soudanais de manière uniforme, en particulier les femmes. Dans les zones contrôlées par le SPLA (Sudan People 's Liberation Army), la guérilla entretenait une relation essentiellement extractive avec les civils, en particulier avec les femmes. Même si la guérilla essaya de limiter les violations des droits de l'homme, elle instrumentalisa et marchandisa néanmoins les femmes pour soutenir sa lutte. Elle créa aussi, à terme, de nouvelles classes sociales, grâce à l'expansion des liens de parenté. L'inclusion des femmes au sein du SPLM/A confirma la marchandisation des femmes et la formation de nouvelles classes sociales. Le SPLA ne remit pas en cause les structures sociales du Sud Soudan, et les femmes participèrent à la lutte essentiellement dans des rôles de soutien au combat. Néanmoins, la guérilla créa une élite féminine à travers les liens de parenté. Cette nouvelle élite féminine agrandit son statut au milieu des années 1990 grâce à la démocratisation du mouvement, à son accès aux arènes internationales favorables au SPLA, et à l'expansion du rôle des femmes dans les processus de paix. Après la guerre, les différences sociales entre les femmes furent amplifiées par la constitution de l'Etat semi-autonome. Le comportement des troupes du SPLA pendant la guerre influença par la suite les nouvelles structures de pouvoir et, combiné à l'accès nouveau aux ressources de l'Etat, il participa à la consolidation des classes sociales. / This dissertation illustrates that violence followed a particular geography and timeline during the second civil war in Southern Sudan. Therefore it did not affect Southerners, and women in particular, uniformly. In the SPLA-held areas, the guerilla had a mostly extractive relationship with civilians and particularly women. Although it tried to curb human right abuses, the guerilla still instrumentalized and commodified women to support its struggle and to ultimately create new social classes through the expansion of kinship ties. The inclusion of women in the SPLM/A continued to demonstrate women's commodification and the formation of new social classes. Given its superficial and circumstantial Marxism ideology, the SPLA did not question the Southern Sudanese social structures, and women supported the struggle mostly in combat-support roles. Nevertheless, the guerilla created a female elite through kinship ties. This new female elite expanded its status in the mid-1990s, thanks to the movement's democratization and to their access to international arenas that were favorable to the SPLA and to expanding women's roles in peacemaking. After the war, social difference between women were amplified through the formation of the semi-autonomous state. The legacy of the SPLA troops behavior during the war influenced new power structures and, combined with access to new state resources, consolidate social classes.