Rural Sweden Research Articles

Regional Variations in Farming Household Structure for the Swedish Elderly, 1890–1908

The theoretical Northwest European family structure does not sufficiently represent the variation found among elderly people in rural Sweden during the decades leading up to the National Pension Act of 1913. These regional variations in family types are broadly contextualized using simple but effective measures, which include simple high/low clustered analysis of the percentage of individuals over sixty in farming households with no children or grandchildren. This study presents a significant relationship between elderly family structure, levels of participation in household retirement contracts, elderly receiving public assistance, and to economic and ecological factors that have been hypothesized in prior research.

Community Formation and Sense of Place - Seasonal Tourism Workers in Rural Sweden

Seasonal tourism workers in the Swedish mountains can be conceptualised as members of occupational communities. For members of such a community, the dual relationship between the job and other members are important. However, a place perspective might be fruitful, as place amenities are expected drivers of job acceptance. By studying seasonal workers' relation to place, through the lens of their ‘membership’ of an occupational community, it is possible to capture both the individual sense of place and the group's shared sense of place. The former is highly important, as social relations among the workers are particularly significant. In this study, the conceptual framework of occupational communities is modified to better suit temporary and mobile workers in amenity-rich rural areas. The overall aim of this paper is to investigate how seasonal tourism employees can be analysed as an occupational community. Further, it studies the ways in which a particular tourism-related occupational community perceives and connects to its location, as well as the ways in which seasonal tourism workers perceive the role of place and community in their everyday lives and future plans. Hence, this article concludes that members of an occupational community have a dual attachment to place. This type of community could exist and move around without being affected by the geographical place, but the place has affective possibilities influencing the workers, and in an isolated rural place, the community has more space to grow stronger. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Horizontally organised and innovative spaces of dialogue for dealing with ‘wicked problems’ related to housing in rural Sweden

The aim of this paper is to discuss co-productive and collaborative processes in rural housing construction in Sweden. The ‘wicked problem’ addressed here is why it is so difficult to build new homes in Swedish rural areas. Our analysis shows that horizontally organised competences may be used in order to form innovative and creative spaces for dialogues around the realisation of house building. These spaces for dialogues are transformed into collaborative and co-productive social events for reconfiguring thoughts and actions in relation to ‘wicked problems’. Using Fagered, Sweden, as a case study, our results show that timing, as well as understanding the motivation of local groups and acknowledging the slowness of planning processes, are crucial for making change.

Restructuring of rural Sweden – Employment transition and out-migration of three cohorts born 1945–1980

Rural restructuring has established itself in recent years as a popular area for research. However, the empirical findings are contested and criticism has been raised against its one-sided focus on agriculture and the British countryside. Drawing on Swedish longitudinal register data from three cohorts, we argue that there is empirical support for a restructuring process in rural areas. However, changes in agriculture are largely irrelevant considering the general picture – instead, it is the rise and fall of manufacturing and rural public sector employment, along with the recent growth of urban service sector employment, that comprise the contemporary economic restructuring of rural areas. We conclude that the contemporary restructuring in rural areas should be separated from a previous restructuring which went from agriculture to manufacturing.

From economic survival to recreation: contemporary uses of wild food and medicine in rural Sweden, Ukraine and NW Russia.

BackgroundThere are many ethnobotanical studies on the use of wild plants and mushrooms for food and medicinal treatment in Europe. However, there is a lack of comparative ethnobotanical research on the role of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) as wild food and medicine in local livelihoods in countries with different socio-economic conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the present use of wild food and medicine in three places representing different stages of socio-economic development in Europe. Specifically we explore which plant and fungi species people use for food and medicine in three selected rural regions of Sweden, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.MethodsWe studied the current use of NWFPs for food and medicine in three rural areas that represent a gradient in economic development (as indicated by the World Bank), i.e., Småland high plain (south Sweden), Roztochya (western Ukraine), and Kortkeros (Komi Republic in North West Russia). All areas were characterised by (a) predominating rural residency, (b) high forest coverage, and (c) free access to NWFPs. A total of 205 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents in the three study areas. The collected NWFPs data included (1) the species that are used; (2) the amount harvested, (3) uses and practices (4) changes over time, (5) sources of knowledge regarding the use of NWFPs as wild food and medicine and (6) traditional recipes.ResultsIn Sweden 11 species of wild plant and fungi species were used as food, and no plant species were used for medicinal purposes. In Ukraine the present use of NWFPs included 26 wild foods and 60 medicinal species, while in Russia 36 food and 44 medicinal species were reported.ConclusionsIn the economically less developed rural areas of Ukraine and Russia, the use of NWFPs continues to be an important part of livelihoods, both as a source of income and for domestic use as food and medicine. In Sweden the collection of wild food has become mainly a recreational activity and the use of medicinal plants is no longer prevalent among our respondents. This leads us to suggest that the consumption of wild food and medicine is influenced by the socio-economic situation in a country.

