The Dovring Saga : A story of academic immigration

256 Pages·2010·2.98 MB·English

by  Janken Myrdal

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Every life reflects the history of its period and will reveal some- e
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The subject is Folke Dovring, who around 1950 tried to introduce
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new ideas about history based on statistical analysis and history from a
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below. His attempt was made in vain and he was rejected by the Swed-  
ish academic community. Leaving Sweden in 1953 for an international T A story of academic immigration
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career, in 1960 he became a tenured professor of Agricultural Economics e
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at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. o
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Some major societal processes can be studied through the biogra- i
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phy of Dovring. One involves European conservatism in the academic
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world. His early focus on quantitative history and history from below g
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led to his rejection. The second important process Dovring took part
in was American expansion in the intellectual world system. Dovring
was one of the many scholars who left Europe in the 1950s to join the
dynamic American academic community, a pattern of intellectual im-
migration. When he later shifted focus from agrarian history and took
up more political questions in the 1970s, such as the oil crisis and envi-
ronmental care, his position became more isolated.
JANKEN MYRDAL has been Professor of Agrarian History at the

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, since 1994. His re- h
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search centres on agrarian change in medieval and 16th century Sweden. n
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Furthermore, he has worked with modern agriculture. He is a member l
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of several learned societies including Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien. g
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n kungl. vitterhets historie
isbn 978-91-7402-395-4
2 och antikvitets akademien
4
issn 0083-6788 cover: The Dovring castle in Urbana. Rather soon Karin and Folke
| handlingar
K Dovring found this house in Italian style for sale. They fell in love with it
V historiska serien 24 at once. Here they built their first real home, and Karin still lived there
H
www.vitterhetsakad.se in 2010. (Photo private)
A
A
KVHAA HANDLINGAR Historiska serien 24
Folke Dovring in the early 1960s, professor in the United States.
The Dovring Saga
A story of academic immigration
By Janken Myrdal
with contributions by
Gabriel Söderberg
KUNGL. VITTERHETS
HISTORIE OCH ANTIKVITETS AKADEMIEN
HANDLINGAR
Historiska serien 24
Myrdal, Janken. 2009. The Dovring Saga. A story of academic immigration. With contri­
butions by Gabriel Söderberg. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien
(KVHAA), Handlingar, Historiska serien 24.
Stockholm 2010. 253 pp.
Abstract
Folke Dovring was a medieval historian in Sweden who tried around 1950 to introduce
new ideas about history based on statistical analysis and history from below, publishing
two books on medieval agrarian history that still remain important. His attempts, how­
ever, were made in vain. In 1953 he left Sweden for an international career, devoting
himself to the study of the agrarian history of Europe in the 20th century, and in 1960
he became a tenured professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois,
U.S.A.
Some major societal processes can be studied through the biography of Dovring.
One involves European conservatism in the academic world. The second important
process Dovring took part in was the expansion of American higher education. Dov­
ring was one of the many scholars who left Europe in the 1950s to join the dynamic
American academic community. When Dovring later shifted his focus from agrarian
history to take up more political questions in the 1970s such as the oil crisis and envi­
ronmental care his position became more isolated.
Key words
Agrarian history, history of the Middle Ages, academic conflict, higher education
in the U.S., University of Illinois, land economics, waste of resources.
© 2010 The authors and KVHAA, Stockholm
ISBN 978­91­7402­395­4/pdf
ISSN 0083­6788
Publisher Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien,
(KVHAA, The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters,
History and Antiquities),
Box 5622, SE­114 86 Stockholm, Sweden,
http://www.vitterhetsakad.se
Distribution eddy.se ab, Box 1310, SE­621 24 Visby, Sweden,
http://vitterhetsakad.bokorder.se
Cover photo Folke and Karin Dovring’s home in Urbana, Illinois (1960–)
Cover Design Lars Paulsrud
Graphic Design Bitte Granlund, Happy Book
Photos Private (Karin Dovring)
Print Motala Grafiska AB, Motala, Sweden 2010
Contents
Preface
by Derek Bok 7
Introduction 9
chapter 1. Childhood and the father (1916–1934) 19
chapter 2. Medievalist (1934–1951) 33
chapter 3. On the academic battlefield (1951–1953) 55
chapter 4. Years of hardship and success (circa 1953–1969) 88
chapter 5. Involvement in the expansion of higher education
(1960–1987) 110
chapter 6. Economist in America (1960–1987) 137
chapter 7. A Reform program for America (1971–1998) 147
chapter 8. Living has an end 165
Appendix 1. Bibliography 171
Appendix 2. Ranking of universities 189
Appendix 3. Dovring’s impact 194
Appendix 4. Dovring as social reformer and economist
by Gabriel Söderberg 200
Appendix 5. On light and shadows
by Gabriel Söderberg 235
Contents 5
Authors 240
References 241
6 KVhaa handLinGar Historiska serien 24
Preface
The Dovring Saga tells a tale that could be repeated countless times in the history
of American higher education of scholars excluded, blocked, or intimidated in
their native lands who made their way to the United States and found a place
somewhere in its vast network of colleges and universities. This experience in turn
is only one chapter in the larger history of a new nation peopled by immigrants
who were oppressed or simply unable to make a living in their own countries and
sought a new life across the ocean. Immigrants have always contributed mightily
to the United States. In the process, they have also been participants in what may
well be America’s greatest achievement, its unending determination to try to as­
similate all groups – ethnic, racial, religious, or otherwise – into a single nation
with common loyalties and ideals. This is a process that continues to this day,
confronting perhaps its greatest challenges in the ongoing struggle to give proper
place to its large African­American population, descendants from the most shame­
