Date: 2014
Type: Thesis
Borders and belonging : migration and the Swedish nation 1890-1914
Florence : European University Institute, 2014, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis
BERGSTRÖM, Louise, Borders and belonging : migration and the Swedish nation 1890-1914, Florence : European University Institute, 2014, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/32111
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This thesis studies the consequences of turn of the twentieth century migration on Swedish national developments. It pays particular attention to the introduction of a reform programme of internal colonisation and the consequences this had on different population groups. Arguing that the ideological origins of this internal colonisation can be found in Germany, the thesis explicitly links German colonisation attempts in the East with the corresponding Swedish colonisation in the North. By doing so it puts forward the argument that spaces in the Swedish North were cast in colonial terms and should be understood in relation to the colonial policies of the European Imperial states. Migration also led to a new understanding of Swedish identity which drew less on spatial contexts than on the idea of difference. By constructing a complex identification matrix which drew on categories of race, class and gender, Swedish observers could overcome geographical distance and create an imagined Swedish community that stretched around the globe. Dirt and domestic degeneracy were important tropes in this discourse, acting as connecting bridges between the categories. The timing of its introduction and the contents of this discourse of difference can be explained by a Swedish perception of being part of a white man's culture that was imagined on a global scale. European imperialisms and the resulting colonial trajectories were thus decisive also for Swedish developments. The focus of the thesis follows from the above as it explores the connections between migration, regimes of difference and nationalism in Sweden at the turn of the twentieth century.
Additional information:
Defence date: 13 January 2014; Examining Board: Professor Sebastian Conrad, Freie Universität Berlin (Supervisor) Professor Lara Edgren, Lunds Universitet Professor Clare Midgley, Sheffield Hallam University Professor Dirk Moses, European University Institute.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/32111
Series/Number: EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Migration, Internal -- Sweden -- History; Sweden -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 19th century; Sweden -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 20th century