A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
The Finnish and Swedish historiography of the early modern Swedish patriarchal estate society : individuals, social groups, household, and gender in dissertations, 1850–2020 (2024)

Impola, P. (2024). The Finnish and Swedish historiography of the early modern Swedish patriarchal estate society : individuals, social groups, household, and gender in dissertations, 1850–2020. In M. Kuha, & P. Karonen (Eds.), Swedish and Finnish Historiographies of the Swedish Realm, c. 1520–1809 : Shared Past, Different Interpretations? (pp. 121-149). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003219255-10

JYU authors or editors

Impola, Petteri

Publication details

All authors or editors: Impola, Petteri

Parent publication: Swedish and Finnish Historiographies of the Swedish Realm, c. 1520–1809 : Shared Past, Different Interpretations?

Parent publication editors: Kuha, Miia; Karonen, Petri

ISBN: 978-1-032-11290-9

eISBN: 978-1-003-21925-5

Publication year: 2024

Publication date: 25/08/2023

Pages range: 121-149

Number of pages in the book: 266

Publisher: Routledge

Place of Publication: London

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003219255-10

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Abstract

This chapter compares how Swedish and Finnish doctoral dissertations from 1850 to 2020 have studied the social structures in early modern Swedish estate society: how estates and other social and professional groups, and individuals, are examined; which groups have been studied the most and the least, and why; and whether there have been any changes in research priorities. This exploration reveals national (dis)similarities of interest in social groups between researchers in Sweden, still a constitutional monarchy, and the Republic of Finland, which did not become independent until 1917. In Sweden, the nobility and royalty were by far the most studied groups for a long time, but in the late twentieth century, research turned sharply toward the peasants and other groups lower in the social hierarchy. In Finland, peasants have always been a popular subject of research, and changes in interests have not been as drastic as in Swedish historiography. In both countries, the clergy has been the second most examined estate, while the burghers have been the least studied. This chapter also considers how, especially in recent decades, there has been greater emphasis on gender aspects and the household and family as basic social units of patriarchal estate society.

Keywords: historical research; historiography; estates (social classes); social classes; nobility; peasants; societal change; patriarchy; doctoral dissertations