Papers Biographical Notes Reviews Contents

Contents

Papers tens Historiska Museum 1943‒2013. Rev. by Ma- rie Riegels Melchior 3 Editorial. By Lars-Eric Jönsson 202 Negotiations about Cultural Objects – Mikael 7 How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uni- Hammelev Jörgensen, Förhandlingar om kultur- forms. An Exploration of Uniformity in Practice. föremål. Parters intressen och argument i proces- By Beate Sløk-Andersen ser om återförande av kulturföremål. Rev. by Nils 26 The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Anfinset Juice. Processes of Identification in a Swedish- 205 Teenagers in Care and Punishment – Kim Silow Jewish Woman’s Everyday Storytelling. By Su- Kallenberg, Gränsland. Svensk ungdomsvård sanne Nylund Skog mellan vård och straff. Rev. by Anna Sofia Lund- 38 Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic. Concepts Used on gren the Re:heritage Market. By Anneli Palmsköld 208 What is “Culture”? – Anna-Liisa Kuczynski, Mi- 55 Making Place for the Future. Transformations of noritetsgrupper och möten i trängda situationer. a Rural Village into an Industrial Area after 1972. Identifikationer och kulturell gemenskap. Rev. by By Daniel Svensson Oscar Pripp 210 Swedish Fashion 1930‒1960 – Ulrika Kyaga, 82 What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pan- Swedish Fashion 1930‒1960. Rethinking the demic. Public-Health and Lay Perceptions of the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry. Rev. by 2009‒2010 Swine Flu. Outbreak and Mass Vac- Marie Riegels Melchior cination in Norway. By Karine Aasgaard Jansen 213 Neither too much nor too little – Emma Lindblad, 98 Routines on Trial. The Roadwork of Expanding Looking vanlig; neither too much nor too little. A the Lab into Everyday Life in an Exercise Trial in study of consumption of clothing among main- Denmark. By Jonas Winther stream youth in a Swedish small town. Rev. by 123 That Little Football Girl. Swedish Club Football Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen and Gender Expectations. By Katarzyna Herd 215 Sustainable Eating – Matilda Marshall, Hållbar- 139 Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces. het till middag. En etnologisk studie om hur mil- Experiencing Cultural and Social Diversity in a jövänligt ätande praktiseras i vardagslivet. Rev. Multicultural City. By Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia by Maria Nyberg Olsson 217 Early Modern Ethnography – Tony Sandset, Time 153 The End of the World. Apocalyptic Narratives in and Translation: The Formation of Temporalities Children’s Fears. By Helena Hörnfeldt and Early Modern Ethnography in Theodore de 171 Social Distinctions and Political Rights. The De- Bry’s A Briefe and True Report of the New bates over the Right to Vote in Norway, 1814‒ Found Land of Virginia. Rev. by Eva Reme 1913. By Hans-Jakob Ågotnes 220 Extractive Violence – Kristina Sehlin MacNeil, Extractive Violence on Indigenous Country: Sami and Aboriginal Views on Conflicts and Power Relations with Extractive Industries. Rev. by Biographical Notes Trude Fonneland 189 Åke Daun, 1936–2017. By Mats Hellspong 221 Video Game Play – Jukka Vahlo, In Gameplay: The Invariant Structures and Varieties of the 191 Birgitta Skarin Frykman 1941–2017. By Kerstin Video Game Gameplay Experience. Rev. by Si- Gunnemark and Annika Nordström mon J. Bronner 193 Barbro Klein, 1938–2018. By Barbro Blehr

Reviews Book Reviews 224 What is “Culture”? – Kultursociologi og kultur- New Dissertations analyse. Pernille Tanggaard Andersen & Michael Hviid Jacobsen (eds.). Rev. by Kristofer Hansson 195 Traces of Memory – Maryam Adjam, Min- 225 On the City’s Dark Side – Peter K. Andersson, På nesspår. Hågkomstens rum och rörelse i skuggan Stadens Skuggsida: Människor och Brott i Jack av flykt. Rev. by Katarina Saltzman the Rippers London. Rev. by Hilary Stanworth 197 German Belonging in Finland – Dorothea Breier, 228 Danish Manor Houses and Gentlefolk – Signe A Vague Feeling of Belonging of a Transcultural Boeskov, Herregård og herskab. Distinktioner og Generation. An Ethnographic Study on Germans iscenesættelser på Nørre Vosborg og Hvedholm and their Descendants in Contemporary Helsinki, 1850–1920. Rev. by Marie Steinrud Finland. Rev. by Oscar Pripp 230 Cultural Analysis of Museum Education – Mette 199 Sound Spaces in Istanbul – Karin Eriksson-Aras, Boritz, Museumsundervisning. Med sanser og Ljudrum. En studie av ljud och lyssnande som materialitet på kulturhistoriske museer. Rev. by kulturell praktik. Rev. by Mats Nilsson Britta Zetterström Geschwind 200 Materializing Democratic Ideals in a Museum – 235 A Textbook of Culture as Practice – Kultur som Britta Zetterström Geschwind, Publika museirum. praksis. Etnologiske perspektiver på individuali- Materialiseringar av demokratiska ideal på Sta- tet og fælleskab, kultur og historie. Søren Chris-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 tensen, Astrid P. Jespersen, Signe Mellemgaard, 250 Cultural-Historical Methods in Ethnology – Kul- Marie Sandberg (eds.). Rev. by Mattias Friham- turhistoria. En etnologisk metodbok. Lars-Eric mar Jönsson & Fredrik Nilsson (eds.). Rev. by Ane 237 Seaways to Sweden – Sjövägen till Sverige. Från Ohrvik 1500-talet till våra dagar. Simon Ekström, Leos 251 Political Projects and Uncertain Cultural Heritage Müller & Tomas Nilson (eds.). Rev. by Dan H. – Politiska projekt, osäkra kulturarv. Kampanjer Andersen och fôrhandlingar i det sena 1900-talets Sverige 238 Of Lobsters and Men – Simon Ekström, Humrar- och Europa. Lars-Eric Jönsson (ed.). Rev. by na och evigheten. Kulturhistoriska essäer om kon- Bobo Krabbe Magid sumtion, begär och död. Rev. by Mikkel Venborg 252 Imagined Finland-Swedishness in the Twenty- Pedersen first Century – Föreställda finlandssvenskheter. 239 Methods in Dress Research – Opening up the Intersektionella perspektiv på det svenska i Fin- Wardrobe – A Methods Book. Kate Fletcher & In- land. Sven-Erik Klinkmann, Blanka Henriksson gun Grimstad Klepp (eds.). Rev. by Tytti Leh- & Andreas Häger (eds.). Rev. by Gösta Arvastson tovaara 253 The Limits of Swedishness in Early Modern Swe- 241 Heritage Sites of Death – Heritage of Death: den – Jens Lerbom, Svenskhetens tidigmoderna Landscapes of Emotion, Memory and Practice. gränser. Folkliga föreställningar om etnicitet och Mattias Frihammar and Helaine Silverman (eds.). rikstillhörighet i Sverige 1500–1800. Rev. by Rev. by Hanna Snellman Sven-Erik Klinkmann 242 Exploring Life from a Folkloristic Perspective – Anders Gustavsson, Folkloristic studies in Scan- 257 Textiles Clothing the Danish Home – Louise Skak dinavia. Personal research experiences and reflec- Nielsen, Det påklædte hjem. Tekstiler og bolig- tions. Rev. by Ülo Valk kultur i Danmark gennem 300 år. Rev. by Mette 244 Sailors’ Wives in Marstal – Mette Eriksen Eriksen Havsteen-Mikkelsen Havsteen-Mikkelsen, Sømandskoner i Marstal – 258 Thinking through Narrated Communities and In- fortællinger fra sø og land. Rev. by Bård Gram dividual Life Stories – Ulf Palmenfelt, Berättade Økland gemenskaper. Individuella livshistorier och kol- 246 Rethinking the Museum – Museums in a Time of lektiva tankefigurer. Rev. by Sven-Erik Klink- Migration. Rethinking Museums’ Roles, Repre- mann sentations, Collections, and Collaborations. 261 Loving Your Job – Magdalena Petersson Mc- Christina Johansson & Pieter Bevelander (eds.). Intyre, Att älska sitt jobb – Passion, entusiasm Rev. by Malene Dybbøl och nyliberal subjektivitet. Rev. by Sabine Køhn 248 Cultural Perspectives on Humour – Skratt som Rohde fastnar. Kulturella perspektiv på skratt och hu- 263 To Work! – Birgitta Theander, Till arbetet! Yr- mor. Lars-Eric Jönsson & Fredrik Nilsson (eds.). kesdrömmar och arbetsliv i flickboken 1920–65. Rev. by Camilla Asplund Ingemark Rev. by Lena Marander-Eklund Editorial By Lars-Eric Jönsson

In her recently published novel The Son of One could claim that ethnologists have Svea, the Swedish author Lena Andersson studied, at least since the 1990s, ordinari- starts with a situation where one of the ness via perspectives on deviance, mar- main characters, Ragnar, is rejected by an ginalization and such. That is, through its ethnologist who is about to investigate the opposite we have claimed certain access history of the Swedish Folkhem or the to the ordinary. And those are valid argu- welfare state. While sitting in a café drink- ments. Yet I would argue that our view of ing their coffee, eating their buns and pas- concepts like “ordinary” or “everyday tries Ragnar is asked about his everyday life” is left unproblematized and undevel- routines, in particular his very regular oped. I may be wrong. And in a certain coffee-drinking, or fika, habits. sense I hope I am. If so, Ethnologia Scan- After a while the ethnologist leaves a dinavica welcomes contributions that de- message that Ragnar won’t fit in her pro- velop and argue for the idea of ordinary ject. Why? He is told he is too ordinary, and neighbouring concepts. too common. He is rejected but does not A quick look at this year’s articles in understand why. As the novel continues, Ethnologia Scandinavica gives some sup- he is presented as a typical – and very port to the above observation. On the other common – representative of the rationalis- hand we find crucial themes or concepts tic Swedish project called the Folkhem like materiality, gendering, performance, (People’s Home). He has strong beliefs in identity, power and citizenship. They are science, development, the state and the all examples and signs of where ethnology common good. And in most senses he has been heading in the last few decades. lives in accordance with these beliefs. Beate Sløk-Andersen starts with her Andersson’s novel is not about ethnolo- fieldwork in the Danish army, focusing on gy but about Ragnar’s life. Still, it is not a the uniform and how the wearer makes the coincidence that our discipline is used at uniform, and vice versa. She shows how the start to say something about being or- the uniform is a producer of, and not only dinary, or too common. As a reader I was a sign of, rank and discipline, but at the somewhat shaken by the fact that my, our, same time also creating uniformity. It was discipline was used to illustrate how cul- supposed to conceal some differences, tural sciences were supposed to distance such as gender, and to emphasize others themselves from ordinary everyday lives. such as rank. In a truly bodily situation The self-understanding of many ethnolo- Sløk-Andersen observed and experienced gists – as far as I am concerned – is not sel- how uniform and body, together in prac- dom expressed through words of interest tice, underlined and produced gender. like “ordinary” and “everyday life”. But In her article Susanne Nylund Skog fo- when reading the novel and pondering on cuses on identifications and storytelling, these well-used words of ours, I get a not only via language but through materi- slight feeling of uneasiness that we have ality and practices, for example through left them behind, letting them floating eating and drinking. around in an indefinite pool with words of In the specific situation of telling the consensus. story, the teller navigates between posi-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 4 Lars-Eric Jönsson, Editorial

tions, producing identification, each and Jonas Winther as he investigates rand- every time. Anneli Palmsköld investigates omized controlled trials (RCTs) for test- another aspect of the production of histo- ing interventions targeting people’s be- ry, that is, the recycling of things in terms haviour and lifestyles. Through the con- of vintage, retro and shabby chic. Daniel cept of roadworks he observed and Svensson follows with an investigation of tracked participants in trials and how they the transformation of landscapes in the tried to follow protocols that sought to Swedish 1970s. From his example he change their everyday lives. Winther de- shows how a rural landscape was trans- scribes and analyses how protocols col- formed into an industrialized one, a pro- lided with everyday life measures and de- cess based on rationalistic arguments, true mands, as life happened and met scientific to their time. Svensson shows how unar- ideals of uniformity, measurability and ticulated memories of and in the landscape standardization. have turned into what he calls a movement Katarzyna Herd follows with a study on heritage such as small-scale agriculture gendering processes. Her case is the and human and animal trails or paths. Ny- Swedish elite football scene and how lund Skog, Palmsköld and Svensson de- women are perceived and written about in velop people’s relations to the past, rela- the football context. How do processes of tions that cannot be reduced to “use” of gender coding work in this environment? history but must be considered more ac- Herd highlights both the problems of es- tive and productive. Recycling, perform- caping gendered categories, not the least ing or production of history seem more for the researcher herself, and masculinity accurate terms for describing such pro- as a context-specific construction. cesses. Tiina-Riita Lappi and Pia Olsson inves- Karine Aasgard Jansen writes about tigate encounters of cultural and social di- how Norwegian public health authorities versity in urban spaces. That is, the places handled a pandemic and the subsequent studied were public or semi-public. Lappi mass vaccinations. How was this met and and Olsson shows how different places understood by lay people and how did were avoided by their informants due to their understanding relate to the official the risk of conflicts but also how other information about the pandemic? Author- places, such as the limited space on a train, ities tended to focus on biological per- were unavoidable. The article underlines spectives on diseases. For decision makers the importance of social practices rather it all seemed very reasonable to conduct than the built environment when experi- vaccinations despite the risks of side ef- encing risk, fear or safety. fects and the questionable level of disper- In the following article Helena Hörn- sion. Aasgard Jansen’s case illuminates feldt interviews children about how they themes like asymmetric rights and respon- view the end of the world. To these chil- sibility in the relation between profession- dren the apocalypse seemed to be under- als, authorities and lay people, that is the stood as the collapse of nature. One of citizens. Hörnfeldt’s main points is how fears have The medical theme is also pursued by changed from a few decades earlier when Lars-Eric Jönsson, Editorial 5

nature was the cause of fears rather than So how about the ordinary? Does it an object of concern as seems to be the mean anything in these articles? I guess it case now. does, more or less explicitly. Jonas Win- Hans-Jakob Ågotnes ends the article ther is perhaps the one who uses the neigh- section with an investigation of the de- bouring concept of everyday life as an bates about the right to vote in Norway analytical starting point, in contrast to the 1814‒1913. Why were some entitled to scientific protocols that interfered with his vote and others not? A main point made informants’ daily life. Even if this were by Ågotnes is that the modern concept of the only example, I suppose that all of our citizenship is not unproblematic to trans- writers, in some sense, would subscribe to fer in all its senses back to the early nine- some interest in ordinary and everyday teenth century. Ågotnes shows how the life. My initial issue, however, concerned question of suffrage was connected to as- how we deal with and activate these con- sumptions about autonomous and depend- cepts. Not that I wish that all our con- ent citizens rather than rich and poor, or, tributors should comment on the issue. by extension, man and woman. People de- But sometimes we perhaps could give it a pendent on autonomous men – crofters, thought and ask ourselves what we mean servants, women and children – were not when we utter the words “common” or considered full citizens with the right to “ordinary” or refer to “everyday life”. vote. And, of course, what they are good for. 6 Lars-Eric Jönsson, Editorial How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms An Exploration of Uniformity in Practice By Beate Sløk-Andersen