‘Doing gender’ in the wild berry industry: Transforming the role of Thai women in rural Sweden 1980–2012

‘Doing gender’ has often been used as the theoretical entrance for research on gender issues in the social sciences. However, research has been accused of using the concept in a ‘ceremonial’ way, treating gendered structures as static. In response to this claim, this article investigates the process of ‘hierarchization’, or how gendered and racial hierarchies occur through everyday practices and political and economic contexts in the rural, wild berry industry in contemporary Sweden. The industry has gone through a thorough transformation, from irregular and small-scale production to regularized and large-scale production, which has affected the intersection of gender and racial structures. In particular, Thai women have gone from being active participants both as entrepreneurs and as workers, to working under native men, or being passive receivers of men’s remittances. The mechanisms behind the intersection of gender and racial structures are a complex interplay of economic, social and institutional factors, which act on nested global, national and translocal scales.

The ‘home-care principle’ in everyday making of eldercare policy in rural Sweden

Translating the urban based national policy of eldercare to a rural context is seen as a key activity for rural policy actors since the fact that rural municipalities face different issues to urban areas is not reflected in the operational plans for eldercare. The aim of this article is to highlight the process by which urban based policies are enacted in rural municipalities by analysing how the home-care principle in eldercare policies is framed and implemented by different actors at various administrative levels in three rural municipalities. It becomes evident how the institutional position is crucial in the enactment process.

Flying Dutchmen? Return Reasoning Among Dutch Lifestyle Migrants in Rural Sweden

This article aims to examine return reasoning among Dutch lifestyle migrant families in Hällefors, rural Sweden. It addresses two questions: after migrating to Hällefors, what influences return reasoning among Dutch families? What does this imply for return migration and transnationalism within lifestyle migration research? The questions are addressed through analysis of Dutch migrant families’ narratives, collected in 2011 and subsequent years. The findings are related to issues of transnationalism and return migration within lifestyle migration research. As many of these intra-EU urban–rural migrants are seriously considering returning, this study draws attention to temporary lifestyle migration over longer periods.

Determinants of Net Migration to Rural Areas, and the Impacts of Migration on Rural Labour Markets and Self-Employment in Rural Sweden

Across most of Europe, the countryside seems to show a polarized development in which large districts are depopulating, while certain areas, mainly around big- and mid-sized cities, are increasing in population. The latter development is often described in concepts of “rural gentrification” and “rurbanization”, symbolizing a transformation of rural communities to communities with urban values and lifestyles. Most studies of the effects of these processes have focused on social and cultural consequences, as e.g. the displacements of lower-income households with higher-income residents and of rural culture and values with urban ones. This paper examines the phenomenon from another perspective, namely the effects of the “rurbanization” processes on countryside's labour markets and economic life. This paper aims at analysing the determinants of net migration to rural areas in general and to different types of regions, and the impacts of in-migration on rural labour markets, self-employment and other socio-economic conditions in Sweden for the period of 2003–2005. We find that net migration into rural areas increases with the size of adjacent local and regional centres, whereas net migration decreases with the average commuting distance of workers in the rural areas. When comparing in-migrants to rural areas with rural area stayers, our results indicate that the former has lower incomes, a lower employment ratio and a lower degree of entrepreneurial activities. These differences could—at least partly—be explained by the fact that rural area stayers were on average 6 years older than rural area in-migrants, i.e. the two groups were in different stages of their life cycles.

