This essay describes the establishment of the colony movement and its allotment compounds in Sweden during the early part of the 20th century. During this time period a social housing reform program called “egna hem” was initiated which gave financial support in the form of state loans to build good homes in rural areas. One of the reasons for the reform was a widespread housing need in Sweden. My hypothesis is that the social housing reform helped pave the way for an expansion of the colony movement in Sweden. At the beginning of the 20th century, allotment compounds were established in many Swedish cities, including Kalmar within the timeframe 1910-1920. This investigation of the establishment of the colony movement and its allotment compounds in Sweden specifically focuses on development of the movement in Kalmar together with a comparison using earlier research. By examining the members' professional categories and how the board was selected, it is possible to find out if the movement was as open and democratic as it appeared. Furthermore, this essay gives specific focus on genus patterns and the situation for the women within the colony movement and its allotment compounds. The results indicates that social living reforms in Sweden may have helped pave the way for an expansion of the Swedish colony movement since there was a need for better living conditions. The membership lists also demonstrates that the colony movement principally was aimed at the working class and lower middle class. Furthermore, the investigation shows that garden work was a typically work for men while the women worked with reproductive chores such as refining and preserving of the harvest within the allotment garden. This investigation also confirms that no women were included in the compound boards of the allotment gardens, cementing the notion of an unequal society. During the 1950’s specific ladies clubs were formed within the allotment compounds with the purpose to socialize and arrange meetings and excursions. Finally this essay displays that the early colonists in Kalmar were made up by a variety of people with different living conditions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-80900 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Jönsson, Pontus Ivar |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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