“Sløk, you look like shit! You’re a soldier, for lenges this same uniformity by examining God’s sake – look like one!” (Field notes, week the seemingly mundane, embodied rou- 12) tines of conscripted soldiers. The article This was the reaction I received early one hereby utilizes an ethnological approach morning during a four-day military drill I to explore the productive effects of such was participating in as part of my field- attire; specifically, by asking how the uni- work in the Danish army. Like the rest of form constitutes and negotiates the be- the platoon, I had spent the night sleeping coming of military subjects through in a simple tarpaulin tent-like construction everyday routines. The article pays par- in the woods and was now getting ready to ticular attention to the material-discursive start a new day. I figured that it would entanglement of matter that takes place make sense to fetch some water for the when the uniform is ‘done’ by these daily ‘field shower’ before getting my uni- young soldiers. form in order. Thus, my jacket was un- buttoned, I was wearing neither hat nor Exploring Uniforms from the Perspec- helmet, and my weapon and my combat tive of Everyday Life belt (containing ammunition and other When I decided to conduct participatory at-hand essentials) were lying on the fieldwork among conscripted soldiers, I ground next to my tent. But as the quota- had anticipated that a superior might yell tion indicates, the platoon’s second-in- at me; however, I had not foreseen the dif- command, Sergeant Bolt, did not agree ficulties that came along with wearing the with my assessment of the situation. If I uniform. I had embarked on this part of had remembered the words he uttered my fieldwork three months earlier to ex- months earlier – “The first thing people plore how young Danish citizens are see when they look at a soldier is the uni- transformed into soldiers through the en- form” (field notes, week 1) – I would tanglement of elements such as physical probably not have left my tent without my training, disciplining measures, social in- uniform being in order. teraction, and materiality. At the time I A uniform makes members of the was planning my fieldwork, Sweden and armed forces recognizable. This attire several NATO member states had abol- camouflages differences by downplaying ished this compulsory military service, marks of individuality and stressing – and the outlook for the Danish conscrip- well, uniformity. In this article, I explore tion system did not seem very good. how this is not only apparent in literal Nonetheless, it has persisted despite recur- terms but also how we might understand rent debates on alternative structures and the uniform as a materiality that is em- reductions in the Danish Armed Forces – bedded in a performance that makes its albeit in a reduced form of four months of wearer recognizable as a military subject. basic training for most of the 4,200 con- Based on empirical material from the scripts doing military service each year. I Danish army, this article offers insight was intrigued by the system’s persever- into the uniformity that uniforms are ex- ance, which was strengthened when Swe- pected to constitute, while it also chal- den reintroduced conscription and Nor-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 8 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

way expanded its draft to include women could appear to be a visual uniformity, a (the latter has brought about new research broader perception of uniformity allows efforts, see e.g. Lilleaas & Ellingsen for a more complex exploration of how 2014). the uniform participates in the becoming Scholars before me have been curious of good soldiers; I return to this figure about conscription and the ways in which later in the article. the subject is disciplined within a military Within the field of ethnology, studies context (Goffman 1968; Damsholt 2000; of military issues have been “surprising- Wollinger 2000; Foucault 2008). In this ly” scarce (Engman 2013:114), especial- article, my intention is to expand upon ly when narrowed down to projects with these studies by drawing upon perspec- a contemporary focus. In Scandinavia, tives from post-humanism and post-femi- the main contributions are Jonas Eng- nism in order to emphasize the effect of man’s work on the Swedish navy (2002, materiality in this process. Specifically, I 2013) and Susanne Wollinger’s close de- move beyond the body of the soldiers to tail of conscripts in the Swedish army explore how the materiality of the uniform (2000). Like them, my work takes an is involved in constituting recognizable everyday – life approach to studying the military subjects. Through this lens, my military setting; however, I pay greater analysis unfolds how this can be under- attention to the uniform and the daily stood as a process of constant work and routines in which it is embedded. In par- negotiation, particularly because the con- ticular, I have been curious about how scripts’ willingness and ability to be practices and rationales that at first recognizable as a military subject varied, seemed exotic became new norms during in part due to the uniform. While, at a the four months; how “strange” practices glance, the importance of the uniform became unnoticed everyday routines. In

The author literally in the military field. Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 9

this regard, I draw inspiration from eth- tactical function was for the soldiers to be nologists Orvar Löfgren and Billy Ehn, recognizable; e.g., on the battlefield or as who have argued that it is through every- an authority. Expanding on this question day routines “anchored in the body” that of authority, the anthropologist Erella tasks and actions become almost invis- Grassiani has argued, based on her empir- ible to us (2010:82; see also Ehn 2011 ical studies of Israeli soldiers, that “[t]he and Löfgren 2014). uniforms they wear and the weapons they Dress scholars also support an analyti- carry materialize the power that soldiers cal approach that focuses on routines. In- have” (2013:85). While I recognize the gun G. Klepp and Mari Bjerck (2014) authority that a uniform implies, I chal- have for instance argued that, when gath- lenge the static conception of uniforms ering empirical material for an analysis of that Grassiani presents. In her definition, uniforms, methods such as interviews or the uniform becomes an external rep- textual analysis alone should not form the resentation of a pre-existing power rela- basis of the work, as they are insufficient tion, and it is interpreted as having one to capture the automated routines and tacit fixed meaning that applies to everyone knowledge essential to dressing. Follow- who wears the uniform. As an alternative, ing this argument, my analysis draws I provide greater detail as to how uniforms upon interviews along with auto-ethno- come to matter in different ways through graphic experiences and observational practice, and how the implied authority studies, primarily from my fieldwork at that is typically associated with the uni- one particular military camp.1 Using the form is the result of entangled matter and empirical material that these methods gen- routines. erated, I explore how we might under- In non-military settings, uniforms have stand the ‘production’ of military subjects been described as being entangled with is- in relation to embodied practices and rou- sues of hierarchy, discipline, and the di- tines connected to the uniform. Or how, in minishment of individuality (Craik 2005; the words of Donna Haraway (2008), the Larsson 2008; Neumann et al. 2012; Lei- becoming of good soldiers can be seen as lund 2015), presumably due to the mili- a becoming-with the military uniform. tary origin of uniforms (Larsson 2008: 14‒15). And indeed, military uniforms Previous Studies of Uniforms have influenced the design of non-military The essential role of the uniform in the be- uniforms as well as fashion trends in a ing and becoming of soldiers has been em- broader sense (Black 2014). This relation phasized in earlier studies. According to between military uniforms and non-mili- the historian Karsten Skjold Petersen tary apparel supports a broader scepticism (2014), the introduction of uniforms in the about making clear distinctions between Danish-Norwegian army in the seven- separate military and civic spheres (Enloe teenth century served two main purposes: 2000). In this article, I focus on the use of a practical and a tactical purpose. The military uniforms but also reflect on what practical function was to protect the sol- happens when these uniforms “travel” be- dier against all types of weather, and the yond the military setting. 10 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

Within ethnology and related fields, we Leilund argues that there is a mutual re- have already seen a more practice-orient- lation between the uniform and its wearer, ed approach to the study of uniforms. For in which both parties ‘do’ each other. This example, in her doctoral work, Marianne reflects the idea of the military subject be- Larsson (2008) examined the develop- coming-with the uniform that I attempt to ment of uniform practice within the Swe- unfold. dish postal services from the seventeenth century until today, specifically exploring Being Recognized as a Good Soldier how uniforms work to establish and nego- During my fieldwork, conscripts as well tiate uniformity. Utilizing a variety of em- as sergeants2 articulated the image of the pirical material, Larsson describes how good soldier as something to aspire to in the uniform creates docile bodies that everyday situations. For instance, it was should contribute to the ongoing durabili- often repeated that “a good soldier is a ty of the postal services while simultan- lazy soldier”, implying that a good soldier eously constituting internal power rela- does things correctly the first time around tions. Larsson stresses how the uniform instead of being sloppy and having to do has participated in disciplining postal the task over. But as the quotation opening workers and, related to this, how the this article suggests, this not only requires wearer of the uniform came to “carry the an internalized desire to do things correct- institution with him” (2008:12). My an- ly but also knowledge of what “good” alysis builds upon these findings by de- might imply in a given situation. I should scribing how the disciplining enabled by have known and wanted to do the right the uniform depends on specific situa- thing: A good soldier should not need cor- tions; the uniform entangles with many rection but would instinctively know what other elements that change its matter from is the correct thing to do (as also argued in one setting to another. Thus, my contem- Damsholt 2000). As the company's sec- porary perspective prompts new under- ond-in-command, Lieutenant Olsen, had standings of uniforms in practice. told us: “We’re nice when we explain Using a similar approach, Helle Leilund something the first time, but after that, we (2015) has also challenged ideas about the expect you to know it” (field notes, week uniform as an object that is able to “do 1). something specific” to the wearer. After In my analytical approach, I take the conducting ethnographic fieldwork good soldier to be more than a mere ex- among nurses, postal workers, and train pression; it is an agentic figure constituted conductors, Leilund describes how uni- through everyday routines. My initial in- forms can be ‘done’ in different ways – spiration for this approach came from the despite formal regulations and the uni- post-feminist scholar Judith Butler’s con- formity of the design – thus making it a ceptualization of recognition. Butler ar- “complex phenomenon that is something gues that humans can only be recognized different, dependent on [the] practice the as subjects if they live up to certain (gen- uniform is done in” (2015:100). Follow- dered) patterns (1990; 1993). As she de- ing this conceptualization of the uniform, scribes it, these patterns are defined via Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 11

the heterosexual matrix in which compul- distributed practice arising through the en- sory relations between one’s sex, gender, tanglement of (material) actors (2002; and sexual desire are defined (1990). For 2008). Reflecting how I intend to ap- instance, a male individual should act proach the figure of the good soldier, Mol masculine and desire women – and vice and John Law suggest that “[i]n complex, versa for females. This way, the matrix mundane, material practices ‘the good’ (re)produces gendered patterns by regu- tends to figure as something to tinker to- lating how one’s gender and sexuality wards – silently” (2002:85). should be performed. Following Löfgren Linking Butler and Mol, I will explore and Ehn’s definition of routines (2010), how uniforms are done – or become-with we could see the gender performances as – the enactment of good soldiers, as this expressions of tacit knowledge and a sort ties to the performative ‘nature’ of recog- of “autopilot mode” within us that organ- nition that Butler argues for as “that power ize a shared choreography. If the consist- of discourse to produce effects through re- ency of the matrix is not reiterated through iteration” (1993:20). This definition indi- our performances, Butler argues, then we cates a processual approach, as the reiter- cannot be recognized as someone worthy ations are constant work; the recognition of, for example, having rights or being of someone as a good soldier is never se- treated equal to others. As such, Butler cure. The recognition needs continuous writes that recognition is “a site of power enactments because “a signifier, rather by which the human is differentially pro- than simply naming something that al- duced” (2004:2). ready exists, works to generate that which I am adapting this conceptualization of it apparently names” (Ahmed 2012:92). recognition in the way that the good sol- And while terms like “enactment” and dier becomes the matrix through which “performativity” might imply a certain soldiers are recognized through the per- optionality or detachment, the very real formance of acceptable patterns for how consequences of failed recognition may to be a good soldier. Through this lens, I emerge as a lost opportunity for a military will explore how the figure of the good career, an absence of appraisal, or a nega- soldier – just like the gender categories in tive evaluation. By using the uniform as Butler’s case – is practised and recon- an entry point, I unfold this process of be- figured through speech, materialization, coming – or not becoming – a good sol- and embodiment. Just as a certain gender dier. uniformity is established via the hetero- sexual matrix, so too is the figure of the A Question of Uniformity good soldier perceived as participating in On the first morning of the conscription the establishment of a certain uniformity period, we were given orders to remove all among conscripts. However, as Butler has obvious signs of individuality: beards had been criticized for neglecting any materi- to be shaved off, make-up was not al- ality beyond that of the body (Barad 2003; lowed, loose hair was to be pulled back in Mol 2002), I also draw on the philosopher a tight bun, bangs had to be tucked in un- Annemarie Mol’s concept of agency as a der the beret, jewellery was not allowed 12 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

