Course Syllabus

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 History of Sweden in Europe and the World

history of sweden.jpg

Picture: Holger Ellgaard, 2008 (Wiki Commons, public domain) 

Semester & Location:

Fall 2019 - DIS Stockholm
Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:

History
Faculty Members:

Marco Nase
Program Director:

Andreas Brøgger - abr@dis.dk
Academic Coordinator:

Mark Peters - mpe@disstockholm.se 
Time & Place:

Tuesdays & Fridays, 11.40 - 13.00. Room: 1D-508

Description of Course

The course focuses on Sweden's historical relationships to the Baltic Region, Europe and the US. We will look at the Great Power Era, the poverty and mass emigration of the 19th century, the internationally famous inter-war Middle Way; we will then consider Sweden’s role in World War Two and the Cold War, as well as the current impact of neoliberalism and globalization. Our focus, throughout, will be on Sweden's international profile and power, and the influence of this, in turn, on Sweden's national identity and future.

The course approaches history from three perspectives: political, economic, and cultural. We have chosen three or four key eras. The course starts in the 1500s, when Sweden transformed the Baltic into a Swedish lake: the "Lion of the North" was a European great power. Short-lived, however: by the 19th century, poverty-stricken Sweden was sending much of its population to the US, establishing Swedes' long-lived love for America. Fortunes improved in the twentieth century. Sweden's prosperous, social-democratic welfare state and war-time neutrality awarded Sweden international moral authority. How did these strands come together during the Cold War; and how, today, have changes inherent in immigration and economic globalization influenced Sweden's international position and self-perception?

Learning Objectives

  • Acquire an overview of the most important events and processes in early-modern and modern Swedish history
  • Provide insight into European and global international relations
  • Develop an understanding of Swedish economic and political developments
  • Provide students with a sense of Swedish cultural development, including the creation of Swedish self-identity
  • Introduce students to samples of Swedish literature, as a means of illuminating past eras and mentalities

Faculty

Marco Nase, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Södertörn University, specializing in Modern European History with a focus on Sweden. With DIS since 2017.

Readings

(note: in several cases, students can choose between different readings). 

Required Readings:

Course textbook: Byron Nordstrom, The History of Sweden.