International Migration, Self-employment and Restructuring through Tourism in Sparsely Populated Areas

Previous research has shown that different forms of migration in general, and tourism-related international migration in particular, could act as potential drivers for various forms of rural transformations. This paper investigates self-employment in tourism among foreign-born people in rural Sweden. The questions addressed in this paper are: What is the magnitude of self-employment, and what types of business do in-migrants run, in rural areas? A discussion on the extent to which in-migrants to rural areas contribute to rural restructuring through self-employment in tourism follows. The results are analyzed by drawing on theories connected to restructuring and ideas of the “new economy”. The longitudinal, individual and geo-referenced database ASTRID with official Swedish register data is used to identify foreign-born people self-employed in tourism in Sweden. Self-employment is more common for in-migrants coming from culturally proximate Western countries, followed by Asia and the Middle East. The length of time in Sweden plays a significant role in the incidence of self-employment in tourism, with restaurants dominating as the type of establishment. It can be discussed how much restaurants help invigorate the economy of rural areas, and how much they contribute to rural change and transformation in qualitative terms.

Linnaeus' study of Swedish swidden cultivation: Pioneering ethnographic work on the 'economy of nature'.

Carl Linnaeus' work on the 'economy of nature' was a major early development in what became the modern field of ecology. This analysis suggests that a key subject of this work that has been ignored or misunderstood for 250years is the rural livelihoods, especially swidden (or slash-and-burn) agriculture, which Linnaeus studied during his expeditions through rural Sweden. Rereading his reports in the light of modern work on swiddens, political ecology, and the history of science affords a new appreciation of Linnaeus' insights into traditional systems of resource exploitation. The logic of nutrient cycling in swidden agriculture and its utilization of natural dynamics to serve human ends exemplify the principles of the 'economy of nature', and gave Linnaeus a philosophical basis for understanding and defending this system of agriculture as well as other rural resource use systems in Sweden. This analysis sheds new light on Linnaeus' ethnographic work, his view of folk environmental knowledge, and his often derided identification with Sweden's ethnic peoples.

Dynamics of participation: Access, standing and influence in contested natural resource management

Although participative measures were introduced in 2001 to support dialogue on large carnivore presence and the aims and justifications of national predator policy, polarization has remained between pro-wolf groups promoting fauna diversity and the groups maintaining that rural Sweden is jeopardized by the reappearance of large carnivores. Through empirically investigating the participatory process itself, we address how the local environment of RPG members is situated in the deliberative setting of the groups. By taking account of the local community context, we emphasize that divergent perceptions of the local environment, together with the landscape as a context of relationships between those using its resources, form an informed basis for action. In sum, we examine how participatory voices can be supported and maintained given the existence of a contingent social situation in which particular interests, values, and norm systems meet.

The importance of an old rural cottage: Media representation and the construction of a national idyll in post-war Sweden

Second-homes are vital parts of the encountering of the rural in the Western World. The way they are perceived in society is important to explore as it can influence how and by whom this part of the rural is used. This paper explores the media construction of a specific type of second-homes in Sweden; cottages that since the 1950s have transformed from poor smallholdings to beloved second-homes. Besides being lived spaces, these cottages have become well known features of rural Sweden, symbols of national identity and described by media as rural idylls. They can be seen as having a cultural centrality in the revaluation of rurality and the shift towards post-productivist countryside in Sweden. But how could this type of humble cottage become so significant and what does the image of it really imply? This is studied through a discourse analysis of the representation of these cottages in a monthly home magazine from 1956 to 2008 with a particular interest in the production and naturalisation of them as important rural artefacts and national symbols. The paper discusses how material and immaterial dimensions have interacted in this construction process as well as possible social implications of the representations. Conclusively, the representations construct a restricted image of cottages and their users and of why cottages are important and should be taken care of. These representations are building on values, ideas and norms embedded in a highlighted and particular materiality which makes these seem innocent, natural and common sense. By exploring this the paper contributes to the wider inquiry into the discursive construction of the rural where seemingly innocent and natural ways of representing places, people and artefacts can produce strong and excluding norms and values regarding the rural and its users and uses.

Mapping the Socioeconomic Landscape of Rural Sweden: Towards a Typology of Rural Areas

Hedlund M. Mapping the socioeconomic landscape of rural Sweden: towards a typology of rural areas, Regional Studies. Definitions of the rural have been the subject of numerous academic papers. This paper argues that the a priori urban–rural continuum model should be abandoned in favour of a more open approach. In advancing this argument, a socioeconomic typology of rural Sweden is developed by means of cluster analysis. A total of 3983 areas were sorted into five clusters and 16 sub-clusters. One-third of the rural population lives in the middle-class countryside within the urban shadow (12%) and working-class countryside within the urban shadow (22%); the bulk of the rural population lives in countryside outside the urban shadow (25%) and manufacturing periphery (28%); and a smaller share resides in the resource periphery (12%). It is concluded that location-specific typologies based on high-resolution data that avoid a priori assumptions of rurality give great insight into rural heterogeneity.