(except for wedding rings), and visible undoubtedly changed in the armed forces piercings were to be removed if possible. since the sociologist Erving Goffman “You need to be alike,” we were told. wrote Asylums in 1961, I could not help Sergeant Wilson, who was training his but associate this description of breaking fourth cohort of conscripts, elaborated on down and rebuilding with Goffman’s de- this requirement during the interview I scription of total institutions as “the forc- conducted with him. Arguing for the use- ing houses for changing persons; each is a fulness of conscription as a way to teach natural experiment on what can be done to people about cohesion and collaboration, the self” (1968:22). Sergeant Wilson’s he linked this to uniformity: words are even echoed in the following And this is already introduced on the first day, snippet: “Uniforms are issued on the first where we kinda rip people’s clothes off and then day […] The role of the cadet must super- put all of them in the same uniform. Without ear- sede other roles the individual has been rings and nose piercings and all of those things accustomed to play” (ibid.: 25). that constitute the individual and signal “who I am as a person”. We tear people away from that a bit The perception of cohesion as an essen- and say, “You are part of a unit now, and you have tial element in the efficacy of a military to cooperate as a unit. You are not done before the unit is widespread in military studies last person is done”. (Interview with Sgt. Wilson) (King 2013). For example, the issue of co- As this quotation illustrates, the camou- hesion has been a recurrent concern in de- flage pattern of the conscripts’ uniform is bates about integrating women into com- intended to camouflage individuality; bat troops: Opponents have insisted that minimizing overt differences in appear- cohesion would be difficult, even imposs- ance is thought to enable cohesion, collab- ible, if the ‘band of brothers’ was disrupt- oration, and collective responsibility. The ed by the presence of women (for an out- belief seemed to be “The less individuali- line of the opposition, see MacKenzie ty, the stronger the military unit”. And 2015). For Sergeant Wilson, it was pre- through this belief, the uniform – as well cisely the concept of cohesion that attract- as the entailed absence of markers of indi- ed him to the armed forces in the first viduality – was positioned as crucial to the place; something he now honoured via his creation of a combatant platoon. Reflect- uniform, “making sure that it is always in ing the work Mol, the interview quotation order” because, by doing so, he believed supports the argument that “[a] lot of that he was “representing all other sol- things are involved” in the performance of diers, the entire armed forces” (Interview identity (2002:38). with Sgt. Wilson). The transformation of a diverse group As the following excerpt from an inter- of civilians into a homogeneous platoon view with one of the conscripts suggests, was pursued by first “breaking down” and the uniform seemed to have the desired ef- then “rebuilding” conscripts, as I was told fect of creating a feeling of cohesion during my initial meeting at the military through the uniformity of our appearance. camp a few days before I embarked on the This was brought up when I asked Madsen journey of becoming a soldier myself to explain what she felt when she put on (field notes, week 1). And while much has her uniform: Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 13

Madsen: It differs, actually. Because there are cause it made all of us more similar, as re- times when I think, “This is actually pretty cool.” flected in Madsen’s quotation above. By But that’s because I’m thinking about the social not standing out, either by wearing differ- aspects […] this thing where you have a lot of great friends, but you don’t really know them. ent apparel or by physically standing on You know nothing about them, you just become the sidelines, it was mostly forgotten that really good friends. I was there for different reasons than my Sløk: How do uniforms relate to this thing about fellow conscripts – as long as I acted in a being best friends? way that made me recognizable as a good Madsen: It’s this thing about everyone being simi- lar in some way. There’s no one you look down on soldier (Sløk-Andersen 2017). Even if or anything like that because we’re the same, some of the sergeants wanted to be cau- y’know, in the context of the armed forces. (Inter- tious around me and treat me differently view with Madsen) because I was ‘the researcher’, it was of- To Madsen, the social aspect of doing ten difficult for them to tell us apart. This conscription was important. She was one became particularly clear on the occasions of the conscripts with whom I spent the where I was called by the name of one of most time, as we were both in the same the male conscripts in my squad (we were dorm room and the same squad during the same height, and our small buns of drills. And although I felt that the uniform blond hair on the back of our heads appar- did not fully conceal the fact that my pres- ently made us look similar from behind). ence in the platoon was motivated by a In this way, the uniform enabled my be- different purpose than the other con- coming as a military subject while it also scripts, Madsen did not seem to mind. In – as I illustrate in the following – consti- general, the uniform did indeed make it tuted a collective self through disciplining easier for me to fit into the platoon be- mechanisms connected to the uniform.

Telling one conscript from the next could be difficult due to the uniformity established with the uni- form. Here, the platoon is lined up one early morning during a drill. 14 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

Control and Correction am having lunch with and I stay seated until the While uniformity may be considered two sergeants have left. (Based on field notes; highly important to the creation of a com- Tuesday, week 1) batant platoon, keeping track of the vari- Routines of control were a recurrent part ous uniform parts in a dorm room with of the day at the military camp. It started eleven other people was a challenge. Each every morning at 07:25 when we had our of us had five pairs of khaki-coloured first contact with the sergeants; they socks, which meant a total of 120 similar would enter our dorm rooms to inspect the socks in our dorm room. Imagine the con- room as well as each of us. Besides mak- fusion. But while this material uniformity ing sure that we had all of our equipment might not have seemed very practical to in order, they would also check the room’s those responsible for keeping track of the cleanliness, the order of things in our uniform parts, the uniform seemed to en- closets, and our individual appearance. able certain disciplining mechanisms that This would be done by a sergeant standing made us recognizable as military subjects. in front of each of us, only one or two feet At first, the uniform felt neither com- away, while we stood at attention, looking fortable nor empowering. As I wrote in to the right. Standing like this, the ser- my field notes on day two, “it does not feel geant would inspect us, making sure that familiar at all”, followed by comments the uniform was in order and no camou- about all the small details to which I had to flage face paint, earrings, or stubble was pay attention: Are the shoelaces sticking visible on the neck or face. These situa- out, are any of the pockets open, is the be- tions of being put on individual display of- ret placed correctly on my head? The pro- ten resulted in nervousness and silence in cess of getting accustomed to the uniform the room. was, however, pushed by practices of con- Discipline, as Foucault has argued, is trol and correction that were a recurrent often centred on “the detailed control” theme throughout the conscription period. (Damsholt 2000:61), not only by others While still in this highly insecure period but also by oneself (Foucault 2008). For of feeling estranged by the uniform, some us, the sergeants’ external gaze was quick- of the sergeants took joy in ‘helping’ us ly internalized as we were encouraged to get our uniforms in order: control ourselves and each other before In the canteen, two sergeants from another platoon standing in front of the sergeants – as a are seated further down the same long table as us, having lunch. They are talking across the table but way of “helping each other”, we were their conversation is interrupted numerous times told. Not only before this morning inspec- as one of them calls out to many of the conscripts tion, but continuously throughout the day: passing by. He yells at them to point out that their When lining up, when entering or exiting uniforms are not in order and to correct them at buildings, before drills, before parades, once. Unbuttoned pockets, missing nametags on and so on. We would ask the person next jackets, curled-up collars. The sergeant is clearly enjoying yelling at the conscripts, giving them or- to us, “Did you remember your helmet?” ders to stop and correct their uniforms. Out of fear or yell out in the dorm room “Does every- of getting the same treatment, the two conscripts I one have their maintenance gear?” Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 15

This control amongst ourselves was space for control and correction. Not just further encouraged through the concept of by sergeants but also by other conscripts. collective responsibility; if someone for- These routines did not only participate in got a glove, no one else was allowed to disciplining us as military subjects, they wear gloves because we were all respons- also installed both an individual and a col- ible for the actions of others in the pla- lective internalized gaze (Foucault 2008), toon. As when Bisgaard, the quite con- which constituted a form of collective fused conscript with whom I shared a self. bunkbed, lost his folding knife during Both conscripts as well as sergeants week six, and those of us sharing a dorm justified these routines of control and room with him became responsible for correction – which made the armed him not losing any more of his things. Af- forces seem exotic to me at first – as a ter that incident, it became part of our dai- consequence of the potentially fatal out- ly routine to ask Bisgaard if he had re- come of errors when you are a soldier. membered all of his equipment, especially Following this rationale, Lindberg had the folding knife. This became yet another no problem making sense of the continu- part of our shared choreography that was ous control of buttons and other tiny rou- never planned or discussed between us; it tines that were part of our everyday life at just became a pattern of daily routines that the military camp: were embodied as tacit knowledge. Ac- Well, Sgt. DC is my squad sergeant and he doesn’t cording to Ehn and Löfgren, the advan- care much about cleaning and stuff like that. But tage of routines lies in their ability to “lib- the pockets on our combat belt [containing ammu- erate us from energy-demanding choices nition, water bottle, etc.] better damn be closed! such as whether to first put on the left or Because if you lose something, it might be what the right shoe, and whether to boil, fry, or ends up costing someone else their life. A com- rade. (Interview with Lindberg) scramble the breakfast eggs” (2010:91). In much the same way, the routine of con- As this quotation illustrates, uniformity trolling each other’s uniforms became part and control related to the uniform was not of a collective autopilot that integrated just a question of creating cohesion or a these routines in our daily life without us way of disciplining. It was also a matter of thinking much about it. being able to do the best job possible; of As an almost natural addition to these being a good soldier able to keep your disciplining mechanisms that installed comrades alive. As such, the control en- control as a practice between conscripts, acted through daily routines and shared we also corrected each other’s uniforms. choreographies of correcting each other This was done not just by pointing out that meant protecting the collective self in the something was out of order but by actually potential line of fire. correcting it; straightening a collar, tuck- While many conscripts did not consider ing in a shirttail, or closing a pocket. In themselves to be ‘real’ soldiers, the idea of this way, the clothing on my body, which being in the line of fire was the backdrop I would normally consider to be within my for much of the teaching and doctrines. personal sphere, became a collective For example, the hierarchal structure in 16 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

the armed forces was understood as a more prone to accept what is said. (Second inter- completely natural way to organize the view with Lt. Petersen) military sphere because being under at- The lieutenant went on to provide an ex- tack does not allow time for an unclear or ample of how people outside the military ambiguous power structure. As the col- camp would react differently if he gave onel in charge of the regiment explained orders wearing his uniform versus his ‘ci- to me: “We don’t hold back, we tell it like vilian’ clothes; the uniform would no it is. But that has an operational reason: If doubt make people more prone to follow we debate for too long and [are] too un- his orders. We might say that the uniform clear, we will die” (interview with Col. makes him recognizable as a military sub- Johnsen). In this way, the disciplining ject entitled to give orders; a good soldier measures related to the control and correc- that can claim authority. tion of the uniforms were entangled with Through Lieutenant Petersen’s descrip- being a good soldier in imagined (or, to tion, it becomes clear how authority and some of the sergeants, actually experi- discipline are entangled and done through enced) life-or-death scenarios of a real the materiality of the uniform and the rou- soldier. Through the performance of daily tines of which it is a part. While everyone routines of control and correction, most wearing a military uniform might seem conscripts tried their best to perform as alike to those not familiar with the small good soldiers – while knowing that they details inscribing information on the uni- were far from being real soldiers. forms, these details matter among the wearers. Without the ranking system in- The Entangled Matter of Uniforms scribed in and on the uniform jacket, the With regard to the uniform, the ideal of al- authority that is distributed accordingly ways being able to save a comrade’s life would entangle in a different way. But the was not the only aspect of what it means to differing matter of the uniform is not be a good soldier that appeared. During merely dependent on the signs on its sur- my fieldwork, I had a couple of one-on- face, as distinctions and medals inscribing one talks and interviews with our platoon information about rank and previous de- commander, Lieutenant Petersen. In the ployment experiences. Rather, it comes to following scenario, I was asking him matter through the material-discursive en- questions about the ranking system, and tanglement of elements, such as the rank- how strictly it applies to everyday situa- ing system, disciplining mechanisms en- tions. This led to the following reflections: abled by military law, the fabric of the Lt. Petersen: We wouldn’t have had the same pos- uniform, the tone of voice in which orders sibility to discipline, I think. are given, and certain ways of moving and Sløk: If it hadn’t been for the rank system? How standing (for the latter, see Sløk-Andersen are the two connected?  2017). All of these elements are entangled Lt. Petersen: There is no doubt about who is in when Lieutenant Petersen’s uniform charge because you can see it. And you can see how they are ranked in accordance with each comes to matter, and the effect of the uni- other, those who are in charge […] I think that form would be different if even just one of when you have the ranking system, then you are the entangled elements was absent. Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 17

This shifting entanglement of matter disappear. The authority that had, up until in the uniform was obvious if we trav- now, been associated with the uniforms elled home during the weekend while that our sergeants wore was hereby en- wearing it. We were granted this oppor- abled for us to perform – if only for a short tunity after a couple of weeks; at that while. This concurrently made a shift in point we were considered to be able to what it meant to be a good soldier, as obe- act “properly” outside the military camp dience at the bottom of the hierarchy in- – which meant something along the lines side the military camp was exchanged for of sitting up straight and being polite to authority outside the camp’s fence. others. And even with the sergeants and Despite the changing matter of the uni- their disciplining measures out of sight, form, it seemed as though it came with a the imperative to have our uniforms in certain way of acting, of moving, of talk- order and to act properly when wearing ing, of thinking: a certain pattern for how the uniform was already embedded in us; to perform, which I argue is informed by this was a part of our performance as the figure of the good soldier, even if the good soldiers that we carried with us. routines tied to this performance shifted The embodied routines kept us within depending on the elements that were en- the limits of recognition: Taking off the tangled in the uniform. beret when entering a building, rolling it up and putting it into the pocket by the Challenging the Idea of Uniformity right knee happened without thinking While the uniform did indeed participate much about it. Even those who grew dis- in creating uniformity, it simultaneously contented with doing military service seemed to make other elements more vis- seemed to still act properly when we ible. I discovered that, over the course of went to the train station together on Fri- the four-month conscription period, good day afternoons – or they just did not soldiers did not need to be completely wear the uniform home. similar after all. While a basic require- However, the uniformity and the feel- ment for being recognizable as a good sol- ing of ‘being in this together’ that were es- dier was still to have your uniform in order tablished with the uniform slowly disap- and keep track of all of your equipment, peared when we left the military camp. some conscripts seemed to stand out from Outside the camp’s fence, we were seen as the crowd more than others. “representatives of the entire Danish While promoting the recent introduc- Armed Forces”, as Sergeant Bolt had told tion of gender-mixed dorm rooms at the us (Field notes, week 5). Here, the hierar- camp, our company commander (who was chal differences that put sergeants in a po- called “Boss”, as he was at the top of the sition to control and correct our uniforms local hierarchy) initially told us: receded as elements entangled differently We do not evaluate due to gender, but due to com- in the uniform. Outside the military camp, petences […] To me, you are not men and women, the uniformity of our attire made us recog- but rather competences that I can use to solve nizable as soldiers rather than conscripts, tasks. Some are really smart, and others are really which made the military ranking system strong. (Field notes, week 1) 18 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

