Maintaining paternalism, retaining patriarchy: Gender and class in a Finnish industrial company, 1880–1980

Abstract

This article examines industrial paternalism in Finland throughout a century, from the 1880s to the 1980s, and coincides with the rise and decline of industrial society in the history of Western capitalism. The focus of the article is on social relationships between management and employees in an ironworks in Billnäs, located in south-western Finland, and how it developed and changed during the studied time period. Applying a microscopic historical analysis, this article looks at universal phenomenon, namely concerning social relations and gender in the world of industrial paternalism in concrete detail. In addition to a historical understanding of paternalism, the article also contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between social and economic relations in paternalist organizations with a view to exploring the cultural understandings of gender and class.