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Smuggling in the north : globalisation and the consolidation of economic borders in Sweden, 1766-1806
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Florence : European University Institute, 2019
EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
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KNUTSSON, Anna Maria Catarina, Smuggling in the north : globalisation and the consolidation of economic borders in Sweden, 1766-1806, Florence : European University Institute, 2019, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/65548
Abstract
This thesis considers the phenomenon of smuggling in late eighteenth-century Sweden, a hitherto understudied topic in Swedish historiography. It explores smuggling over a stretch of forty years, from 1766 to 1806, a time period when both Sweden and Europe underwent significant changes, not least as a result of the increasing global flows of wares. The thesis approaches smuggling from five angles. It studies perceptions of smuggling in the national economic debates, it examines its implications for state territoriality, it explores the social attitudes towards the contraband retailers, it investigates contraband and its effects, and it probes international perceptions of smuggling in Sweden. The combination of these perspectives extends our understanding of the multifaceted and changing role of smuggling in early modern Sweden. In doing so, the thesis shows how smuggling was deeply connected with three key historical processes that shaped the late eighteenth-century: globalisation, state formation, and consumption. The intensification of globalisation in the eighteenth-century prompted increased rates of protectionism in Sweden, as the state attempted to enforce economic control over its territory and unify it under homogenised economic legislation. This was a crucial step towards consolidating state power and standardising Swedish territory and legislation. However, a demand for foreign goods persisted which meant that smuggling flourished despite the bans, and this illicit trade and consumption of smuggled wares came to shape Swedish society and culture. This multi-layered history of smuggling in Sweden in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries thus establishes that smuggling, rather than being a fringe phenomenon at the edge of society, permeated Swedish politics, culture, economics and society.
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Defence date: 13 December 2019
Examining Board: Dr Luca Molà, European University Institute & University of Warwick (Supervisor); Dr Stéphane van Damme, European University Institute (Second Reader); Dr Hanna Hodacs, Dalarnas Högskola (External Advisor); Professor Margaret Hunt, Uppsala University
Examining Board: Dr Luca Molà, European University Institute & University of Warwick (Supervisor); Dr Stéphane van Damme, European University Institute (Second Reader); Dr Hanna Hodacs, Dalarnas Högskola (External Advisor); Professor Margaret Hunt, Uppsala University