The uniform was believed to conceal my equipment. And while those standing gender differences; it was expected to up to pee often just took one step to the make us all non-gendered soldiers, which side, I would go looking for a bit of cover echoes Sergeant Wilson’s aforemention- before exposing my entire lower body to ed argument that the uniform removes the the world. Needless to say, it was usually elements that signal “who I am as a per- a woman who lined up last after these son”. Competences, however, were seen breaks. as differing from one conscript to the next. Exploring the material-discursive en- They were apparently not camouflaged by actment of gender in academia, the eth- the uniform – quite the opposite, I would nologist Tine Damsholt (2013) has argued argue, as they affected one’s ability to be that uniformity in the materiality that recognized as a good soldier. To illustrate covers the body can make other elements the way in which this is entangled with the visible, including gender, due to the mate- uniform, I next present an example rial-discursive entanglement in a given centred on the highly ordinary act of pee- setting (see also Mol 2002). It appeared ing. the same in this scenario, where female Being a conscript was strongly related physiology, the design of the uniform, and to the feeling of being in a hurry: Every- routines designated by a male squad ser- thing always had to be done as quickly as geant entangled in a way that made it very possible. We were given a specific num- difficult for women in particular to meet ber of minutes for most tasks, and it al- the requirements for being punctual. Be- most always felt like too little time. This cause being on time was presented as an was also the case when needing to urinate, essential part of being a good soldier, this which was particularly challenging during entanglement made gender appear in the drills. Here, having to wear a belt with two performance of being a good soldier. I small buckles as well as pants with both a could not recognize myself as a good sol- zipper and a button made peeing a time- dier in these situations due to the routines consuming task for some of us. Before I that were established around the recurrent had even got my pants down by my ankles act of peeing. While the uniform was and squatted, those who could easily just meant to camouflage gender categories, it zip down the fly in their pants and pee simultaneously made gender present in standing up had almost finished. Having a these situations. male squad sergeant meant that breaks Yet uniformity also challenged the per- during drills or patrols were timed based formance of certain competences. An ex- on how long it took him to pee. And be- ample of this appeared during drills and cause he peed standing up, he was quite exercises when the platoon was divided fast at getting it over with and calling on into four squads, each led by a squad ser- us to line up again. By the time this hap- geant and supported by a second-in-com- pened, I would still have to stand up, zip mand. The latter was appointed among the and button my pants, close the two conscripts in the squad and was referred to buckles of the belt, and put on the rest of as an alpha. The alpha would help manage Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 19

the rest of the squad, which included su- orders, even the sergeants we did not pervising the routines of control and cor- know – like the one who was correcting rection; the squad sergeant thus ‘lent’ au- uniforms in the canteen – because their thority to these conscripts. It was never uniforms revealed a rank higher than explained to the rest of us why some were ours. But with these conscripts who wore appointed for this role, so I made sure to uniforms identical to the rest of us, the ask about it in my interviews with the uniformity that was supposed to ensure squad sergeants. As Sergeant DC ex- cohesion now challenged their attempts plained how he used the alpha role to test to perform leadership. The authority that conscripts’ potential for advancement to came to matter when travelling home sergeant after the conscription period, he while wearing the uniform was now ab- told me: sent. In the role of alpha, the entangle- So here we make sort of an assessment of how the ment of the uniform challenged attempts person works in relation to this group. Does this to prove themselves as good soldiers person command respect? Or, “command respect” through routines that were otherwise un- that sounds quite harsh, but can this person actual- noticed when performed by the ser- ly get the group to do something without the rest geants. of them going “Sure, sure, we’ll just do it later,” However, when gender was added to y’know? (Interview with Sgt. DC) this entanglement, it seemed as though However, the alphas experienced that it some alphas were more challenged than can be difficult to stand out from uni- others. After already observing how the formity. When trying to perform the rou- one female sergeant in our platoon tines of our sergeants – e.g., ordering us seemed to struggle with being accepted to go through each pocket of our combat as an authority, the issue also appeared belts to ensure that everything was where during an interview with Nielsen, the it was supposed to be – the alphas were only female conscript in our platoon to be often met with arguments, complaints, or appointed alpha. When I asked what it even someone giving them the finger. was like to give orders to other con- Those who were not considered to be scripts, Nielsen told me about her strug- particularly good soldiers by the other gle to carry out the role of alpha because conscripts had the hardest job; why fol- her male colleagues “might think it sucks low orders from someone who is not con- being bossed around by a 20-year-old sidered to be good at their job? But “com- girl”. This impression was based on a manding respect” was to some degree a sense of not always being “taken serious- challenge for all the alphas, as their uni- ly” and having to “prove [herself] more” forms were not inscribed with a change (interview with Nielsen). She hesitated in authority; they showed the same rank when explaining this to me, perhaps a bit as those conscripts the alphas were trying unsure if this was a valid assessment of to lead. Shutting up and doing what we the situation, but when I later interviewed were told without arguing or resisting one of her male colleagues, Christoffer- came naturally when sergeants gave us sen, he said: 20 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

I respect her. I think she’s a good alpha, and I un- self). Hajjar had signed up for military derstand why she’s alpha instead of me and all service to make his father proud but had that, whereas many might think, “Oh, but she’s discovered that the job was “too tough” only alpha because she’s a girl” […] It’s not like that. I can sense that she’s fighting for it. She’s for him. Nevertheless, he persisted in his passionate about it. She wants it. And that’s why I attempts to be a good soldier, thus il- just have respect [for her] instead. And I think it’s lustrating the processual and performa- too bad that she isn’t getting the credit that… tive nature of military subjectivity. Dur- sometimes should be given. (Interview with ing my interview with him, Hajjar also Christoffersen) pointed to the felt experience of (his at- While “commanding respect” was chal- tempted) becoming-with the uniform: lenged by the uniformity established Well, you have to look good when you’re a soldier through the uniform, leadership simul- and travel home [for the weekend] in your uni- taneously seemed to bring gender to the form. Then you need to look nice and be an adult. front. Building on Damsholt’s argument You shouldn’t act like an adult; you should actu- that uniform attire might bring other dif- ally be an adult. (Interview with Hajjar) ferences to the front, I question the as- The quotation suggests that the military sumption that a military uniform always subjectivity enabled and enacted through camouflages gender. Rather, gender dif- the uniform is not just a detached persona ferences were reiterated and brought to that can be switched on and off; rather, it the front through the entanglement of is a question of the self. The performance uniformity, authority, and leadership. In of the good soldier is about becoming a this way, the alpha role transformed the specific self through the entanglement of matter of the uniform. While the uniform elements such as disciplined bodies, life- made it difficult to stand out, the uni- and-death scenarios, and uniforms. For formity it established simultaneously Hajjar, this feeling of recognition failed to made some conscripts stand out; for in- appear: Neither he nor others in the pla- stance, by constituting gender differ- toon recognized him as a good soldier, de- ences. spite the fact that he wore the uniform throughout the four months. As such, his When Recognition is Challenged hope for a career in the armed forces slow- While the struggle for most alphas to be ly disappeared. recognized as good soldiers was primari- For others, the desire to be recognized ly tied to their attempts to claim authori- as a good soldier was not as present as it ty, other conscripts were challenged in a was for Hajjar. Some conscripts ended broader sense by seeming to do few up regretting having signed up for mili- things ‘correctly’. One of these con- tary service and tried to avoid the uni- scripts was Hajjar. As he was often posi- form as much as possible; one conscript tioned right in front of me during march- attempted to be classified as a conscien- es and line-ups, I knew about the con- tious objector halfway through the four tinuous corrections, yelling, and sighing months, while others seemed to push the that he encountered from sergeants as limit of how many sick days could be ac- well as other conscripts (including my- cepted. Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 21

Dalgaard, who was in my dorm room, chances of being recognized as good sol- had given up on the idea of a military ca- diers. reer after the first two drills in the forest. Reflecting on the theoretical basis for Being cold, exhausted, and far away from this analysis, the question then becomes: any fast-food vendors had made him real- What happens when someone is not inter- ize that maybe being a soldier was not his ested in being recognized as a good sol- dream job after all. Following this realiza- dier? When someone does not practise the tion, Dalgaard seemed to use any excuse routines that were initially motivated by a to make a minimal effort or to not partici- desire to be recognized? This might indi- pate at all, while avoiding any formal pun- cate a shortcoming in the theoretical ap- ishment. Being sloppy when it came to proach applied in this article, while also keeping the uniform in order could be an underscoring the emergence of a military example of this. As I wrote in my field self that goes beyond the individual. notes: Meanwhile, Sgt. Kleinmann controls our attire. Not Being a Real Soldier He always finds mistakes. “Come on, look your- Enacted the right way, the uniform par- self up and down before I do,” he yells. In a sharp ticipates in making conscripts recogniz- and loud tone of voice, Dalgaard is told that he is able as good soldiers. Yet the uniform “a fucking loser without any self-respect”. I find can also become a source of annoyance out later that this outburst from Sgt. Kleinmann when it obstructs the desire to be recog- was a reaction to Dalgaard not having buttoned his jacket. (Field notes, week 5) nized as a real soldier. At the time of my fieldwork, the army was changing its uni- From his performance, it was clear that forms from a green to a khaki camou- Dalgaard did not want to be a good sol- flage pattern.3 This was said to be due to dier, and the sergeants picked up on that. the Danish Armed Forces’ engagement And while this is one of the harsher reac- in missions to countries such as Afghan- tions from a sergeant, it is a vivid ex- istan and Iraq where the environment is ample of why most of us eagerly tried to warmer and less fertile than the green and avoid being corrected; we felt embar- often cold Danish woods for which the rassment and discomfort when a sergeant old uniform seemed to be designed. The scolded us for not performing in a way introduction of the new uniform thus ma- that aligned with being a good soldier. terializes a change in Danish foreign and But Dalgaard did not change his be- defence politics, while also marking dif- haviour accordingly. Rather, he seemed ferences in hierarchy, as the new uniform to care less and less – which was some- was implemented in a way that priori- what frustrating to those of us who tized those soldiers closest to “the front”. shared a dorm room with him, as we were As a result, conscripts and volunteer still bound to the concept of collective members of the Danish Home Guard responsibility. By not wanting to be rec- were the only service members whose ognized as a good soldier, Dalgaard uniforms were still green when I did this stopped being part of our shared chore- participatory fieldwork in the spring of ography, which then challenged our 2016. 22 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

While the uniform had participated in the becoming of these young soldiers, it was simultaneously pushing back through the entangled elements that were made visible to the conscripts themselves. Ex- plaining why he had stopped wearing his uniform while travelling home, Buster told me: At first, I thought it was cool […] But it’s just that now I know that to be a real soldier you wear that [khaki] uniform. And the rest of the world doesn’t know that, but I know that now when I look at us. I know that this [green] uniform… You might as well be part of the Home Guard to wear this. And I’m not that big of a fan of the Home Guard. (In- terview with Buster) References to the Danish Home Guard were made numerous times throughout the four months and did not have positive Conscripts lined up in their green uniforms, with connotations, likely because members of commanders in khaki uniforms moving more this volunteer service were perceived as freely in the background. being even further from ‘real’ soldiers than the conscripts were. Thus, having While many of the conscripts at first the same uniforms as the members of this wore their uniform home on weekends, service was considered to be a drawback, the excitement in this ultimately wore off decreasing the pride that many had felt for most of them. A few weeks before be- when first wearing the green uniform. ing discharged, I asked Christoffersen if Here, the uniformity established through he travelled home in his uniform, and he the green uniform became an obstacle to explained that he did not feel pride in recognition. In this way, the uniform not “wearing a uniform that anyone gets to only functioned as an element in the en- put on if they just pass the medical check actment of recognizable military subjects [at the draft]” (Interview with Christof- but equally as a materialized obstacle to fersen). The previous three-and-a-half these conscripts being able to recognize months in the armed forces had taught themselves – because being a good sol- the conscripts to decode (and reproduce) dier did not necessarily mean being a this entangled matter of the uniforms: real soldier. Our green uniform became less presti- A good soldier, as illustrated through- gious, as it reflected holding the lowest out this article, is someone who has the possible rank and revealed that we had tacit knowledge of unwritten or unspo- not been anywhere close to the line of ken expectations and rules, and who can fire. instinctively apply them in changing sit- Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 23

