This study aims to view an extended family locally connected to the Swedish city of Kalmar. The purpose is to analyse whether the extended Kreuger-family could be considered an upcoming elite, in spite of their foothold in trade, commerce and manufacturing. While these concepts would traditionally be associated with the bourgeois; the evolving times of primarily the nineteenth century creates a platform for social mobility and change that might have affected the Kreuger-family in ways that created a role for them in society that was no longer middle class, but instead a local form of an elite. The study analyses lifestyle and inventory of the estates of five generations of Kreugers, alongside marital alliances with members of the upper class within six generations of the extended family. Lastly the source material is viewed didactically for a teaching scenario. The source material include inventory of estates, personal letters and biographical material from the public archive of Kalmar Läns Museum. The result shows that the Kreuger-family could be considered as a rising elite in some respects. Advantageous marriages to members of the upper class increased from the first generation to the sixth culminating in six noble marriages in total. While income seemed to fluctuate, symbolic capital remained intact. Profession evolved from trade to commerce and manufacturing, resulting in a majority of success. The result shows a middling class family steadily rising higher on the social ladder, due to economical success. The extended Kreuger-family can be categorized as a new and modern elite, steadily rising from the year 1710 and onwards.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-52090 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Holm, Stina |
| 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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