The aim of this study is to examine what effects the pension reforms of 1935 and 1946 had on the poor relief rates of old age pensioners, in Sweden between the years 1930 and 1950. Unlike earlierstudies the focus is on how different groups of pensioners were affected. Salonens theoreticalframework on subsistence is used, which states that an individuals subsistence is based on incomesand expenditures in relation to the market, the family and the state. Both quantitative and qualitativemethods are used. By studying governmental investigations, the study finds that the purpose of thereform of 1935 was to favor women and the urban elders, while the favored groups by the reform of1946 were the urban elders as well as elders in one person households. The 1935 reform did notaffect the favored groups notably since the pensions were too small. The larger pensions of 1946however did substantially even out the poor relief rates between different elders. After theimplementation in 1948 the difference in poor relief rates between different elders was almost nonexistent. This was due to a substantially larger drop in the poor relief rates of the urban elders aswell as amongst elders in one person households. By studying different incomes of old agepensioners, the study finds that the pensioners with the greatest need of the 1946 years largerpensions were the urban men, the rural women, as well as the one person households in both ruraland urban areas. In conclusion this study finds that the reform of 1935 was unsuccessful insupporting the more vulnerable elders, while the reform of 1946 was successful in that matter.

The author uses a thematic approach to argue that Bologna was a trensetter in approaches and institutions aimed at helping the poor between roughly 1450-1700.

No description available.

This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.

The present study treats liberal poor relief policy in Sweden between 1903 and 1918. In using institutionalist theory and Yvonne Hirdman's gender theory, along with qualitative analysis, the author interprets the motives of the actors, distilling from them both the values, attitudes and norms they themselves represented, and those they wished to communicate to the poverty-stricken through poor relief. This study shows that the liberal reformers, with the liberal, "help-to-self-help" idea as their basic ideological foundation, wanted to shape poor relief institutions so that those who came into contact with poor relief authorities would be taught to assume responsibility for their own lives. Poor relief was intended to develop the individual's will and ability to support him/herself and his/her family. Maintenance obligation was a central element here; those who neglected this obligation were therefore apprehended as criminals, and toughened regulations for neglecting the maintenance obligation were introduced into the poor relief law of 1918. Poor relief was also to be formed so that it would have a deterrent effect. Unchecked charity would be counteracted and the individual prevented from becoming dependent upon receiving welfare. This would be effected through preventive measures for the conscienious recipients, and moral education for the unruly ones. In order that the right measures be taken in each individual case, the liberal reformers advocated an individualized system of poor relief whereby poor people were judged to be either "worthy" or "unworthy", according to a moral yardstick. However, in the legislation it is apparent that the male is considered to be the norm, since it was the inability to secure gainful employment that gave one the right to receive poor relief. This employment criterion disregarded the fact that it was most often the husband who was the family provider, while the wife most often worked in the household. The poor housewife was made invisible and thus found herself relegated to a no-man's land somewhere in between the "worthy" and "unworthy" poor. The female reformers, warders and the poor women themselves lived within the confines of a gender system where the man represented the norm. However, there existed sub-systems side-by-side and on different levels of society, with class differences acting as the watershed. The progressive middle- and upper-class women and the female warders lived in a system of separation of the male and female spheres which allowed them to take the step out into the public arena — within certain boundaries — while the poor women lived in a system constructed with men foremost in mind. In conclusion, one may say that moral education was a type of social engineering intended to realize a liberal social Utopia, where all individuals would have the will and the ability to support themselves. / digitalisering@umu