uations; someone who can quickly read had changed. And, as it turned out, I did situations and translate them into an ac- not have the tacit knowledge of how the ceptable performance. The figure of the uniform should be practised in this set- real soldier appeared during the con- ting, which resulted in a moment of failed scription period as a sort of abstract po- recognition. tential lurking on the horizon. When asked during interviews if they would de- Conclusion fine themselves as real soldiers, most Conscription seems to give the armed conscripts distanced themselves from forces the possibility to create the good, this category, as it was associated with disciplined soldiers they want and need – the possibility of actually being in the at least in those cases where the conscripts line of fire (see also Pedersen 2017). Yet, are willing subjects who enact recogniz- while being in the line of fire was con- able subject positions. The uniforms worn sidered to be miles away from being a by conscripts as well as sergeants play a conscript, the daily routines of control key role in this process, as they enable not and correction still entangled the military only a sense of cohesion but also disci- uniform with this prospect of becoming a plining practices of control and correction. real soldier. Being a good soldier meant To Sergeant Wilson, this was “just a test always being ready for the line of fire – of their discipline” (Interview with Sgt. just in case this possibility ever appeared Wilson) but as my analysis has suggested, with its promise of reconfiguring us into uniforms participate in a more complex real soldiers. As one of my room-mates processual becoming of good soldiers. wrote on the first page of his notebook: As I illustrated in the first part of this ar- “Be ready, all the time.” (Field notes ticle, uniformity helps create cohesion be- week 1) tween conscripts by downplaying traits of To return to the quotation that opened individuality. This showed itself to be fur- this article, when I was yelled at for look- ther emphasized by routines of control and ing “like shit” that morning in the woods, correction that established not only mili- it was not only a comment on my unbut- tary selves but also a collective self. The toned jacket or my missing hat. It was a disciplining mechanisms tied to the uni- comment on me not being ready, all the form not only enable the disciplining of time. It was the visible absence of daily individual soldiers, but concurrently con- routines that should have assured me stitute the recognition of good soldier as (and the collective self) that I had every- dependent on a collective self. Being a thing in order. I would never have walked good soldier is therefore not only up to the around in such disarray inside the mili- individual conscript to perform: Sharing a tary camp where the routines were well- dorm room with someone who always lost established and the collective self would equipment or who had no desire to be rec- have controlled and corrected me before ognized as a good soldier affected the rest standing in front of the sergeants. But in of us. the woods, the routines and shared chore- Conscripts need to wear a uniform to be ography that I knew from the dorm room recognizable as soldiers, yet simply wear- 24 Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms

ing the uniform is not sufficient; it needs Notes to be practised in certain ways that make 1 I draw on a total of 35 interviews with con- the conscript recognizable as a military scripts and commanders who were all part of the same platoon. Interviews were conducted subject. But as the uniform’s entangle- during the last few weeks of the four-month ment changed, matters of rank, authority, conscription period. Additionally, I draw on a discipline, cohesion, and gender also week of observations from draft examinations (session), smaller contrasting bits of field- shifted. The required adaptation in the work at other regiments in the army, a few performance of good soldiers would additional interviews, as well as reports and sometimes challenge recognition as a con- other written materials. All persons men- script’s gender or lack of hierarchical sta- tioned in the article have been given a differ- ent name to cover their identity. tus could stand out all too intrusively. 2 To make this an easier read for those not fa- Ascribing greater agency to it than much miliar with the military ranking system, the previous research has done, the uniform term “sergeants” is used to refer to superiors, who were often non-commissioned officers seemed to push back and participate in the (NCOs), while a few were corporals or ser- negotiation and work that went into the geants in training. becoming of military subjects. 3 The new uniform was described as “beige” in Previous studies of uniforms have al- my first draft, which provoked strong reac- tions from some military scholars; beige is ap- ready shown how their matter can change. parently not a colour to be associated with the Leilund’s (2015) ethnographic work on armed forces. the use of uniforms within three different professions, for instance, suggests that the References matter of the uniform is dependent on the Ahmed, Sara 2012: The Cultural Politics of Emo- practice of which it is a part, and that the tion. London & New York: Routledge. Barad, Karen 2003: Posthumanist Performativity. uniform and its wearer are mutually Toward an Understanding of How Matter co-constitutive. Adding to this argument, I Comes to Matter. Signs 28 (3). would emphasize that the professional be- Black, Prudence 2014: The Discipline of Appear- coming-with the uniform – in this case, ance. Military Style and Australian Flight Host- ess Uniforms 1930‒1964. In: Fashion and War within the armed forces – is crucial to the in Popular Culture, ed. Denise N. Rall. Bristol: becoming of the profession itself. Larsson Intellect Ltd. (2008) discusses how a uniform makes an Butler, Judith 1990: Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York & employee “carry the institution with him” London: Routledge. (2008:12), but based on my analysis, I Butler, Judith 1993: Bodies That Matter. On the would add that the institution is not only Discursive Limits of “Sex”. New York & Lon- “carried”; it is constructed, negotiated, don: Routledge. Butler, Judith 2004: Undoing Gender. New York and practised through the use of uniforms. & London: Routledge. Craik, Jennifer 2005: Uniforms Expose. From Beate Sløk-Andersen Conformity to Transgression. Oxford & New Cand.mag., Ph.D. fellow York: Berg. Saxo Institute Damsholt, Tine 2000: Fædrelandskærlighed og University of Copenhagen borgerdyd. Patriotisk diskurs og militære refor- Karen Blixens Vej 4 mer i Danmark i sidste del af 1700-tallet. Co- DK-2300 Copenhagen S penhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag. e-mail: [email protected] Damsholt, Tine 2013: How Academic Bodies Beate Sløk-Andersen, How Good Soldiers Become-with Their Uniforms 25

Matter. On Material-Discursive Enactments of tens kläder 1636‒2008. Stockholm: Nordiska Gender in Academia. Ethnologia Scandinavica Museets Förlag. 43. Law, John & Mol, Annemarie 2002: Local En- Ehn, Billy & Löfgren, Orvar 2010: The Secret tanglements or Utopian Moves. An Inquiry into World of Doing Nothing. Berkeley: University Train Accidents. The Sociological Review 50. of California Press. Leilund, Helle 2015: Uniformer på arbejde. Nuti- Ehn, Billy 2011: Doing-It-Yourself. Autoethnog- dige praksisser omkring ensartet arbejdstøj. raphy of manual work. Ethnologia Europaea Copenhagen: Faculty of Humanities, Universi- 41(1). ty of Copenhagen. Engman, Jonas 2002: Sista skottet. En etnologisk Lilleaas, Ulla-Britt & Ellingsen, Dag 2014: Like- dokumentation av Karlskrona kustartillerirege- stilling i Forsvaret. Fortropp, baktropp og kam- mentes nedläggning. Stockholm: Statens parena . Oslo: Cappelen Damm. Sjöhistoriska Museer. Löfgren, Orvar 2014: The Black Box of Everyday Engman, Jonas 2013: Ryssjävlar! – Paradigm, ri- Life. Entanglements of Stuff, Affects, and Ac- tualiseringar och kallt krig ombord på svenska tivities. Cultural Analysis 13. örlogsfartyg. In: Folkloristikens aktuella utma- MacKenzie, Megan 2015: Beyond the Band of ningar. Vänbok till Ulf Palmenfelt, ed. Owe Brothers. The US Military and the Myth that Ronström, Georg Drakos & Jonas Engman. Women Can’t Fight. Cambridge: Cambridge Visby: Gotland University Press. University Press. Enloe, Cynthia 2000: Maneuvers. The Interna- Mol, Annemarie 2002: The Body Multiple. Ontol- tional Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives. ogy in Medical Practice. Durham: Duke Uni- Berkeley: University of California Press. versity Press. Foucault, Michel 2008: Overvågning og straf. Mol, Annemarie 2008: I Eat An Apple. On Theor- Fængslets fødsel. 4th edition. Copenhagen: Det izing Subjectivities. Subjectivity 22. lille forlag. Neumann, Cecilia Basberg, Rysst, Mari & Bjerck, Goffman, Erving 1968: Asylums. Essays on the Mari 2012: En av gutta. Kvinner og klær i Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other mannsdominerte arbeiderklasseyrker. Tidsskrift Inmates. Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd. for kjønnsforskning 35(3–4). Grassiani, Esrella 2013: Soldiering Under Occu- Pedersen, Thomas Randrup 2017: Soldierly Be- pation. Processes of Numbing among Israeli comings. A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s soldiers in the Al-Aqsa Intifada. New York & New ‘Warrior Generation’. Copenhagen: Fac- Oxford: Berghahn Books. ulty of Social Sciences, University of Copenha- Haraway, Donna 2008: When Species Meet. Min- gen. neapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Petersen, Karsten Skjold 2014: Kongens klæder. King, Anthony 2013: The Combat Soldier. Infan- Uniformer og udrustning i den danske hær ind- try Tactics and Cohesion in the Twentieth and til 1816 og den norske hær indtil 1814. Copen- Twenty-First Centuries. Oxford: Oxford Uni- hagen: Historika. versity Press. Sløk-Andersen, Beate 2017: Researching the Klepp, Ingun G. & Bjerck, Mari 2014: A Method- Body – the Body in Research. Reflections on a ological Approach to the Materiality of Cloth- Participatory Fieldwork in the Danish Army. ing. Wardrobe Studies. International Journal of Kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur 2. Social Research Methodology 17 (4). Wollinger, Susanne 2000: Mannen i ledet. Takt Larsson, Marianne 2008: Uniformella förhand- och otakt i värnpliktens skugga. Stockholm: lingar. Hierarkier och genusrelationer i Pos- Carlsson Bokförlag. The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice Processes of Identification in a Swedish-Jewish Woman’s Everyday Storytelling By Susanne Nylund Skog

In this article I examine the relationship of identity by studying its expression in between storytelling and processes of storytelling. Goffman has argued that it is identification. The purpose is to analyse in such situations that identity emerges how a Swedish-Jewish woman uses story- cumulatively, between front regions and telling as an identification device and a back regions, successful performances strategy to avoid marginalizing precon- and failures, close role distances and far ceptions. With the concept of “position- (1974; see also Young 1987). ing” I attempt to demonstrate the tension Goffman’s view of identity has chal- between the different social and cultural lenged research where identity is treated positions that individuals are forced to as innate or fixed, as a private set of attri- take and the ones they choose freely, as butes, either chosen by the individual or well as to show how they move and navi- culturally or biologically given (Törrönen gate between them by the use of storytell- 2013:81). However, it has also attracted ing (Anthias & Pajnik 2014; Taylor 2012). criticism, not least from his fellow soci- In response to discussions on identity ologist Alvin Ward Gouldner (1971), who politics and methods for investigating has criticized Goffman’s analysis for be- identity I will show that social identifica- ing ignorant of prevailing power struc- tions are the results of how people inter- tures. In this article, I make an effort to pret, position and encounter one another adapt Goffman’s concept of identity to and of how individuals position them- this critique and to the demands from selves as answers to these. Furthermore, I identity politics to incorporate analyses of argue that through analysis of everyday power and agency in identity studies (see storytelling, it is possible to explore how e.g. Anthias & Pajnik 2014; Taylor 2012). categories are connected with languages I understand identity as “changing dis- and genres and how these connections of- cursive constructions that receive their fer some possibilities of identification and temporary stability and meaning in con- exclude others (see e.g. Andrews 2007; crete contexts and situations” (Törrönen Jackson 2006; Shuman 2005, 2006). In 2013:80), but prefer the term identification that respect such analyses offer a gateway rather than identity, since identification into the complexities of power and agency draws attention to “complex (and often am- in performances of everyday life. bivalent) processes”, while the term identi- ty designates a “condition rather than a pro- Identity, Identification and Positioning cess” (Brubacker & Cooper 2000:17). The sociologist Erving Goffman’s work Identification also directs attention to the on identity has had great influence on the one doing the identification, be it a person disciplines of ethnology and folklore, an or an institution. Also important is that influence that still pertains and inspires to self-identification takes place in dialectical analysis of identity formation in everyday, interplay with external identification, and small-scale social engagements between the two need not converge (Brubacker & people (1974, 1990). In this paper, Goff- Cooper 2000:15–16). In order to highlight man’s inspiration is clear in my choice to this aspect of processes of identification I conduct a study of the complex question use the concept of positioning.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 27

The concept carries an implicit critique as signals that give meaning to content for of the simplified concept of identity and is the listener or the reader (Arvidsson 1999: an attempt to create a concept that eluci- 196). As such, stories are positioned as dates all the different social and cultural well as positioning, meaning that there is positions that individuals are forced to a tension between what the teller can take, as well as choose freely and move achieve by telling a story and what is re- between. The concept is from the sociolo- quired of a teller in order to be believed. gist Floya Anthias’s discussions of migra- In the following, I will introduce the tion, transcultural processes and intersec- material of the study, followed by a short tionality (see e.g. Anthias 2002, 2012, historical description of some important 2013).1 Different types of limitations and aspect of Jewish life in Sweden. This part hierarchies are at work at the same time will then form the background to the ré- and positioning can be considered an iden- sumé of the Swedish-Jewish woman Ra- tification process that includes both activ- chel’s life story that is the empirical focus ity and passivity; the individual is both ex- of this article. When writing about Ra- posed and marginalized as well as actively chel’s life I also discuss the impact of gen- seeking to transgress boundaries set by re on positioning and processes of identi- others and by circumstances (Anthias fication. Thereafter I turn to analysis of 2012:108). The concept also captures the how languages are connected to and create fact that individuals do not always inhabit images, as well as feelings, of home and the position they are ascribed or offered, belonging. As such they serve as tools in since some positions are more attractive processes of identification. Finally, I turn than others and offer more freedom and the analysis towards aspects of food, eat- power. In that respect the concept of pos- ing and drinking in Rachel’s stories, and itioning offers a theoretical framework for argue that these aspects are also to be seen analysing identification processes in, and as ways of positioning. The article ends by, everyday storytelling. with a short concluding discussion, where I use the term everyday storytelling, in- I pose the argument that even though the cluding a broad spectrum of all oral and connection between languages and identi- written forms of storytelling that we use in ty needs to be explored, it is not enough daily communication (Tracy & Robles since there are other practices involved in 2013). It could be life stories or parts of processes of identification that also need life stories, as well as personal experience to be included and further investigated. narratives, reports, jokes, anecdotes and legends. I presuppose a connection be- Interviews, Biographies and  tween form, content and meaning. The Memories style, structure and form of a story are re- The analysis in this paper is based on four sources for knowledge about social and bodies of empirical data. The first con- cultural conditions. For the teller they tains (1) recorded and transcribed inter- serve as flexible tools useable in different views with 20 young adults on anti-Semi- ways for different purposes (Bauman tism (Nylund Skog 2006, 2014a); the sec- 1992:58). In addition, they also function ond involves parts of (2) the Jewish mem- 28 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice

