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Friday 14 April 2023
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P-11
MAT07
War, Crisis and Consumption
E44
Li Eriksdotter Andersson :
Work or Wheat? Frictions of Production and Consumption in the Swedish Trade Union Movement, 1914-1945
Workers have what can be understood as a dual interest. On the one hand, they have an interest in improving their bargaining position in the marketplace, yet on the other hand they also have a crucial stake in the prosperity of the industries in which they are employed. In case ... (Show more)Workers have what can be understood as a dual interest. On the one hand, they have an interest in improving their bargaining position in the marketplace, yet on the other hand they also have a crucial stake in the prosperity of the industries in which they are employed. In case of conflict between these positions as worker qua consumer and worker qua producer, the latter is generally believed to logically receive priority – to maintain one's employment is more important than reducing the cost of goods and services consumed. Likewise, in the case of organised labour, and specifically in the form of trade unions, the shared objectives are also often derived from the sphere of production rather than that of consumption. In reality, however, the relationship between, and hierarchy of, these interests are arguably more complex and contingent. This is especially true when it comes to how they are in fact perceived and articulated by historical actors themselves.
In this paper, the intensified conflict between Swedish workers’ positions as consumers and producers is studied in relation to the two world wars. Based on the written organisational material produced by the Swedish trade union confederation (Landsorganisationen), the paper analyses how worker’s interests were in fact articulated and negotiated amongst the member unions. Both world wars brought interruptions to the international trade flows, affecting the markets of non-belligerent or “neutral” countries as well. During both the first and second world war, the prices and availability of consumer goods – such as foodstuffs, textiles and firewood – were altered. This put severe strains on most workers-as-consumers, which also manifested itself politically through, for example, the Swedish food riots of 1917. At the same time, the alterations also had the possibility of benefitting some workers-as-producers through the gains in particular industries and, more importantly, created another particular intersection for potential conflict, since the export of Swedish raw materials and foodstuffs could be understood as a prerequisite for the imports of other goods of great importance to the industries. In addition to deepening the understanding of the dual interests through empirical analysis, the paper therefore also contributes to the knowledge of how consumer interests specifically may affect how organised labour positions itself with regard to trade policy in general, and free trade in particular. (Show less)
Oliver Kühschelm :
The Moral Imperative of Patriotic Consumption under Military and Economic Threat. How the “Buy Austrian Goods”-campaign of the 1920s Imagined its Early Modern Forerunners
In the interwar years a propaganda campaign exhorted Austrian consumers to prefer national products. It was a characteristic phenomenon of a period of economic crisis and deglobalization. The campaign was also typical in that it tried to lay claim on the national past as a means of legitimizing its concerns ... (Show more)In the interwar years a propaganda campaign exhorted Austrian consumers to prefer national products. It was a characteristic phenomenon of a period of economic crisis and deglobalization. The campaign was also typical in that it tried to lay claim on the national past as a means of legitimizing its concerns and as a source of inspiration for crafting its propaganda. Among the salient features of the Austrian campaign was the moralizing reimagination of how catholic baroque and Habsburg rule had reacted to the challenges of the 17th century. The campaign constructed a suitable version of this past but its choices brought into play a mix of fiction, myth-making, and history. Reacting to the destructions of the Thirty Years' War and the threat of Ottoman invasion cameralists in the service of the Habsburg emperor imagined something akin to a national economy. In their treatises they also included exhortations to consumers that sound a lot like “Buy Austrian Goods” propaganda from the 20th century; or rather “Buy Austrian Goods” sermonizing from the interwar years was made to sound like 17th-century rhetoric. Hawking Austrian products to Austrian consumers was on the one hand placed in the context of industrialized modernity and on the other it conserved and confected echoes of a more distant past when the ‘existence’ or relevance of nations and nationalism, let alone an Austrian nation, is at least controversial. (Show less)
Iryna Skubii :
Consumption under Extremes: Feral Animals and Famines in the Soviet Land
Historically, during the times of hardships and severe famines, cats and dogs were among those animals to be consumed first by the starving people. Though famines are usually considered human catastrophes, the impact of Soviet famines on animals was profound. Analyzing the impact of famines in Soviet Ukraine during the ... (Show more)Historically, during the times of hardships and severe famines, cats and dogs were among those animals to be consumed first by the starving people. Though famines are usually considered human catastrophes, the impact of Soviet famines on animals was profound. Analyzing the impact of famines in Soviet Ukraine during the first half of the twentieth century (1921-1923, 1932-1933, 1946-1947), this paper will examine impact of the survival practices of the hungry on feral animals. Consumption of taboo food was a common feature of famine survival practices throughout the history. During such extreme periods of human survival, the controlling role of food taboos was relaxed or diminished temporarily. A preliminary analysis of the testimonies of Ukraine’s famines illustrates that the examples when starving people incorporated into their consumption practices new types of food earlier considered “not clean” were numerous. A phrase “cats were eaten, dogs were eaten,” is a common reference point for many survivors. Uncovering the impact of famines on the lives of non-human species, such as feral animals, this paper will initiate the critical discussion on the importance of animal-focused optics for understanding famines and extremes of human survival in the time of a catastrophe. (Show less)
Fia Sundevall, Nikolas Glover :
Making the Moral Home Front Citizen: Gendered Gift Economy and National Mobilization in Neutral Sweden
The Second World War is increasingly recognized as a catalyst for broader consumer-cultural developments in the 20th Century and has been identified as a “defining moment” of modern consumer society. In Sweden, like in many of the belligerent countries, there was a geographic and a monetary reorganisation of gendered purchasing ... (Show more)The Second World War is increasingly recognized as a catalyst for broader consumer-cultural developments in the 20th Century and has been identified as a “defining moment” of modern consumer society. In Sweden, like in many of the belligerent countries, there was a geographic and a monetary reorganisation of gendered purchasing power due to the mass conscription of men, and, as a consequence, the recruitment of women to replace men in various sectors of the workforce. At the same time, as a consequence of rationing and the state’s increased control of production, consumption was restricted and the retail sector operated in a tightly regulated market. For producers of consumer goods these contradictory market transformations posed challenges: they complicated the ideal of unabashedly promoting consumerism, and tested gendered assumptions about consumers.
This paper deals with what we see as a concerted effort to address these challenges head on. We analyse the annual nationwide project of fältjuklappen – The Frontline Christmas Gift – during the years 1940–1945. Forming a national committee dedicated to the project, commercial actors, the military, and non-profit organizations joined forces to market home-front patriotism in the form of a gift box typically containing tobacco, foodstuffs, a pair of knitted socks, and razor blades. The gift was promoted and sold to civilians (primarily women) at Christmas time, and distributed by the military to deployed (male) soldiers. Ultimately, thousands of such gifts were delivered over the course of the war, and the whole initiative gained a great deal of attention in the media and civic life. Thus, these campaigns successfully mobilized the resources of consumer society (advertising, shop windows, sales clerks), traditional gender roles (the devoted/protected woman in the service of her male guardian), and the commercial potential of patriotism and idealism. The paper explores how the moral dimensions of the gift economy were mobilized in service of preserving – but also adapting – established practices associated with consumer society and heterosexual norms in a period of threatening upheavals. The gifts, we argue monetized a specific notion of (female) obligations and (male) “needs”, and thereby sought to shape the nation’s morale while providing necessary support to the economy. (Show less)
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