This thesis considers the perceptions and enactment of social and urban order in the estate society of eighteenth-century Sweden. The central concept of order is approached as something which becomes most readily available when it has been transgressed against, and attempts are made to regain it. This is employed by exploring the practices of Sweden’s first proper police, the Royal Police Chamber of Stockholm founded in 1776, during its establishing year. The analytical part of the thesis is divided into three chapters. The first considers contemporary ideas of order in connection to the new organization, as to give a hint of the ideals which were said to be strived for. The second analytical chapter explores the nature of disorder, asking what, who and where made its way into the registers of the Chamber. Through these questions categories of disorder, norms of identification and abstract geographies are identified and used to tell of the things perceived as disorderly. In the third analytical chapter the how of ordering is considered as the acts taken against disorder are studied. Correction dominated, rather than punishment, thus echoing the ideas of order to a significant degree. Overall, this thesis can be said to accomplish in-depth basic empirical research on a hereto little studied material. The Chamber is shown to from the start to have taken an extremely active part in controlling and constructing society around it, something done by making a good effort towards fulfilling the panoptic ideal. Though not perfectly achieved, its practices are thus shown to adhere to a larger European trend of the period. Three concepts emerge as essential and fundamental to how social and urban order was perceived. These are the street and particularly the visibility thereupon exhibited, adding that order often only could be regained by establishing responsibility for those moving there. The centrality of the public sphere of the streets even goes beyond expectations and it appears as the main feature of enacting order. As such it is found to be both a material concept and imbued with meaning in itself. / Se ståndssamhället! Olikheternas kultur i Sverige under tidigmodern tid

This dissertation deals with religious conflict in a number of local communities of Sweden during early modern times, i.e. from 1630 to 1800. Religious conflict, in my understanding, comprises all kinds of conflicts in which the religious element is essential. The area of investigation in the dissertation is the northern part of the county of northern Hälsingland in northern Sweden. It is an area of particular interest in this context, since it featured a multitude of religious conflicts during early modern times. For the area and period of time under consideration here, the study of religious conflicts entails a study of three phenomena: major community conflicts in connection with outbreaks of witchcraze; major community conflicts during religious revivals; and minor conflicts, such as individual court cases involving witchcraft or blasphemy. The purpose of the dissertation is understand the pattern of such religious conflicts in northern Hälsingland in its local context. The local perspective is central and has also made me direct my interests towards the prelude to and aftermath of the conflicts in question. Particularly the latter has, to a large part, been neglected in earlier research. Theoretically the dissertation is inspired by the theoretical discussions of social scientist Walter Korpi. He maintains that identifying the distribution of power resources in society is essential to understanding conflict. This has proved to be a fruitful approach to the understanding of local, religious conflict in northern Hälsingland and I have been able interpret the witchcraze of the 1670s and the religious revivals in the latter part of the 18th century as the results of changes in power relations in the local community. The major community religious conflicts of northern Hälsingland – i.e. the conflicts during the witchcraze and the religious revivals -- were serious local traumas. The dissertation has also dealt with the aftermath of these conflicts, and the result does, among other things, emphasize the importance of honour in early modern society. Those accused during the witch trials of the 1670´s fought extensively for their right to attend communion together with the other members of their congregation -- a struggle to a large part due to the fact that taking part of the communion together with other honourable people could serve to restore their honour and reintegrate them in society. / <p>Sammanfattning på engelska med titeln: Religious conflicts in northern Hälsingland from 1630 to 1800</p>