ories at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm Sweden as well as offering an analytical (Nylund Skog 2009, 2010).2 The third gateway into processes of identification body of material contains (3) Jewish biog- (Nylund Skog 2012b, 2013, 2014b). raphies, written testimonies, films and documentaries on the Holocaust, and fi- Swedish Jews nally, there are (4) repeated interviews The number of Swedish Jews is estimated with nine Swedish-Jewish women above at somewhere between 18,000 and 25,000. the age of 55 living in Stockholm (Nylund The difficulty in offering exact numbers is Skog 2011, 2012a). related to the fact that only one third of the From this body of material I have cho- Swedish Jews belong to a Jewish congrega- sen to concentrate the analysis on the in- tion and it is difficult to define who is a terviews and memories written down by a Jew. The term describes both a person who woman I call Rachel. I have interviewed belongs to the Jewish cultural or ethnic Rachel several times and met with her in group and a person that belongs to the Jew- other circumstances. In this article, I will ish faith. These definitions do not always analyse parts of these interviews and con- correspond to one another, and as a conse- versations, as well as parts of the mem- quence there are atheists that define them- ories Rachel wrote in English to her chil- selves as Jews and that fulfil the traditional dren and grandchildren. biblical definition of a Jew as a person born I have chosen to concentrate the analy- of a Jewish mother or someone who has sis on Rachel’s stories for two reasons. been converted by a rabbi to the Jewish The first one is that I want to create an ac- faith (Andersson & Peste 2008:25–27). cessible text that allows the reader to en- Rachel was of Jewish Ashkenazi heri- gage with storytelling as a multifaceted tage and her husband an oriental Jew. process of identification. Secondly, and Mizrahi, Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews mainly, Rachel’s stories are chosen since represent three main group of Jews. Se- they highlight and accentuate the argu- phardic Jews are of Portuguese descend- ments I want to make in this article. Dur- ant. After their escape from the Iberian ing her life, Rachel positioned herself in Peninsula at the end of the fifteenth centu- between being Swedish and being Jewish. ry, the Sephardic Jews spread through She did not belong to any of the Swedish- northern Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Jewish families with a long history in the parts of South America, Italy and Holland. country, or to the groups of Jews that fled A quarter of a million Jews are estimated pogroms in Eastern Europe or the Second to have left Spain and Portugal at the time, World War. Instead, she began her life in bringing a highly developed culture with Sweden by accident and free will and to- its own traditions and liturgy to the socie- gether with her husband, who was of an- ties where they settled. Over time, the Se- other Jewish affiliation than hers. Ra- phardic Jews mixed with Jews from North chel’s background, life and relation to Africa and the Orient. Mizrahi is a collec- Jewishness was complex and contradict- tive term for oriental Jews from the ory and consequently her stories highlight Middle East and North Africa with rituals many important aspects of Jewish life in and traditions similar to those of the Se- Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 29

phardic Jews. Mizrahi are often included den, although some families also had a Se- in the group of Sephardic Jews. Ashkenazi phardic heritage. The Jews that came were Jews originate from Germany. The Ash- often well off, since the Swedish state de- kenazi cultural landscape include various manded a very large sum of money in or- dialects of the Yiddish language, as well der to attain a letter of protection. After as rituals, traditions, liturgy and architec- 1860, there was a large group of Jewish ture. Globally the Ashkenazi Jews are the orthodox immigrants from tsarist Russia, largest group, numbering approximately the Baltic countries and Poland. The num- 84 per cent of the Jewish population, ber of Jews in Sweden increased from while the Sephardic Jews are estimated at 3,000 in 1870 to more than 6,000 in 1910. around 6 per cent and Mizrahi (oriental) These Jews were generally poor and had a Jews somewhere round 10 per cent. religious and cultural appearance that the Within Judaism there are three major Swedish majority and the already estab- orientations: orthodox, conservative and lished Jews experienced as alien. The reform Judaism. The latter dominates in number of Jewish immigrants increased Sweden and is the orientation that Rachel again during and after the Second World and her family were engaged in. It is a mod- War, but also because of anti-Semitism in ern movement that attracted a lot of follow- Eastern Europe (mainly Hungary and ers in the mid nineteenth century, driven by Poland) and the downfall of the Soviet a wish to integrate and to be treated and met Union. on the same premises as other Swedish The reason Rachel came to Sweden was citizens. In Sweden, Jews are also one of neither anti-Semitism nor escape from five national minorities, defined as a group war or pogroms. When Rachel, her hus- with close affinity and not exceeding the band and their two oldest children came to majority in numbers. The affiliation should Sweden in the 1950s, they were travelling be cultural, religious or linguistic and in at for pleasure and business and had, accord- least one respect radically different from ing to Rachel, no plans to stay. At first the rest of society. In addition, and in order they lived in an apartment owned by one to be defined as a national minority in Swe- of Rachel’s husband’s business acquaint- den, the group needs to have long-standing ances, but the apartment was not suitable historical ties with the country, as the for children and instead they rented a Swedish Jews do. small house for the family of four. They The first Jewish family to settle in Swe- felt welcome and safe, and within the year den was the engraver Aaron Isaacs from they had bought a house of their own. Mecklenburg in 1775. In 1782 official regulations regarding Jews were estab- Rachel’s Life Story lished, giving Jews permission to settle Rachel grew up in Vienna with her and engage in trade in four major cities. mother, father and a younger sister. Her Full citizenship was not given to Jews un- father owned and managed a pharma- til 1870. During the first hundred years of ceutical factory; her mother was a piano immigration, mainly Ashkenazi Jews player. German was the everyday lan- from northern Germany arrived in Swe- guage of the family, and the daily life was 30 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice

in many respects that of a well-established return to Austria, Israel or the Middle Austrian bourgeois family. It was only on East. She told me that she felt at home in special occasions, such as the most impor- London, England, where several of her tant Jewish holidays, that the Jewish heri- husband’s relatives live, as well as in New tage of Rachel’s family was visible and York, USA, where two of her children celebrated. Growing up, Rachel therefore have settled, but she did not want to live considered herself an Austrian. anywhere other than Stockholm. Despite In accordance with many Holocaust sur- this, she did not feel Swedish or at home vivors, she described her childhood as a in Sweden. Home for Rachel was not a very happy one (see e.g. Rosen 2008). She geographical place, but a feeling of be- told me about moments with her bearded longing connected to her family. In that grandfather under a peach tree, her mother sense, Rachel gave voice to experiences playing the piano behind glimmering glass that she had in common with a growing doors in a large Vienna apartment, her number of people all over the world. In dedicated father by her sickbed when she Sweden there are more than one million was suffering from a minor cold, as well as people born in other countries. hours of ice-skating to music. When I first contacted Rachel some When Rachel was in her teens, her life twenty years ago, she initially argued that changed dramatically because of the An- she did not have anything to tell me, since schluss, when Hitler annexed Austria in her experiences of the Holocaust were not 1938 and made the country part of the typical. In that, she alerted me to the fact Nazi Reich. Overnight Rachel was forbid- that she did not automatically belong to den to enter certain places, sit on park the category of survivor. This was since benches, travel by bus, or go to the theatre she had escaped to England from Austria and to school. After some time of growing early enough to avoid the worst cruelties. misery and marginalization in Vienna, Ra- Her experiences of the Second World War chel and her sister were given the opport- and the Nazis could not be adapted to the unity to escape from Austria with a chil- genre of the life story of Holocaust sur- dren’s train to England. Some years later, vivor, as she understood it. In other words, they left England and continued to Pales- she did not identify as a survivor, nor did tine where the family was reunited. In her she want to be categorized as one. life story, Rachel writes that her life began This is an example of the intimate con- when she was twenty-three. By that time nection between the formal and the the- she had met Aram, the man of her life and matic expectations of a teller. What we see the father of her children. In the 1950s it here is that, if a person says she is of Jew- was Aram’s business that brought them to ish heritage, as Rachel did, and has sur- Sweden, where they came to settle in vived the Holocaust, as Rachel’s age and Stockholm. place of birth indicated, this person is re- Despite the fact that Rachel, when she quired to have a story of survival. In addi- died in 2015, had lived in Sweden for tion, the story is expected to be recogniz- many years, she did not consider Sweden able as such a story, and should display as- her homeland. She never had any wish to pects connected to the genre, such as Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 31

claims of authenticity and suffering, as two occasions, Rachel told me a story that well as dramatizing life and death (Rosen illustrates this theme. 2008). A connection is presupposed be- I went ice-skating. I loved to skate. I came to the tween a story’s form, content, meaning as skating place and there in big letters it said well as the storyteller’s experiences. It is JUDEN VERBOTEN. It is forbidden for the Jews. also presupposed that the teller identifies It was such a shock. It is a trifle, but it was such a with the categories attached to the genre. shock. You can’t imagine. When I made Rachel understand that I Susanne: What did you do? I just looked, stared at it and went home. But I was not primarily interested in the Holo- was, I couldn’t speak for several days. And then, caust and the Second World War, but ra- the same thing started in school as well, but the ther in Jewish life in Sweden, she claimed ice-skating was first. Directly after the Anschluss, to have so much to tell me that I would actually. I went with my skates and I loved music have to move in with her. It would take her and dancing to it. So it was very hard. It is strange several days, she argued, to tell me her life that it was so hard, when you think about what story. She then positioned herself in rela- others have experienced. tion to another genre, namely the life story Here Rachel reflects on how it was so hard of an elderly Swedish woman with a Jew- for her to be denied the chance to skate, a ish heritage and experiences of migration. “trifle” she says. In the written memoirs, Rachel does not mention the ice-skating Ice-skating and Silence incident. In general, she wrote and spoke It is not only by examining genre-specific very little about these years in Vienna and expectations, conditions and conventions the events that took place during this time. that it is possible to gain knowledge about Maybe it was too painful for her to address how a person positions herself with and by the period. All through her life Vienna as storytelling. In addition, the language spo- a place was linked to what happened then ken, or spoken about, can function as a and what Rachel felt at the time. She did communicative tool. visit Vienna a few times after the war but In the following, I would like to discuss the city was forever a reminder of “what the languages that Rachel used (and did the Germans did to us”, she said. This not use) in her stories. seems to be the case for many Jewish When growing up Rachel spoke Ger- Holocaust survivors (see e.g. Lomfors man, also in her Jewish family. As an 1996:236; Kaplan 2003:249). adult, she avoided speaking German since Not being allowed to skate is perhaps a she associated the language with the ter- trifle, as Rachel says. Seen in relation to rible times in Vienna and with what the all the restrictions and prohibitions direct- Nazis did to the Jews. Occasionally she ed against Jews at the time, the ice-skating dreamt in German and it made her very incident stands as a symbol of the whole angry (cf. Rosen 2008:104–106). As his- process of being robbed of the possibili- tory shows, one way of dominating a ties of free movement, and as a conse- group of people is to conquer or forbid quence, the right to an free and independ- their language. With such strategies, the ent life (cf. Frank 2005:211; Kaplan 2003: group is colonized (Schwarz 1999:25). On 141ff). “You can’t imagine”, she told me, 32 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice

and I think she was referring to everything only flee her country but also her lan- that happened to Jews at that time in histo- guage. Her only way of protesting against ry. Rachel does say that she couldn’t being positioned and marginalized as a speak for several days, after she had en- Jew was to stop speaking the language of countered the JUDEN VERBOTEN sign. the oppressors. During one interview, Ra- She was silenced and became silent. She chel told me about when she and her sister shares the experience of being silenced arrived in England. They were to live with with many survivors. Of the few Jews that two different families. survived the Holocaust, most survived by Then came my sister’s family to me and said, hiding and keeping silent, by being forgot- “Your family is gone.” I did not know English and ten. In order to survive they could not be did not understand much. “They are gone for the heard or seen (Kaplan 2003:193ff). weekend, and we have promised to take care of The culture theorist Sara Ahmed writes you as well.” And when the weekend passed, they that the world is accessible as a room for wanted to keep me as well. They had a big argu- ment with the other family and said to me, “One action, but that only the right bodies in the condition, you may not speak German with your right places at the right time can move sister, only English.” […] That I could promise, without friction (Ahmed 2011:130). In the but it was not easy. (Laughs loudly.) I think I story above, Rachel, suddenly and without could say “yes” and “no”, “thank you very much”, warning, is transformed into a wrong body “good morning”, “good evening”. About that and in the wrong place. Ahmed remarks that a little of “Can I have this?” But it went well. After the action is not dependent on any kind of two months, I spoke fluent English. inner ability, or even willingness or habit, Here it is obvious that Rachel was forced but instead on whether the world is ac- to abandon her mother tongue to be able to cessible as a room for action for the bodies live with her sister. The choice was be- we have. If we do not possess the right tween the language and the sister. She bodies, the room is closed to us, as well as chose her sister and the new alien lan- a reminder of our flaws, despite our own guage, and since then she has been posi- intentions. In this case, Rachel is no tioned in and with English. She has em- longer able to position herself as a young bodied the foreign and created a room of Austrian ice-skating woman. She is in- belonging in the English language. stead positioned as a Jew not allowed to According to Rachel, her husband skate, and it does not matter how she Aram spoke several languages: Persian, self-identifies at the time. Arabic, Hebrew, French, English, Span- ish, Russian and Swedish. As has been Languages and Home pointed out by many, it is possible for a Even though the Nazis did not forbid Ra- person to feel at home in many languages, chel to speak German, they indirectly oc- and to switch effortlessly between them cupied it and made the language so un- (Gunew 2003:41–42). Some of the lan- comfortable for her that she no longer guages can of course be more familiar and wanted to speak it (cf. Doron 2011:72– automatic than others, and they can be 73). In that respect, when Rachel fled used for different purposes and on differ- Austria with her younger sister she did not ent occasions, as well as given different Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 33

