Doctoral Theses / Doktorsavhandlingar Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://gupea-staging.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/816

Browse

Browsing Doctoral Theses / Doktorsavhandlingar Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen by Subject "agrarian history"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Järnets tid. Den svenska landsbygdsbefolkningens järninnehav och järnkonsumtion 1750-1870
    (2003) Hallén, Per; Department of Economic History
    Abstract The preeindustrial possession and consumption of iron in rural Sweden 1750- 1870. (Publications of the Department of Economic History, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg university no 89) ISSN 403-2864. ISBN 91-85196-57-6 . Göteborg 2003 Author: Per Hallén Doctoral Dissertation at the Department of Economic History, Göteborg university. (Written in Swedish with a Summary in English). Distribution: the Department of Economic History, Göteborg university, Box 720, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. The main purpose of this thesis was to investigate how much iron the rural population in Sweden possessed 1750-1870. The aim was also investigate and to calculate the amount of iron needed to replenish iron stocks lost to each year due to attrition. Many studies of inventories have been conducted in Western Europe and North America however; these studies have primarily focused on luxuries items such as gold, silver and furniture. Iron objects were different, as households did not consider their consumption as a luxury. Households used objects made of iron as coocking pots and other kitchen utensils. On farms the use of iron also increased. During the period 1750-1870, iron steadily replaced wooden parts in almost all farm implements, from spades to ploughs and harrows. The transition from wood to iron parts played an important roll as humans gradually took control over the landscape. The new iron tools made digging ditches easier and facilitated large-scale drainage of marches. Iron parts on ploughs and harrows broke the soil faster and deeper than older ones made entirely of wood. Iron tools were not luxuries but they played an important roll in farm economics during the period studied. In the mid 18th century, an average farm possessed about 150 kilos of iron, in 1870 that had increased to around 500 kilos. During that, time the composition of the different groups of iron shifted. Iron used in transport and agricultural production became increasingly important. It was in the transport sector that the rise in the possession of iron was first noted as farmers began to use iron tipped wheels and iron axels on wagons and carts. This improvement meant that wagons and carts could load more goods. The second wave of new and improved iron objects included agricultural tools – ploughs and harrows. Some important changes were made already in the late 18th century, however, the breakthrough of iron implements in agriculture came 1800- 20. It is interesting to note that this change was contemporary with a major shift to iron ploughs and harrows in British, Danish and Norwegian farming
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Samhävd och rågång. Om egendomsrelationer, ägoskiften och marknadsintegration i en värmländsk skogsbygd 1630-1750.
    (2002) Granér, Staffan; Department of Economic History
    THY NEIGHBOURS PROPERTY. Property Relations, Enclosures and Market Integration in a Forest District of Central Sweden 1630-1750. (Publications of the Department of Economic History, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University no 86) ISSN 1403-2864. ISBN 91-85196-54-1. Göteborg 2002. Author: Staffan Granér Doctoral Dissertation at the Department of Economic History, Göteborg University. (Written in Swedish with a Summary in English) Distribution: The Department of Economic History, Göteborg University, Box 720, SE–405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. The development towards more exclusive and private agrarian property rights has been considered one of the most important and crucial aspects of the modernisation process. Several theoretical models have been suggested to explain and analyse this development. Among them, two not necessarily incompatible, approaches can be identified. The neo-institutional property rights approach focuses on economising behaviour among individual agents in relation to factors such as enforcement and transaction costs, relative prices, market integration and contracts. The more sociological or class based property relations approach focuses on factors such as power structure, distribution, exploitation and social networks. The aim of this thesis is to carry out a local empirical study of this development in a critical dialogue with these theoretical models. The investigated area is Fryksdals härad (hundred) in Värmland County, a forest and ironproducing district in central Sweden. Local court rolls constitute the main sources of the thesis The region experienced a considerable economic transformation during the investigated period. The regulation and privatisation of access to commonly controlled woodlands and pastures as well as the reallocation of scattered strips on infields plays an important role. Immigration, population growth, colonisation and rapid establishing of iron mills in the 1690´s, contributed to a commercialisation of economic relations in general, and an increased scarcity of commonly managed resources such as wood, charcoal and waterpower. This development puts strains on the traditional local arrangements of rights over land and natural resources. A significant part of the legal cases reflects disputes and agreements concerning rights to village commons and infield strips. In the beginning of the period these cases are dominated by inter-village relationships concerning demarcations and common rights. During the investigated time, intra-village relationships concerning both commons and scattered strips become more frequent. The long-run result of this process could be described as a kind of enclosure where communal and socially embedded rights were gradually redefined.