Den här avhandlingen handlar det underhåll till sårade och gamla soldater som den svenskastatsmakten organiserade under tidigmodern tid. Undersökningen tar sin utgångspunkt i den tid närstatsmakten började organisera mer omfattande hjälp för soldater, vilket var slutet på Gustav Vasasoch under Erik XIV:s regeringstid i mitten av 1500-talet. Motiven till att statsmakten organiseradehjälp för en del soldater var att dessa skulle ha offrat sin hälsa och arbetsförmåga i kronans tjänst, menså länge statsmakten fortsatte att vara relativt löst organiserad var även hjälpen till soldaterna avganska liten omfattning. Det ändrades under Gustav II Adolfs regering då planerna på att skapa ettkrigsmanshus i Vadstena etablerades, vilka senare genomfördes efter hans död och institutionen kundeta emot de första soldaterna senast 1640. I krigsmanshuset fick ett trettiotal soldater med familjeruppehälle, samtidigt som soldater boende i andra delar av landet fick stöd från krigsmanshuskassansom också administrerades från Vadstena. Mot slutet av 1600-talet blev kassan proportionellt merbetydelsefull än krigsmanshuset och runt år 1700 försörjde kassan flera tusen soldater runtom i riket.1700-talet innebar stora förändringar, bland annat genom att krigen blev färre, att krigaryrket intelängre var lika attraktivt som karriärväg för adelsmän och att statsmakten utvecklade andra mer civiladelar. Behovet av ett krigsmanshus fanns till sist inte längre och institutionen i Vadstena stängde förboende våren 1784, men kassan fanns kvar in på 1970-talet. / This dissertation focuses on the maintenance of wounded and old soldiers organized by the Swedishstate in the Early Modern Period. The thesis starts at the time when the government began to organizemore help for soldiers, which was the end of Gustav Vasa’s reign and during that of his son Erik XIVin the mid-16th century. The reasons why the government organized help for some soldiers weremainly that the soldiers would have sacrificed their health and ability to work in their service of theCrown. But as long as the government continued to be relatively loosely organized, the aid to thesoldiers remained on a relatively small scale. This changed under the reign of Gustav II Adolf (ruled1611–1632) when plans for the establishment of the Veteran's Home in Vadstena were established.These plans were later executed after his death and the institution was able to welcome the firstsoldiers by 1640. At the Veteran's Home, some 30 soldiers were kept with families while othersoldiers lived in their home parishes in other parts of the country and were supported by the Veteran’sFund, which was also administered in Vadstena. Towards the end of the 17th century, the fund becameproportionally more important than the Veteran’s Home and around 1700 the fund delivered support toseveral thousand soldiers. The 18th century meant major changes in society, including fewer wars, thatbecoming an officer was no longer as attractive as career path for the nobility, and that the governmentdeveloped other more civilian functions. The need for a Veteran’s Home was no longer the same underthose circumstances and the Veteran’s Home closed for residents in the spring of 1784, but the fundremained until the 1970s.

In recent decades historians have 'discovered' agency in a wide range of geographical and temporal contexts, amongst many different types of actor. This dissertation employs the concept of agency to dissect the dynamics of power in early nineteenth-century London charities. Concurrently, it uses charity to test the potential applications of agency as a historical concept and as a tool for historical analysis. Through case studies of five different types of charity in early nineteenth-century London, this dissertation explores the varied ways in which plebeians exercised their agency. The case studies engage with current definitions of agency 'intentional action, resistance, the defence of rights and customs, exerting control over one's own life, autonomy, strategy, choice, and voice' and test the boundaries of the concept, proposing different ways in which scholars might characterise agency. This dissertation not only examines how the poor exerted their agency, but also how philanthropists conceptualised the agency of the poor. Although agency had a different set of meanings in the early nineteenth century than it does today, Georgian commentators nevertheless discussed the same phenomena that historians today label as agency. This dissertation considers how philanthropists attempted to mould the agency of their beneficiaries and how the agency of the poor shaped charitable organisations. For all its prevalence, agency is an under-theorised and problematic concept. There is no consensus about what agency is or how to locate it. As a result, agency is a slippery concept that seems to elude meaning. Historians are often so personally invested in the project of recovering the agency of subalterns that they underestimate the structural constraints acting on agency or they project modern conceptions of agency on to the subjects of their study. This dissertation subjects agency to critical examination that is long overdue. It argues that agency, as an 'essentially contested' concept, is a powerful tool for dissecting subtle and diverse dynamics of power. This dissertation proposes and demonstrates ways in which scholars can employ the concept usefully, mitigating its problematic aspects.