values (see e.g. Rosales 2010; Runfors We know from Rachel’s narrative that she 2009, 2012). For Rachel’s husband there was forced to abandon her mother tongue, were business languages, such as Arabic German, and in that manner she concrete- and English, home languages, such as ly gave up her mother’s language. Despite Swedish and Persian, and Jewish lan- the fact that Rachel’s mother kept speak- guages, such as Hebrew and languages ing German her daughters continued to with mixed functions, such as English. answer her in English. In genealogical re- Like her husband, Rachel also used dif- search it has been argued that only certain ferent languages for different purposes. connections and relations are given mean- As mentioned, she wrote her memoirs in ing while others are ignored and forgotten English, the language she also spoke with (Ahmed et al. 2003:13; see also Nash her sons, her husband and her sister. Dur- 2003). It is obvious that also Rachel does ing the interviews, she spoke Swedish, the this, when she ignores her mother’s lan- language she also spoke with her daugh- guage and Jewish European heritage and ters. When she mentioned that she used instead identifies with and celebrates her different languages when speaking to her husband’s lineage by speaking English daughters and her sons, she herself and maintaining the male side of her kin seemed surprised, as if it came automat- (Nylund Skog 2013). ically. From one perspective, English is Despite the fact that Rachel abandoned the language where she and her husband her mother tongue, homeland and her met and their Jewish heritages united. She mother, and despite the fact that she avoid- had Ashkenazi heritage and he was from a ed speaking German, some sentences and family of oriental Jews. On the other hand, short quotations in German occur in her in Jewish circumstances English is a new stories, both oral and written. Rachel’s fa- and foreign language with a colonial his- ther was at one point deported to Dachau tory in conflict with Rachel’s Austrian concentration camp and Rachel’s mother Jewish heritage and Aram’s Arabic Jew- did everything in her power to get him out ish. Despite this, the English language of there. At the same time, Rachel explored seemed to have offered them a sort of new the possibilities of fleeing Austria. beginning that started when they met and I prepared to leave for England, while all this hap- Rachel’s “life began”. And as such, the pened. When we received a phone call I answered English language offered them acceptable when my father said “Rakelkind das ist Papa. Ich identification and carried their Jewish bin am Westbahnhof.” My knees buckled under heritage into the future. me and I yelled “Mutter, Mutter! Papa ist frei!” It often falls upon women to create The turning point in this short story from homes and homeliness; this also seems to Rachel’s memories is formally accentuated apply when it comes to imaginary spoken when Rachel quotes her father’s words in homes (Taylor 2012). The term mother German, the language in which they once tongue indicates the important connection were spoken. At the same time, there is a between language, home and motherhood shift in tense (Kaivola-Bregenhøj 2006: (Gunew 2003:48). According to this logic, 40). This shift in tense and language creates the mother gives the child its language. authenticity. It also shows that form, con- 34 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice

tent and meaning are so connected that had the use of genre and language, this is a Rachel’s father’s words been in English, way of positioning and of identification the true meaning of the story would have (Nylund Skog 2012a:163ff; see also Tay- been lost. At the same time, it is significant lor 2012:14ff). So is, for example, a Swe- that Rachel placed the German sentences in dish radio programme called “Menu” the framework of the English language, (Meny), advertised with the words “Food and in that manner made the reader of her is memories, food is identity”. On the memories aware that she did not identify website of the radio channel it is pointed herself as a German-speaking person, but out that food “expresses who we are and as an English speaker. perhaps foremost – who we want to be”. Everyday stories have in common that Food says something about our connec- they are formally adjusted to be used on tion “to the past, to parents and heritage”. certain occasions, by certain people and in In one of the programmes, the radio certain ways, such as in dialect or in a spe- host interviews and cooks together with cific language (Johnstone 2006). In that the 87-year-old Jewish woman Katerina manner the languages Rachel spoke were Sylberszac and her daughter. The daugh- connected to different phases and places ter points out that when her mother came in her life as well as to having different to Sweden she had “absolutely nothing” functions. As such, Rachel used them as with her. The recipes that the daughter has identification devices. inherited were carried by the mother “within herself”. During the radio pro- Preiselbeeren and Spit gramme, they cook together the courses Arrived 21st of April 1951 in Stockholm. We that Katerina’s mother used to cook in the were enchanted by its beauty!! village in Czechoslovakia before the fam- Felt at home at once, when I saw and ate “lingon” ily was shattered and brought to concen- (preiselbeeren which I loved) for the first time af- tration camps (Meny 2012). In this case, ter 12 years!! The people calm and helpful (com- food functions as material and embodied pared to the middle Europeans after the war). links to dead relatives and historical This quotation is from Rachel’s memo- events. By cooking and eating, Katerina ries. It tells us that when Rachel for the and her daughter are positioning them- first time arrived in Sweden, and she and selves as persons identifying with a Jew- her husband Aram were “enchanted” by ish heritage. the beauty of Stockholm, Rachel also felt Another illustrative example of such a at home. The preiselbeeren took her back process of positioning with the use of food to Vienna and her childhood. Rachel may is from one of the interviews with Rachel. have abandoned her mother tongue, but She tells about when she and her sister in through the preiselbeeren some of this 1939 travelled on a children’s train from heritage did materialize. In that manner, Austria to England. she was able to hold on to her mother It was rather exciting when we went from Vienna tongue without using the language. In- through Germany and through the Netherlands. In stead, she used other embodied practices, Germany, the SS went back and forth and looked such as eating preiselbeeren. As well as at us. I was the oldest girl, fourteen and a half Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 35

years, not even fifteen, that took care of the girls. tions herself with and through everyday A seventeen-year-old boy took care of the boys. storytelling. I have also shown how the We were so afraid. I remember we sat like this. language used, or spoken about, can be The younger ones understood nothing, but we did. We exchanged glances, this boy and I. Then, we navigating and communicative tools in came across the border to the Netherlands and processes of identification. With the con- there stood Quaker women with warm orange cept of “positioning” I have stressed the juice. Susanne, it was the best I ever tasted. You tension between the positions that individ- know it was like, when I think back it is as if I al- uals are forced to take and the ones they most cry. And then, all of us, we spat back at Ger- choose freely, as well as to show how they many. move and navigate between them by the Here Rachel and the other children mark use of storytelling. the spatial passage from German territory One further point I have wanted to make to English by spitting in the direction to- is that it is not enough to investigate the use wards Germany. They turn away from of language. There are other practices in- Germany by spitting against it. Symbol- volved in processes of identification, such ically they spit out what they have been as drinking and eating, here exemplified fed by the Germans. The turning point of with preiselbeeren and orange juice in Ra- the story is embodied in the memory of the chel’s stories. Furthermore, those languag- warm juice that almost makes Rachel cry. es that are abandoned and seldom men- The juice bodily connects past (crying) tioned demand attention. We need to pose and present (tells me it was the best she and investigate questions of why some lan- ever tasted). In the story, the juice is also a guages are no longer used, and why others materialization and a promise of a better are avoided and at what cost. future for the child Rachel and perhaps a By focusing on the languages that Ra- reassurance that paradise exists (cf. Rosen chel spoke and wrote, and how she related 2008:93). In the warm orange juice the to them, my aim has been to show empir- past, the present and the future are united. ically that social identifications are not In addition, the story offers Rachel a way something that people have. Instead, it is to dis-identify with Germany and instead the results of how people interpret, posi- identify with England. tion and encounter one another and of how individuals position themselves as an- Conclusion swers to these. Social identifications are in In this article, I have examined the rela- that respect created in the ongoing inter- tionship between storytelling and process- play between individuals and their sur- es of identification and analysed how the roundings and closely connected to rep- Swedish-Jewish woman Rachel use story- resentation and power. In refusing to use telling as an identification device and a the genre of Holocaust survivors’ life sto- strategy to avoid marginalizing precon- ry Rachel showed that she did not want to ceptions. I have pointed out that by inves- be categorized as a survivor. It was her tigating genre-specific expectations, de- way of protesting while dis-identifying mands and conventions it is possible to and at the same time creating greater free- create understanding of how Rachel posi- dom in telling about her life. 36 Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice

Through analysis of everyday storytell- Andersson, Daniel & Jonathan Peste 2008: Judisk ing, it is possible to explore how categories Mosaik. Introduktion till judisk religion, kultur och tradition. Lund: Studentlitteratur. are connected with languages and genres Andrews, Molly 2007: Shaping History. Narra- and how these connections offer some pos- tives of Political Change. Cambridge: Cam- sibilities of identification and exclude oth- bridge University Press. ers. In that respect such analyses offer a Anthias, Floya 2002: Where do I Belong? Narrat- ing Collective Identity and Translocational Po- gateway into the complexities of power and sitionality. Ethnicities 2(4). agency in performances of everyday life. Anthias, Floya 2012: Transnational Mobilities, Through such analyses it is possible to gain Migration Research and Intersectionality. To- knowledge of how Rachel remained Aust- ward a Translocational Frame. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 2(2). rian when refusing to speak German and Anthias, Floya 2013: Intersectional What? Social how she continuously throughout her life Divisions, Intersectionality and Levels of An- felt Jewish without speaking Hebrew, with- alysis. Ethnicities 13(1). out practising all of the religious traditions, Anthias, Floya & Pajnik, Mojca (eds.) 2014: Con- testing Integration, Engendering Migration. The- without openly showing her affiliation and ory and Practice. London: Palgrave Mcmillan. without having Israel as her home country Arvidsson, Alf 1999: Folklorens former. Lund: or country of origin. Studentlitteratur. Bauman, Richard 1992: Genre. In: Folklore, Cul- Susanne Nylund Skog tural Performances, and Popular Entertain- Researcher, Associate Professor ments. A Communications-centered Handbook, ed. Richard Bauman. New York: Oxford Uni- Institute for Language and Folklore versity Press. Dept of Dialectology and Folklore Research Brubacker, Rogers & Cooper, Frederick 2000: Box 135 Beyond “Identity”. Theory & Society 29. SE-751 04 Uppsala Doron, Lizzie 2011: Varför kom du inte före [email protected] kriget? Stockholm: Weyler. Frank, Anne 2005: Anne Franks dagbok. Den oav- Notes kortade originalutgåvan. Anteckningar från 1 Anthias uses the term positionality. As I un- gömstället 12 juni 1942 – 1 augusti 1944. derstand her, this is in order to accentuate the Stockholm: Norstedts. dimensions of power and place, and to avoid Goffman, Erving 1974: Frame Analysis. An Essay being mistaken for using the concept of posi- on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge: tioning in a more traditional sociolinguistic Harvard University Press. sense as is done, for example, by Taylor 2012 Goffman, Erving 1990 (1959): The Presentation of and Wetherell 1998. Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin Books. 2 The Jewish memories were collected during Gouldner, Alvin Ward 1971 (1970): The Coming 1994–1998 and consist of more than 400 life Crisis of Western Sociology. London: Heine- stories, approximately 1,600 photographs, mann. 600 valuable original documents, as well as Gunew, Sneja 2003: The Home of Language. A 50 objects. Pedagogy of the Stammer. In: Uprootings/Re- groundings. Questions of Home and Migration, ed. Sara Ahmed et al. Oxford: Berg. References Jackson, Michael 2006 (2002). The Politics of Ahmed, Sara 2011: Vithetens hegemoni. Storytelling. Violence, Transgression and Inter- Hägersten: Tankekraft förlag. subjectivity. Copenhagen: Museum Tuscu- Ahmed, Sara, Claudia Castaneda, Ann-Marie For- lanum Press. tier & Mimi Sheller (eds.) 2003: Uprootings/ Johnstone, Barbara 2006: A New Role for Narra- Regroundings. Questions of Home and Migra- tive in Variationist Sociolinguistics. Narrative tion. Oxford: Berg. Inquiry 16(1). Susanne Nylund Skog, The German Language, Preiselbeeren and Orange Juice 37