  • Mats Hallenberg et al, “Organization, Legitimation, Participation: State formation as a dynamic process – the Swedish example, ca. 1523-1680.” Scandinavian Journal of History (2008), 3-4, pp. 247-268.
  • Harald Gustafsson, “The Eighth Argument: Identity, Ethnicity and Political Culture in Sixteenth-Century Scandinavia”, Scandinavian Journal of History (2002), 27:2, pp. 91-113.
  • Michael Howard, War in European History (OUP 1979), pp. 54-62.
  • Kekke Stadin, “The masculine image of a great power: Representations of Swedish imperial power, 1630-1690”, in Scandinavian Journal of History (2005), 30:1, pp. 61-81.
  • Barton, H. Arnold. “Prologue: Before The Great Migration” and “High Tide/The Homeland Faces its Emigration Crisis.” A folk divided: homeland Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840-1940. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 1994. Pp 5-12, 130-146.
  • Excerpt from Moberg, Vilhelm The Emigrants. Trans. Gustaf Mannestock. Minnesota Historical Society Press: Minneapolis, 1995. pp. 91-94, 153-163 (recommended: 197-198, 364-366).
  • Hovde, B.J. “Notes on the Effects of Emigration upon Scandinavia.” The Journal of Modern History. Vol.6, No 3. (Sept 1934). Pp 253-279.
  • Arnold Barton, “From warfare to welfare state: Sweden’s search for a new identity”, in Scandinavian Studies Fall 2005, pp. 315-326.
  • Orvar Löfgren, “The nationalization of culture”, Ethnologia Europaea 19, 1989, 20 pp. Orvar Löfgren, “Know your country: a comparative perspective on tourism and nation building in Sweden,” in Being elsewhere: tourism, consumer culture, and identity in Modern Europe, eds. Shelley Baranowski and Ellen Furlough (1990), pp. 137-153.
  • Timothy Tilton, “A Swedish Road to Socialism”, The American Political Science Review 72:2, June 1979.
  • Marquis Childs, The Middle Way (1961 [1936]). Read: “Low Cost Housing”, “Liquor Control that Works”. 44-57, 79-90).
  • Gunnar Broberg, “Eugenics in Sweden”, in Broberg & Roll-Hansen, eds., Eugenics and the Welfare State: Sterilization Policy in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland (1996), pp. 77-138.
  • Jonas Frykman, “Pure and rational: the hygienic vision. A study of the cultural transformation in the 1930s, the New Man.” In Ethnologica Scandinavica 1981, pp. 36-63.
  • Bo Stråth, “Neutrality as self-awareness”, and
  • Karlsson, “The Holocaust as Politics”, in The Swedish success story? Knut Almqvist & Kay Glans (2004), 147-160, 241-251.
  • Alf Johansson, “Neutrality and modernity: The second world war and Sweden’s national identity”, in War experience, self image and national identity, eds. Stig Ekman and Nils Edling, pp. 1-24, 163-185.
  • Gösta Esping-Andersen and Walter Korpi, “From poor relief to institutional welfare states: The development of Scandinavian social policy”, in R. Erikson et al (eds.), The Scandinavian model: Welfare states and welfare research (New York, 1987).
  • Urban Lundberg et al., “Social Rights and Social Security: The Swedish Welfare State, 1900-2900”, Scandinavian Journal of History (2002), 27:2.
  • Arnlaug, Leira, “The ’Woman-Friendly’ Welfare State? The Case of Norway and  Sweden”, in Jan Lewis (ed), Women and social policies in Europe: Work, family and the state (Aldershot, 1993), pp. 49-71.
  • Anette Borchorst & Birte Siim, “The women-friendly welfare states revisited”, in NORA – Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research (2002), Volume 10, issue 2, pp. 90-98.
  • Jane Lewis, “Gender and welfare state change”, European Societies (2002), volume 4, issue 4, pp.l 331-357.
  • Mikael Byström, “When the State Stepped into the Arena: The Swedish Welfare State, Refugees and Immigrants, 1930-1950,” Journal of Contemporary History 49:3 (2014): 599-621.
  • Urban Lundberg & Klas Åmark, “Social Rights and Social Security: The Swedish Welfare State, 1900-2000,” Scandinavian Journal of History 26:3 (2001): 157-76..
  • Jenny Andersson, “Nordic Nostalgia and Nordic Light: the Swedish model as Utopia 1930–2007”, Scandinavian Journal of History, 2009(34):3, 229–245.
  • Einhorn, Eric & John Logue. “Can the Scandinavian Model Adapt to Globalization?” Scandinavian Studies 76, 2004. Pp. 501-535.
  • Pontusson, Jonas. "Once Again a Model: Nordic Social Democracy in a Globalized World." James Cronin, George Ross and James Shoch, eds., Futures of the Left.

Field Studies

Vasa Museum

In a bid for dominance over the Baltic Sea, Sweden built a large war fleet. Its pride was Vasa, named after the ruling dynasty, a large two-decker with a crew of more than 400. She unfortunately sunk on her maiden voyage, still within sight of her wharf. She was recovered and restored in the 1960s and is the centerpiece of a museum that shows the technology, culture and everyday life of the Great Power Period.

Skansen

This outdoor museum was created in the late 19thcentury in order to celebrate “Swedishness” – the essence of which, it was held (here as elsewhere), lay in “ever-unchanging” peasant culture. Although this view of Swedish culture has been modified since, many Swedes remain deeply nostalgic for what seems an ultra-Swedish, idyllic, Astrid-Lindgren-like country-side past. Come and experience the Swedish dream, schooled, here, by a very modern dedication to historical authenticity, at the out-door museum of Skansen. As it may be cold, we’ll make the visit short. We will then have time to visit Nordiska museet, which gives a wonderful in-door picture of Swedish every-day (and high) life through the centuries.

