Dualism in the early history of Norwegian associations

Abstract

The early forms of organizational life in Norway display many similarities with the other Nordic countries, but also special features of their own. These features to a great extent have their roots and parallels in countries outside the Nordic region, but particularly Norwegian conditions are also part of the picture. The conventional model namely, development from the corporations of feudal society, via the associations of liberalism and the Nachtwachterstaat (which were often closely connected with the ruling elite), to the mass organizations of the late nineteenth century does not entirely fit Norway or at least requires substantial modification. Moreover, in Norwegian the term association has been used both in the nineteenth century and by twentieth-century scholars in a fairly broad sense as synonymous with forming and selskap (both of which mean society), and it will also be used in that way in this article. The term estate (stand) was often used both at the time and by later historians, but the terminology of the classic estate-based society is to some extent inappropriate when applied to Norway. Part of the explanation is that Norway had a small nobility and few towns and that in many parts of the country the peasantry had long been engaged in a wide variety of economic activities, including some fishing, forestry, the handicrafts which led to thinking in monetary terms and to the use of money. Liberal currents of thought were strong in leading circles inside the young state of Norway, especially from the 1830s and 40s onwards. The emancipation of the state from its traditional tasks and the dismantling of public regulations were seen as the ideal.. Britain was the great model in this respect. There are certainly examples of the state/public sector using or encouraging associations in order to avoid direct intervention or activity by the state. Measures taken by the state were generally disguised as