ful chapter in our history, and to respond appropriately to the massive influx of
illegal immigrants who slip undetected across our borders, as they do in so many
other countries today.
Professor Myrdal gives a flattering account of American higher education, to­
gether with a thoughtful summary of the various reasons why its universities have
flourished during the last century. As he points out, one of the most prominent
reasons for our success has been our good fortune in attracting so many talented
scholars, such as Folke Dovring, who could no longer pursue an academic career
in their own country. In a land with as many universities as the United States, it
was unlikely that any promising scholar could fail to find a place or be blocked
from further progress, as could happen in a country with a much smaller higher
education system. Favored by the growing use of English as the lingua franca of
the academic world, American universities were a natural home for individuals
like Dovring who were seeking a new start in their careers. Since the United States
never seemed to produce a surplus of exceptional scholarly and scientific talent
from its own population, this influx of foreign intellectuals was a great boon.
As Myrdal points out, the sheer size and variety of American higher education
offered other advantages as well. Universities could be found to suit any need or
purpose. They could be private or public, large or small, secular or church­affili­
ated, single­sex or coeducational, vocational or exclusively devoted to the liberal
arts, free­standing colleges or vast complexes with a full complement of profes­
sional schools. Such a varied array fitted the multiple needs of a huge, heteroge­
neous population. It fostered a competition that improved the quality of faculties,
Preface 7
nurtured innovation, and encouraged vigorous efforts to attract new financial
resources wherever they could be found. It offered far greater flexibility than was
possible in the more centralized, state­controlled systems of Europe and thus
could adapt far more easily to the tidal shift from elite to mass higher education.
At the same time, it only fair that I, as a representative of this system, should
acknowledge its failings along with its strengths. Such a large system is unusually
variegated and flexible, but it allows many institutions to survive at levels of qual­
ity that would probably not be tolerated in the more tightly controlled systems of
many European countries. Moreover, if America’s system is successful, its second­
ary schools are not, with the result that American colleges have had to spend in­
ordinate amounts of time offering remedial instruction of a kind that should
properly have been supplied in high schools. Finally, despite its many virtues, the
spirited competition so characteristic of American universities has its dark side as
well. Much money is wasted bidding for the services of professors from other in­
stitutions and moving them and their laboratories and libraries from one univer­
sity to another. Competition has also spilled over into other activities such as
athletics, sometimes with decidedly ill effects. Intercollegiate football and basket­
ball have turned into a giant entertainment industry that leads universities to
compromise their academic standards in deplorable ways by recruiting students
with few if any talents or interests beyond their skills on the athletic fields.
One of the heartening features of higher education today throughout the de­
veloped world is a growing recognition of the vital contribution of universities to
the welfare of their countries and a consequent desire to support their work and
improve their quality. As a result, we have reason to hope that every country, not
least the United States, will have something to learn from the university systems
of other nations and that professors and students alike will increasingly teach and
study in more than one nation. In time, in addition to welcoming foreign schol­
ars like Folke Dovring, America may find its own professors gravitating to foreign
universities, not only for a visit but for longer periods of time. The result of such
a process cannot help but be beneficial for teaching, scholarship, and greater un­
derstanding throughout the world.
Derek Bok
President Emeritus of Harvard University
8 KVhaa handLinGar Historiska serien 24
Introduction
There was a man, called Folke. His father was Ossiannilsson. They lived in Sweden.
Then Folke married Karin. He fought at home, was defeated and went to America.
An Icelandic Saga often starts like this, and this is the Saga of Folke. In the Sagas
persons appear through their deeds. In this biography about a Western intellectual,
the hero appears mainly through his books and articles. This biography is more “let­
ters” than “life” (to allude to another genre, the solid “British” biography).
Every life reflects the history of its period and will reveal something about
society as a whole. The reader will find a similar use of a life­story here. The sub­
ject is Folke Dovring, medieval historian in Sweden and professor of agricultural
economics in the U.S.A. at the University of Illinois, Urbana­Champaign. Be­
sides telling trajectories in his life, this book is also about academic hierarchy and
intrigue. Furthermore it gives homage to that great country in the west – or
rather to some of the streams of peoples, ideas, and events that made it great.
What about Folke’s life­story as such? A dark thread of his fate can be traced
from his early youth: well­meaning but overly ambitious parents who pushed
their boys. The youngest boy, Folke, was gifted and aware of the fact, but he had
difficulty garnering recognition from his father. Another thread in Folke’s yarn of
destiny became intertwined with the first, as he, young and bold entered a con­
servative fraternity of historians: fighting internal battles. The young man tried to
introduce new ideas about history based on statistical analysis rather than specu­
lations about the actions of kings and higher nobility. His attempt was made in
vain, and eventually he was rejected by the Swedish academic community.
After leaving Sweden his international career lead him to the U.S.A., at a time
when this country was taking the leadership position in the international society
of academics. For many years he lived as a professor of a renowned university, in
a small town in the heartland of the United States. His political interests intensi­
fied. Viewing America through Swedish eyes, he wanted to promote ideas about
equality and protection of the environment; ideas not mainstream in America at
that time. Again he assumed an underdog­position.
How it all started
I am an agrarian historian, and when I worked on my dissertation about medieval
agriculture in Sweden, I encountered the name Folke Dovring. He was the author
of two major books on tax systems and landholding in the Middle Ages, pub­
lished 1947 and 1951. I read them very thoroughly, taking copious notes, and
Introduction 9