Teacher-Student Expectations

History is a process of inquiry rather than a precisely delineated set of facts. How did a tiny and comparatively poor country, such as Sweden, regularly come out on top of economical, cultural and political developments in Europe? These questions are never fully answered, and I therefore encourage initiative and curiosity in students. In lectures, discussions and feed-back papers I try to support students in finding and answering their own questions and develop their analytical skills.

To get the most out of this learning experience I expect students to join me in delving into the history of Sweden: Come to class prepared! I cannot stress enough that the readings are essential. The lectures will not make much sense without them, nor will the discussions. Read in good time, think it through and come to class with an open mind. Be prepared to question what you think you know (also what I think I know) and speak up in class. It is perfectly okay if you are shy about speaking up in class, but I expect you to respond to direct questions.

Evaluation

In order to receive a passing grade, you must complete all of the assignments. 

  • Engagement in seminar discussion and field studies: 10%
  • Three 2-page papers: 10% each, 30% total
  • Midterm (take-home): 25%
  • Final (take-home): 35% (7-8 pp)

“Engagement” is your responsibility! Be well-prepared by thorough reading before each seminar (usually, discussion is most intense during Part II of a theme). Be ready to summarize an argument, answer leading questions, and comment on what others have said. Come out from behind your computer, put your phone away! Above all, don’t miss classes. You will find them a very great help in completing class assignments.

Description of Written Assignments  

Written assignments should have a title, be double-spaced, 12 font with approximately 300 words per page. Students may refer to “Writing Papers at DIS,” “The MLA Handbook,” or a writing manual from their home universities. Just be consistent when using citations, footnoting, etc.

Three two-page papers 30% of the grade.

At intervals during the course, you will be asked to hand in two pages in which you give your thoughts on, analyze and discuss the previous two weeks’ themes. These are relatively informal, but must show that you have read and thought about the literature and class discussion. Remember to give these short pieces a title! 

Take-Home Midterm (about half through the course) 30% of the grade.

The take-home midterm will cover the articles and books we have read and what we have learned through class lectures and discussions (the subjects discussed in the two-page papers will be included). The midterm will consist of a choice of essay questions.

Take-Home Final 30% of the grade

Students will answer a question that essentially involves analysing a topic or theme covered by the course.  The students will have a choice of 3 different themes / topics. The analysis should be 7 – 8 pages in length, 12 font, approximately 300 words per page with one-inch margins. You will want to choose a theme from the course, and amplify your understanding with about 50 pages taken from the recommended readings (or your own readings, once cleared with the teacher). You should refer to at least 2 outside sources; the teacher can recommend films, excursions, novels, newspaper and historical articles, which should be of use to you. 

Your analysis should include the following:

  1. Introduction: presentation of the topic to be investigated and a brief overview of what you will be doing in your paper. You might, e.g., explore a specific theme, over time (such as “Sweden and war”); you might, with the help of literature, look more deeply into a specific era (for instance, “Sweden’s era of emigration”); or examine and analyze a specific theory (e.g., “The Middle Way” “Swedish neutrality”, “Swedish identity”). Don’t forget to tell the reader what sources you are using!
  2. Analysis: comments, discussions, comparisons
  3. Conclusion

 Be sure to list your sources in either a separate bibliography or in footnotes.

Policies

Late Papers

I mark down papers by 1/3 of a grade for every day past the due date. This policy is to keep you from getting swamped with papers, not a punishment. I also acknowledge that life happens. If you encounter an unforeseen calamity that prevents you from handing in your assignment on time, let me know immediately and we will find a solution.

Laptops and Mobile Phones

I appreciate that many people are used to taking notes on their laptops or reading on their phones, but I strive for a classroom without electronic gadgets. I therefore request that you put away your phones and laptops at the beginning of class, and only take them out upon request. Notes can be taken by hand, and all my slides will be made available online 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due