Preliminary Programme

Wed 12 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 13 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Fri 14 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 15 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00

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Thursday 13 April 2023 08.30 - 10.30
M-5 ETH18 Mobilities
C32
Network: Ethnicity and Migration Chair: Bethany Hicks
Organizers: - Discussant: Bethany Hicks
Sari Nauman : Internally Displaced Persons in the Baltics, 18th Century
During the Great Northern War (1700–1721), 20.000–30.000 refugees arrived in Sweden from Finland and Sweden’s provinces around the Baltic Sea, leaving behind friends, families, goods, and homes. In petitions, they described themselves primarily as ‘refugees’, a concept also evoked by the Swedish authorities, who instated a Refugee Commission to manage ... (Show more)
During the Great Northern War (1700–1721), 20.000–30.000 refugees arrived in Sweden from Finland and Sweden’s provinces around the Baltic Sea, leaving behind friends, families, goods, and homes. In petitions, they described themselves primarily as ‘refugees’, a concept also evoked by the Swedish authorities, who instated a Refugee Commission to manage the situation. However, two crucial aspects distinguish the Finnish and Baltic refugees from other refugees during this period. First, while the early modern period has been described as an era of religious refuge where confessionalization caused the exile of hundreds of thousands of people, the Finnish and Baltic refugees did not flee from religious oppression but simply to escape war. Second, rather than fleeing from a kingdom, they fled within one.
This paper identifies these refugees as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and asks how this aspect influenced their reception and/or rejection in recipient communitites in Sweden. It analyses how IDPs articulated refugeedom and positioned themselves to incite protection and explores how they navigated between belonging and not-belonging in their narratives. By analysing refugee petitions, where the IDPs themselves related their experiences of flight and reception, and juxtaposing the petitions with central and local authorities’ decisions on reception or rejection, the paper uncovers a previously untold narrative of refugeedom within states, a prequel to present-day IDP movements.
The case study of Finnish and Baltic IDPs then serves as a background to a larger discussion on the use of the concept of IDPs to early modern refugee studies. The paper argues that while the fields’ consistent focus on religious refugees has led to a broad understanding of how these groups formed networks across states and laid a ground for today’s global refugee regime, it has also hid the experience of other types of refugees. Early modern IDPs sometimes fled for religious reasons, but other times they fled to escape the atrocities of war or to stay true to other types of allegiances. Either way, IDPs’ experiences of reception and rejection practices are likely to differ significantly from those who arrived to the well-defined networks of religious communities. By shifting the focus to the IDPs, the paper argues for a broader definition of early modern refugeedom.
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Peter Olausson : Stability and Mobility in a Rural Part of Sweden during the Late 1600s and the Beginning of the 1700s
What was the situation concerning migration in the rural areas of Sweden during the 1600s? This was the main question for the dissertation project of Martin Andersson, Stockholm University, in 2018, based upon the taxation records (Älvsborgs lösen) from 1613-1618. He could show that the annual rural household migration rates ... (Show more)
What was the situation concerning migration in the rural areas of Sweden during the 1600s? This was the main question for the dissertation project of Martin Andersson, Stockholm University, in 2018, based upon the taxation records (Älvsborgs lösen) from 1613-1618. He could show that the annual rural household migration rates at the period in general was about 5 percent. This corresponds fairly well with the results concerning migration from other investigations from for example France and England, all the way up to the 1800s. The statistics points toward a society where migration was common, also among farming families. It seems that people in general were prepared to move from one place to another, just like in more recent times. Societal stability was linked with dynamic change.
The investigation of the survey from 1674 of the landless families of the district of Fryksdalen in the Swedish province of Värmland points in the same direction (Bladh – Olausson, 2004). Many of the 134 recorded families had their origin somewhere else, in this case often in the ethnic group of Forest Finns (who, as the name points out, had their geographical base in Eastern and Central Finland).
There are more ways to dig into the questions of mobility and migration during the period of the 17th century. For some Swedish parishes, obituaries for deceased members of the community date back to the late 1600s, close to the very start of the population registration through the Church Law of 1686. In my paper, I present the result of an investigation into this so far rather neglected source for knowledge about the life for ordinary men, women and children. The obituaries – from a couple of parishes - often summarizes a person´s whole life, with information about education, working places, marriage, children and homesteads, as well as about health status and causes of death. The chosen obituaries dates from about 1690 until 1720, a period with turbulence through years of famine and warfare. One of the questions if, of course, if these societal phenomena of crisis are detectable in the obituaries for people, living their lives in the relative periphery in the province of Värmland? How are men depicted compared with women – what are the virtues associated with gender status? And are there straits in the way the clergy wrote about their parish members that have something in common over cultural, national and/or temporal borders? Is there a pattern based on religion for the measure of a person´s life over the centuries – and, if so, in what ways can we identify that pattern?
One of the aspects in the investigation is, of course, also to get new facts about the household (and/or individual) migration rate. It will not be possible to get annual statistic data for migration, but the obituaries still have a lot of information also about this issue. (Show less)

Erik Thosteman : Collecting a Community: History and Swedish-American Identity 1860-1920
In my dissertation work, I focus on the great Swedish-American migration between 1850-1920, and the emerging ethnic communities in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Based on an analysis of Swedish-American newspapers, historical associations and social clubs, I emphasize the role of history in the creation and negotiation of Swedish-American identities. Concepts ... (Show more)
In my dissertation work, I focus on the great Swedish-American migration between 1850-1920, and the emerging ethnic communities in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Based on an analysis of Swedish-American newspapers, historical associations and social clubs, I emphasize the role of history in the creation and negotiation of Swedish-American identities. Concepts such as nationalism, collective identities, imagined communities and historical consciousness, will be of special importance for my work. I will present preliminary analyses of textual sources -mainly newspapers - aiming to discuss how history was negotiated and produced, and how various economic, ideological and religious conflicts impacted this process. As this is an early work in progress, i am looking forward to comments and suggestions on my work. (Show less)



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