Anspråk och argumentation : En studie av användning och uttolkning av lag vid naturresurskonflikter i nordvästra Hälsingland, ca 1830-1870

• This thesis is concerned with the use, interpretation and practice of law in a local community during a period of institutional, demographic and market change, c.1830-c.1870. The area studied is one of the forest regions of northern Sweden which experienced great changes during the 19th century. Besides the pressure of population growth and expanded demand for forest products such as timber, the state’s increased interest to control the natural resources in the northern provinces implied new challenges for the local peasantry. In order to study how state officials, peasants, colonisers and other actors claimed and protected their rights to resources, two case studies were carried out. The first concerns negotiations between the peasantry and the state during the so-called yngre avvittringar or late enclosures. The other deals with cases concerning natural resources that where resolved in the local court. The study implies that the claimants used the institutional framework, i.e. laws, norms and customs, creatively in order to legitimise their claims. Furthermore, the findings of this study stand in contrast to the common view of the avvittringar which sees the reform as part of a process of modernisation of property rights regarding forests.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Ekonomisk historia (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economic History (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Economic history

forest history

history of law

local history

enclosures

demarcations

property rights

resource conflicts

claims

interests

court verdict

argumentation

Hälsingland

Norrland

Sweden.

Ekonomisk historia

skogshistoria

rättshistoria

lokalhistoria

skiften

avvittringar

äganderätt

egendomsrelationer

resurskonflikter

anspråk

intressen

domstolsutslag

argumentation

Hälsingland

Norrland

Economic history

Ekonomisk historia

ekonomisk historia

Economic History

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

dok (subject category)