No description available.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to shed light upon the Swedish nineteenth century poor relief system, how it operated in a local rural context, how it changed over time, and not least, who was supported and why. It raises questions about how the poor laws were interpreted on the parish level, how the welfare systems interacted with local society and about who was considered to be poor and entitled to support. The geographical setting of the thesis is Skellefteå, a rural parish in northern Sweden, and it concentrates upon the period 1830–1875.</p><p>Swedish poor relief was governed by the fundamental principle that each parish had a duty to support their own poor and each parish was allowed a large amount of freedom to adjust their welfare arrangements according to local conditions. In Skellefteå, the main incentive for modification of the poor relief system was not new regulations from the national level, but social and economic transformations on the local level. This implies that local requirements were put before national legislation and suggests the existence of several regional, and perhaps also local, poor relief systems in nineteenth-century Sweden.</p><p>On the local level, the results indicate the existence of a parochial social citizenship based upon a common understanding of social rights and duties in the community, and grounded in a strong sense of affiliation with the local society. Generally there was a larger distance between the poor and their providers in the wealthier and more socially stratified villages, hence a more egalitarian context seem to have facilitated identification and empathy with the poor. The local provision for the poor created and maintained bonds within a community, as well as it helped to build and reinforce boundaries towards those who did not belong. A sometimes suspicious and negative attitude towards outsiders was to some extent caused by a fear of increased poor relief expenses, but it also bears witness to a rural culture with a strong sense of belonging to one’s own village or hamlet.</p><p>The majority of men and women supported by poor relief in Skellefteå belonged to the lower strata of society long before they became welfare recipients. They were landless rural people with weak kinship networks, that in most cases were unable to mobilize any significant support in times of need. Childhood, early middle age, and old age were identified as phases in the life cycle that seem to have entailed an increased risk of poverty and dependence. A substantial proportion of the poor were breadwinners, middle aged men with large households to support, while the widowed and unmarried paupers usually were women. For many of these households the life cycles’ vulnerable periods were further reinforced by other factors: a breadwinner’s illness or disability, the death of a spouse, a major subsistence crisis, or a larger marginalization caused by a deviation from society’s moral standards. In most cases there seems to have been a delicate interplay between several social risks that determined if and when a person or a household was to end up being supported by poor relief.</p>

This study deals with the impact of industrialisation and urbanisation on the living conditions of aged men and women. By studying labour force participation, savings and pensions, the role of the family, and the extent of dependency of aged men and women from a gender and class perspective, continuities and changes between pre-industrial and industrial times are examined. The main focus is placed on the situation of elderly persons living in the town of Sundsvall between 1830 and 1930. This town became the commercial centre of one of the largest saw-mill districts in the world at the end of the nineteenth century. The residence patterns of old men and women in Sundsvall are also compared with those in two other Swedish industrialised urban areas; the capital Stockholm and the textile centre Norrköping. According to modernisation theorists, industrialisation and urbanisation led to an increase in dependency in old age, due to weakening family ties and unemployment. This study shows the complexity of the issue. It is true that some sources reveal a declining proportion of men participating in the labour force at the very end of the period of observation, but this was primarily due to the introduction of the national pension system in 1914. On the other hand, other records show a stability or even an increasing proportion of elderly men and women in the labour market. By contrast with previous studies of the residence patterns of aged persons, this dissertation shows a very high percentage of elderly women living alone in all three urban areas selected for study. However, this was not solely a sign of isolation, since the vast majority of those elderly living in households of their own had children residing in the vicinity. Furthermore, many old men and women shared households with their children, although this pattern was less common among the working class. The role of off-spring appears to have been important both in pre-industrial and industrial times. The residence patterns of the urban elderly were probably influenced by traditional rural living arrangements, to the extent that old couples and their married children often lived close to each other but usually maintained households of their own. Old parents and their adult children might have preferred to live in separate households instead of crowding in with each other. The unmarried elderly were probably most affected by the transformations taking place at the end of the nineteenth century. A considerable number of them migrated late in life, leaving all their relatives behind. Therefore, they became highly vulnerable. Unmarried men tended to be more exposed to the dangers of urban life. They probably experienced tougher working conditions, had weaker social networks, and could not manage on their own to the same extent as women. Therefore, a larger propor-tion of men than women ended up in the workhouse. / digitalisering@umu