During the nineteenth century the liberal ideals were spreading across large parts of mainland Europe, and the Swedish parliament of 1840-41 is sometimes considered to be the first one embossed by the ideology. Liberal ideas such as the prison reform, the poor relief reform and the school reform were all on the agenda. The state was composed of the king and four political orders tasked to represent each respective social group, the peasantry, the town folks, the clergy and the nobility. All of these with different rates of representation and policies. Sweden had also for the last decades experienced an increase in crime, poverty and drunkenness. The before mentioned reforms were all made in an attempt to better the situation and make way for a better future. In this study we will look at the parliamentary debates of two of the four political orders, the peasantry and the clergy for the parliament previously mentioned. Our goal is to find out what the two orders thought about the establishment of the first national grade school, that would mean considerable changes for both parties which is partly why they are specifically chosen for this study. The two sides frequently had their differences and would not often cooperate with one another. Although liberalismen was a big part of the reason the king proposed the changes, we will instead focus mostly on Michel Foucault’s theory of biopower (or biopouvoir in French) and social discipline. What general themes can be found in the debates? What was the purpose of the grade school? And lastly, are there any similarities and differences between the reviewed orders? What we can see at the end of the study is that the two orders have different focuses. While the peasantry mainly focused on implementing a school to steer the younglings in the “right” way, the clergy emphasised a spiritual teaching that would foster the individual.

This essay is a contribution to the process of reconstructing the meaning of a concept that has been long forsaken and somewhat forgotten. It examines the way in which the Swedish nobility perceived the politically active peasantry during the 1740s as an expression of the prevailing political culture of the period. The aim of this study is thus to understand a bygone world of thought that once existed in a very turbulent political culture. I focus on the words formed and articulated in the halls and rooms of the Swedish estates by which the thoughts, opinions and power of the Swedish government came to the fore. In doing so it is possible to say something about how the nobility, in their relationship with the peasantry, constructed an object which represented their perception of the Swedish peasant and what this meant. In other words the persona that the nobility attributed the peasants. The new political culture of the Age of Liberty (1719–1772) allowed the peasants to enforce a political offensive that gave raise to new ways of expressing themselves, new ways of performing and new ways of positioning themselves in relation the other estates. This also meant a change in how the other estates perceived and acted in relation to the peasantry. The peasant persona was mainly characterized by negative traits and qualities. He was foolish, unqualified and naïve in his quest for increased political rights. However, he was also regarded as humble, benevolent and as a dedicated man. He was a Swedish citizen, just as the members of the nobility, and therefore he had an inherent value because of his love for his homeland. This made it possible for the nobility and peasantry to protect themselves against intruders, to strive forward and to live in harmony with each other. / <p>Författaren har bytt namn till Jakob Starlander.</p>