Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society

273 Pages·2016·2.02 MB·English

by  Maria Agren

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Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society
E D I T E D B Y M A R I A � Å G R E N
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C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments vii

Contributors ix

Introduction: Making a Living, Making a Diference 1
M a r i a  Å g r e n

1 . Te Diversity of Work 24
J o n a s L i n d s t r ö m , R o s e m a r i e F i e b r a n z , a n d G ö r a n  R y d é n

2 . Working Together 57
D a g L i n d s t r ö m , R o s e m a r i e F i e b r a n z , J o n a s L i n d s t r ö m ,
J a n M i s p e l a e r e , a n d G ö r a n  R y d é n

3 . Marriage and Work: Intertwined Sources of Agency
and Authority 80
S o f i a L i n g , K a r i n H a s s a n J a n s s o n , M a r i e L e n n e r s a n d ,
C h r i s t o p h e r P i h l , a n d M a r i a  Å g r e n

4 . Less Tan Ideal? Making a Living before and outside Marriage 103
H a n n a Ö s t h o l m a n d C r i s t i n a  P r y t z

5 . Constitutive Tasks: Performances of Hierarchy and Identity 127
K a r i n H a s s a n J a n s s o n , R o s e m a r i e F i e b r a n z ,
a n d A n n - C at r i n  Ö s t m a n

6 . Te Dark Side of the Ubiquity of Work: Vulnerability
and Destitution among the Elderly 159
E r i k L i n d b e r g , B e n n y J a c o b s s o n , a n d S o f i a  L i n g
vi C o n t e n t s

7 . Gender, Work, and the Fiscal-M ilitary State 178
M a r i e L e n n e r s a n d , J a n M i s p e l a e r e , C h r i s t o p h e r P i h l ,
a n d M a r i a  Å g r e n