Factors influencing Internet usage in older adults (65 years and above) living in rural and urban Sweden

Older adults living in rural and urban areas have shown to distinguish themselves in technology adoption; a clearer profile of their Internet use is important in order to provide better technological and health-care solutions. Older adults' Internet use was investigated across large to midsize cities and rural Sweden. The sample consisted of 7181 older adults ranging from 59 to 100 years old. Internet use was investigated with age, education, gender, household economy, cognition, living alone/or with someone and rural/urban living. Logistic regression was used. Those living in rural areas used the Internet less than their urban counterparts. Being younger and higher educated influenced Internet use; for older urban adults, these factors as well as living with someone and having good cognitive functioning were influential. Solutions are needed to avoid the exclusion of some older adults by a society that is today being shaped by the Internet.

Was there an urban–rural consumption gap? The standard of living of workers in southern Sweden, 1914–1920

The aim of the paper is to qualify the meaning of an urban–rural wage gap by taking a household approach to the issue of standard of living, using household surveys for five worker groups in urban or rural Sweden in 1914/1920. The urban–rural gap in terms of total household real earnings is estimated by including all the household income and using controls for household size and composition, deflated by separate urban and rural costs-of-living indices. To further assess the results, levels of household expenditure and the nutritional value of food are compared between the worker groups. The results indicate that the urban–rural earnings gaps were small or moderate, due to the higher cost of living in urban areas and the practice of payments in kind and home production in rural areas. Some differences between urban and rural workers in terms of patterns of consumption and the nutritional value of food consumed can be attributed to differences in earnings, but a substantial part depended on the nature of the working loads, employment terms and housing conditions. These results thus modify the picture usually given in the literature on urban–rural wage gaps and income elasticity of food items.

Lifestyle Migration to the North: Dutch Families and the Decision to Move to Rural Sweden

AbstractLifestyle migration is part of an ongoing quest for a better way of life. More or less affluent migrants moving to a destination with a perceived better climate are studied in the context of social rather than economic motivations. This paper focuses on Dutch families and their decision to move to the rural municipality of Hällefors in the Bergslagen area, Sweden. Such a Nordic destination, actively attracting migrants, has not previously been investigated in the context of lifestyle migration. The purpose of the paper is to examine what factors contribute to the decision to move. The research questions are the following: what are the socio‐demographic characteristics of the migrating families? What meanings do the migrants attach to their work environments and places of residence prior to moving? What motivations and expectations have shaped the decision to move? These questions are addressed through an interview study. Results show that the adult family members were mainly born in the late 1950s or in the 1960s. The children were born in the 1990s and early 21st century. According to most respondents, effects of overpopulation and rapid urbanisation, both felt on the work floor and in the living environment, became a serious trigger to leave the Netherlands. Differences between the families consider the character of occupations (within or outside the creative industries) and the length of the decision process. In contrast to some other lifestyle migrant populations, families in this study considered returning as part of their ongoing quest. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Landsbygdsdöden

What do people mean when they say that rural Sweden is dying? This article scrutinizes what happens when Swedish Norrlandic ‘rurality’ is articulated with ‘death’. Working from a perspective of discourse theory, statements of the death of rural areas can be said to comprise both unproblematised notions of the end of an era and politiziced notions of the unfairness of the situation, which in turn may strengthen rural identifications.

Bo Norrving: putting stroke on the world map

Bo Norrving: putting stroke on the world map

Crime prevention in rural Sweden

In this article we report examples of crime prevention (CP) experiences using case studies in rural municipalities in Sweden. Data from three different sources were analysed: semi-structured interviews with representatives of CP groups in eight rural municipalities, responses from an email survey, and a database of CP projects receiving funding from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. Findings show that youth-related problems are the major CP concern, which are translated into projects against violence and alcohol and drug addiction. National CP guidelines overlook the nature of rural crime, its seasonality and what happens outside the urban core. Although CP groups in rural Sweden face a number of challenges, they show indications of being well prepared to address youth-related problems. The article concludes with a summary of results and flags the need to extend the international evidence on crime prevention to include experiences that go beyond large city problems.