Conclusion 204
M a r i a  Å g r e n

Appendix 221

Bibliography 231
Index 253
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Tis book is the result of a large research project in the humanities: Gender and
Work in Early Modern Sweden. Te project grappled with one of the eternal
questions in history— what ordinary people did and thought in the past—a nd,
thanks to modern technology and “big data,” this book ofers new answers. Te
book makes a contribution to the early modern history of work, but equally
important, it proposes new methodology and models what we can do with a
large, complex dataset. Te project has been very generously funded by the Knut
and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council has pro-
vided additional funding to make the Gender and Work database a reality. As
the leader of the project, I wish to express my sincere thanks not only to these
providers of funding but also to project members, colleagues, and friends in
Uppsala, Sweden, and around the world.
Deeply felt thanks go to Sheilagh Ogilvie, Margaret Hunt, and Martin Naylor,
who have all given the project group invaluable support, inspiration, and well-
earned criticism. We would never have dared to embark upon this project had it
not been for the model that Sheilagh’s work set for us, and her enthusiastic but
always candid feedback helped us sharpen our arguments. We would never have
completed the book had it not been for Margaret, who started out as an external
adviser and ended up as our colleague. Margaret, thanks for your meticulous
reading and sound advice. And, Martin, this book would have been so much less
readable if you had not been at our side, never sparing your own time to help us
improve our English.
Equally warm thanks go to the people at the Demographic Database, Umeå
University, who tailor-m ade the GaW database for us. Maria Larsson, Jimmy
Ljungberg, Pär Vikström, Lars-G öran Carlsson, Bo Persson and Sören Edvinsson
were always eager to help us; we have shared both sorrow and (more ofen) joy
since we frst started to work together. If all human collaboration were as smooth
as ours, the world would be a beter place. Te database has had an advisory
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viii A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
group of its own: thanks go to John Rogers, Per-A nders Edin, Bo Danielsson,
Torleif Petersson, Sören Edvinsson, Linda Oja, Joakim Nivre, Anki Matisson,
Bengt Dahlqvist, and last but not least Ingrid Almqvist, who coined the term
“verb-o riented method.” With Eva Petersson, Joakim Nivre, and Beáta Megyesi
we have run an exciting side project with the purpose of fnding a way of auto-
matically identifying relevant verb phrases in early modern texts.
Over the years, the GaW project has benefted from the advice of Christina
Florin, Jan Lindegren, Leif Runefelt, Karin Sennefelt, Johan Söderberg, Rolf
Torstendahl, Kirsi Vainio-K orhonen, and Eva Österberg. Tank you for many
good ideas and a very good time together. In 2013, the advisory group was ex-
tended to include Amy L.  Erickson, Alexandra Shepard, Judith Bennet, and
Margaret Hunt. Tanks for helping us at a critical moment of our work. We also
wish to extend our thanks to the scholars who have visited us as guest research-
ers over the years: Amy Erickson, Kirsi Vainio-K orhonen, Sheilagh Ogilvie, and
Julie Hardwick. Tank you for enriching our academic milieu.
Te home of the project has been the History Department at Uppsala
University. We thank former vice chancellor Anders Hallberg, former vice rector
Margaretha Fahlgren, and former dean Jan Lindegren for proposing the project
to the Wallenberg Foundation. We also thank former head of department Lars
M. Andersson for his unstinting support and Elisabeth Brandberg for managing
the money. Elisabeth, you are a pearl! Linda Oja and Elisabeth Gräslund Berg
were members of the project at an early stage, and even if they do not stand
as authors of this book, their contributions are integral parts of the message
that we want the book to convey. Jessica Karlsson assisted with transcription of
documents. Te maps were made by Matilda Svahn, Josefne Andersson, Fanny
Reuterskiöld, Jaqueline Österberg, Jesper Runfors, and Ellen Andersson, stu-
dents at Uppsala University.
We are lucky to have Susan Ferber as our editor. Tank you, Susan, for believ-
ing in this book: not every editor would enthuse at the idea of a multiauthored
monograph about a small country in northern Europe, based on new method-
ology. Tank you also for being such a warm and generous person. We are also
lucky to have Maya Bringe and Susan Ecklund at our side; Maya coordinated the
production process in a calm and good-h umored way and Susan copyedited the
manuscript beautifully. Tank you!
Maria Ågren
C O N T R I B U T O R S
Maria Ågren is professor of history at Uppsala University. Her work focuses on
the intersection of economic, social, legal, and gender history. She is the author
of Domestic Secrets: Women and Property in Sweden, 1600– 1857 and Te State as
Master: Gender, State Formation and Commercialization in Urban Sweden, 1650–
1780. She is the leader of the Gender and Work research project and the GaW
infrastructure project.
Rosemarie Fiebranz is senior lecturer in history at Uppsala University. Her
work focuses on gender, property, and work in early modern and nineteenth-
century society. She has a strong interest in microhistory and historical
methodology. She is the author of Jord, linne eller träkol? Genusordning och
hushållsstrategier:  Bjuråker 1750–1 850 (2002). She is coordinator of the
GaW database.
Benny Jacobsson holds a PhD in the history of science and ideas from
Stockholm University. He is the author of Den sjunde världsdelen: Västgötar
och Västergötland 1646–1 771: En identitetshistoria. His many interests include
the history of education. He is a research assistant within the Gender and
Work projects.
Karin Hassan Jansson is senior lecturer and docent in history at Uppsala
University. Her work focuses on gender, sexuality, service, and political debate
in early modern society. She is the author of Kvinnofid: Synen på våldtäkt och
konstruktionen av kön i Sverige 1600– 1800 (2002). She is the lead author of
c hapter 5 in this book.
Marie Lennersand is docent in history and senior archivist at the Swedish
National Archives. Her work focuses on early modern state formation, as well
as on social and legal history. She is the author of Rätvisans och allmogens
beskyddare: Den absoluta staten, kommissionerna och tjänstemännen, ca 1680–
1730 (1999) and, with Linda Oja, Livet går vidare: Älvdalen och Rätvik efer de
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