Kaivola-Bregenhøj, Annikki 2006: War as a violette. Tartu: University of Tartu Press, Ap- Turning Point in Life. In: Narrating, Doing, Ex- proaches to Culture Theory Series. periencing: Nordic Folkloristic Perspectives, Nylund Skog, Susanne 2014a: Osynligt förtryck ed. Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj, Barbro Klein och vita kroppar. Förhandlingar kring judiskhet & Ulf Palmenfelt. Studia Fennica Folkloristica i Sverige. Elore 21(1). 16. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. Nylund Skog, Susanne 2014b: Lingon och potatis, Kaplan, Suzanne 2003: Barn under Förintelsen – Stockholm och Czernowitz. Materialiteter i en då och nu. Affekter och minnesbilder efter ex- judinnas levnadsberättelse. In: Talande ting: trem traumatisering. Stockholm: Natur och Berättelser och materialitet, ed. Katarina Kultur. Ek-Nilsson & Birgitta Meurling. Uppsala: Insti- Lomfors, Ingrid 1996: Förlorad barndom – åter- tutet för språk och folkminnen. vunnet liv. De judiska flyktingbarnen från Nazi- Rosales, René León 2010: Vid framtidens hitersta tyskland. Göteborg: Historiska institutionen, gräns. Om maskulina elevpositioner i en mul- Göteborgs universitet. itetnisk skola. Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt cen- Meny 2012 (12 July): Sveriges Radio, P1. Maten trum. som minne. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/ Rosen, Ilana 2008 (2003): Sister in Sorrow. Life 44597?programid=950. Histories of Female Holocaust Survivors form Nash, Catherine 2003: ‘They’re Family!’ Cultural Hungary. Detroit: Wayne State University Geographies of Relatedness in Popular Geneal- Press. ogy. In: Uprootings/ Regroundings. Questions Runfors, Ann 2009: Modersmålsvenskar och vi of Home and Migration, ed. Sara Ahmed et al. andra. Ungas språk och identifikationer i ljuset Oxford: Berg. av nynationalism. Utbildning & Demokrati Nylund Skog, Susanne 2006: Med davidsstjärnan 18(2). under tröjan. Upplevelser av diskriminering och Runfors, Ann 2012: Toleransens intoleranta bak- judiskt ursprung i Sverige 2005. In: Rasism och sida. 18 svenska ungdomars verklighet. Stock- främlingsfientlighet i Sverige. Antisemitism och holm: Forum för levande historia. islamofobi 2005. Integrationsverkets rapport- Schwarz, Daniel R. 1999: Imagining the Holo- serie 2006:2. caust. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Nylund Skog, Susanne 2009: Mellan liv och död. Shuman, Amy 2005: Other People’s Stories. En- Känslor i en berättelse från Förintelsen. Norsk titlement Claims and the Critique of Empathy. Tidsskrift for Kulturforskning 8(4). Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Nylund Skog, Susanne 2010: ‘Don’t give me Shuman, Amy 2006: Entitlement and Empathy in away Mummy’. Message and Emotion in a Nar- Personal Narrative. Narrative Inquiry 16(1). rative about the Holocaust. Elore 17(2). Taylor, Stephanie 2012 (2010): Narratives of Nylund Skog, Susanne 2011: Rörliga rötter. Inter- Identity and Place. Hove, East Sussex: Rout- textualitet och diaspora i en judinnas levnadsbe- ledge. rättelse. In: Biografiska betydelser. Norm och Tracy, Karen & Robles, Jessica S. 2013: Everyday erfarenhet i levnadsberättelser, ed. Lena Ma- Talk. Building and Reflecting Identities. New rander-Eklund & Ann-Catrin Östman. Möklin- York: Guilford. ta: Gidlunds förlag. Törrönen, Jukka 2013: Situational, Cultural and Nylund Skog, Susanne 2012a: Livets vägar. Societal Identities. Analysing Subject Positions Svenska judinnors berättelser om förskingring, as Classifications, Participant Roles, View- förintelse, förtryck och frihet. Uppsala: Institu- points and Interactive Positions. Journal for the tet för språk och folkminnen. Theory of Social Behaviour 44(1). Nylund Skog, Susanne 2012b: Den judiska säng- Wetherell, Margaret 1998: Positioning and Inter- kammarmöbeln. Berättande, materialitet och pretative Repertoires. Conversation Analysis identitet. Kulturella perspektiv 21(1). and Post-structuralism in Dialogue. Discourse Nylund Skog, Susanne 2013: The Traveling Fur- & Society 9(3). niture. Materialized Experiences of Living in Young, Katharine G. 1987: Taleworlds and Story- the Jewish Diaspora. In: Things in Culture, Cul- realms. The Phenomenology of Narrative. Dor- ture in Things, ed. Anu Kannike & Patrick La- drecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic Concepts Used on the Re:heritage Market By Anneli Palmsköld

The Re:heritage Market stuff” has influenced the conventional in- In the last few decades the second-hand1 dustry to produce commodities that look sector has grown, at least in the western old and antique or that involve design ref- parts of Europe and in North America. erences evoking the past (Crewe, Gregson Retro shops, vintage boutiques and an- & Brooks 2003; Franklin 2011). When tique shops, flea markets, design shops producing these kinds of products “old- that are reshaping things in an upcycling ness” is created by patina techniques that, process, and Internet barter and trade are for example, make a mirror or a chair look some of the visible forms of this market worn, as if it had been used for a long (Appelgren & Bohlin 2015; Palmsköld time. Some companies, for example the 2013, 2015). Some aspects are common Finnish Marimekko and the Danish silver- for the trade: first of all, second-hand smith Georg Jensen, use their own ar- shopping has moved from the outskirts of chives for inspiration when designing new cities to centres of the urban spaces (Straw products or taking older ones into new 2010; Palmsköld 2013, 2015); secondly, production.2 Others, such as the American the consumer most often belongs to a company Ralph Lauren, sell what they broad middle-class group; and thirdly the call vintage items beside new collections growing market concentrated on “old in their flagship stores (Cervellon et al.

Lamps from the 1950s and 1960s displayed in a shop. Photo: © Emil Palmsköld.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 39

2012:957). Values highlighted when mar- and personal memories, and to official and keting and talking about the commodities private heritage making. The cultural are, for example, “originality”, “unique- biographies (Kopytoff 1986) of specific ness”, “nostalgia” and “authenticity” objects and of categories of things are of (Fredriksson 1996; Gregson & Crewe importance as they can help to raise the 2003; Delong et al. 2005; Reynolds 2011; prices and create economic value for the Cervellon et al. 2012; Veenstra & Kuipers sellers. At the same time they can attract 2013). Some shops operating on this mar- customers to the market, and the exchange ket offer a mix of newly produced com- that takes place involves elements of rec- modities and old and second-hand ones ognition of the history connected to the that have had previous owners who some- commodities (Appelgren & Bohlin 2015: times have used them and as a conse- 159). When recognizing and classifying quence have left visible traces on them. things with history, sellers and buyers use Others offer commodities that have been different concepts to address the desired remade and reshaped, often using second- qualities of the commodities. hand objects as a basis for creating new Most of the empirical studies in the re- design by crafting. Which second-hand search project have been conducted in the products are sold depends on the character city of Gothenburg, Sweden, mainly fo- of the business, bought from flea markets, cusing on companies and activities locat- auctions, antique dealers nearby or from ed in central areas. An overview to map importers of second-hand goods from the market in the city has been made, countries like the USA, Canada, Great identifying categories and concepts used Britain or Japan. Second-hand consump- by the sellers to describe their business tion is one more option that widens the (Re:heritage map, October 2014). Over possibilities for consuming things, rather 80 companies in this sector were identi- than an economic necessity on this market fied, most of them using the Internet to driven by middle-class values of taste and communicate through websites and blogs aesthetics (Palmsköld 2013; Appelgren & (ibid.).4 When analysing official infor- Bohlin 2015). mation about the companies as well as In a research project3 the phenomenon their communication activities, the cate- described is called the re:heritage market. gories and concepts most frequently used The project explores and emphasizes to describe their business were: second- these new forms of circulation and com- hand, retro, vintage, antiques, creative moditization focusing on things with his- reuse, shabby chic, flea markets and anti- tory. As the things involved circulate in, quarian (ibid.). off and through the market, they are not In this article I will discuss three of the stable entities but in motion, and as such concepts identified when mapping the constantly revaluated and recontextual- re:heritage market in Gothenburg: vin- ized (Appelgren & Bohlin 2015; Hansson tage, retro and shabby chic. What they & Brembeck 2015). They are inscribed in have in common is the associations of his- and associated with different histories of tory and the past that they arouse, and as the past that can be related to collective these styles are carefully planned and even 40 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

made by customers, creative elements are (Appelgren & Bohlin 2015). In order to involved. The things that are addressed as become part of the market sellers have in- vintage, retro and shabby chic are often spected them, identified them as appropri- transformed in one way or another before ate and interesting commodities and there- they are used. The concept of making will by given them agential capacities affect- be used as an analytic tool and is to be un- ing people to act in different ways (ibid., derstood in a broad sense: from activities Clough & Halley 2007). Within the circu- connected to consuming, such as picking lation process transformations can be and combining things, to the actual adjust- done in order to increase the economic ing, transforming, making or crafting value of a commodity, as for example things in order to create a certain style when second-hand furniture is repaired or and/or to create “oldness”. These kinds of painted to become in better condition or processes are seen as parts of an ongoing when older electrical plugs are replaced creative practice connected to everyday on electronically devices. For those who life (Vachhani 2013), reflecting “genuine are interested in making and crafting, the folk knowledge with fashion and high art” commodities on display can work as ac- (Campbell 2005:36). They involve knowl- tive materials, leading to ideas (and fanta- edge of different kinds: of history, fashion sies) about what they can become and be and design styles, aesthetics, craft tech- transformed into when bought (Palmsköld niques and materials. The focus on mak- 2013; Ingold 2013:21; 28). If crafting is to ing places the article in the context of eth- be understood as “the engagement with nological research on what people actual- materials” (Ingold 2013:22) the market is ly do in their everyday life (Löfgren 2014: full of potential, opportunities and prom- 77; 84). In this case it is about their en- ises. The things circulating can be inter- tanglement with materials and objects, preted as raw materials, and as elements of and about the core cultural practice of forms and design to be used, reused and making focusing more on “how” people recontextualized in a making process do than on “why” (ibid. 2014:78). The (Palmsköld 2013). These “creative rela- main questions asked are what the con- tionships” between the maker/crafter and cepts mean from a making perspective and the commodities have affective elements, how things addressed as vintage, retro and as the interpretations of materials and de- shabby chic affect people operating on the sign are based on sensuous experiences market in processes of creating and mak- (Vachhani 2013:93). By touching, feeling ing. and viewing, it is possible for consumers From a theoretical perspective the mak- to imagine what can be made and created ing that takes place on the re:heritage mar- by using crafting knowledge. ket is studied in this article using theories Consumer practices involving craft of affect, craft consumption and the pro- dimensions have been discussed and ducing consumer, “the prosumer”. One of what is called “craft consumption” has the key points is that the things on the mar- been identified as an important part of ket are in motion as they are circulating, contemporary consumer culture, defined and not fixed entities or passive objects as an Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 41

activity in which individuals not merely exercise nected to the opportunities opening up control over the consumption process, but also through making and crafting actions (Ot- bring skill, knowledge, judgement, love and pas- tosson 2008:149f). This creative and af- sion to their consuming in much the same way that it has always been assumed that traditional crafts- fective relationship between the pro- men and craftswomen approach their work sumers and the commodities on the re: (Campbell 2005:27). heritage market requires knowledge about styles and about craft and crafting tech- The craft consumer transforms commodi- niques (Palmsköld 2016). The prosumer ties and personalizes them by using their belongs to the same broad middle-class own individual and personal creative abil- group that are operating on the re:heritage ity (ibid. 2005:28). Most often it is about market, with a special interest in how to putting things together in a certain way to transform materials and personalize com- achieve an intended aesthetic ensemble modities or use them in new ways. When (or assemblage), as when dressing up in vintage or retro clothing (ibid. 2005:34). determining what the things with history The term “prosumer” highlights con- are to become in a making process, they sumers’ creativity and agency to engage have to be interpreted and valued, and with the objects and the materials on the questions asked are: What is possible? market in order to produce something How can it be done? What is original, (Knott 2013). Prosumption can be de- unique or authentic worth highlighting? scribed as “participatory consumerism”, What can be added? that is, when “The designer-producer The empirical materials used are, first- hands over a limited degree of productive ly, earlier studies that have been made us- power to the consumer.” (ibid. 2013:53). ing the concepts of vintage, retro and One example of commodities designed for shabby chic as a starting point for analys- prosuming is paint-by-number kits and ing different aspects of consumer culture. another is IKEA’s furniture (ibid. 2013). These studies have provided insight into What is in focus here is a rather controlled empirical areas and results as well as into activity, at least from the designers “pro- theoretical and analytical discussions con- ducers” perspective. On the re:heritage nected to the concepts and to making. Sec- market, on the other hand, the “pro- ondly, literature and blogs that advise sumers” are often involved in second- readers and followers on how to create hand circulation where the commodities different styles and “oldness” have been for sale have been produced for quite analysed in order to understand how vin- some time and therefore can be considered tage, retro and shabby chic are made. as things with a history connected to them. Thirdly, Internet sites specialized in sell- To consume in order to transform or ing products categorized according to the personalize them is rather to act like a concepts have been analysed, especially “hacker” and to “plug-in” by learning the discussion forums about how to deter- about the objects and materials on the mine whether something is vintage or ret- market and building on them (von Busch ro. 2008:59). The values of the commodities The article starts with a discussion of from the prosumers perspective are con- different transformation processes con- 42 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

nected to making that takes place on the slojdhaller.se; Watson & Shove 2008; re:heritage market. The concepts of vin- Åhlvik & von Busch 2009). Professional tage, retro and shabby chic are discussed designers are sometimes involved in re- using previous studies as a starting point. designing and remaking second-hand ob- How the styles are created, made and done jects in an upcycling process which is a is discussed using some examples. The ar- frequent part in developing business ticle ends with a discussion of how the (Thorpe 2008; Grundström 2014; www. things and materials involved work as af- stadsmissionen.se/Secondhand/Remake/; fective elements in the making of vintage, www.beyondretro.se). The upcycling retro and shabby chic. part means that discarded things or materials are converted into something Transformation Processes of higher quality or value (McDonough The things circulating on the re:heritage & Braungart 2002; von Busch 2008: market are often reused “as is”, or maybe 82ff). they have been cleaned and reparations On a consumer/prosumer level, second- have been made in order to use them hand products may need to be fixed in again. From a metaphorical point of view some way or another before they can be these subtle or major transformations used. Clothes might be mended; electronic make it possible for the things to live a devices might be repaired, and furniture second life (www.sustainabilitydiction- parts might be stabilized. Other finds are ary.com). These processes are driven by parts and details that have been missing or ideas on materiality that are linked to a broken, that customers buy intending to certain kind of actions, sometimes re- complete something they already have in ferred to as reusing, up- or down-cycling their possession. Apart from repairing and (Palmsköld 2013, 2015). Recycling is mending second-hand commodities, there when waste materials are used to create are other forms of circulation processes new products, as when, on an industrial connected to creative actions that take level, materials such as used plastics are place on the re:heritage market. The idea transformed into polyester (ibid.; Mc- of vintage or vintage style, retro or retro Donough & Braungart 2002). In a Swe- style and shabby chic makes people want dish context waste and trash can be to be involved in creative processes of dif- burned to create energy for urban district ferent kinds. When it comes to dressing in heating. Recycling processes also take vintage clothing, there is an important di- place on a craft or design level when mension of creativity to mix and match people make new things from waste authentic items and accessories from a ones. Among younger people an increas- certain period, and sometimes with newly ing interest in sustainability and how to produced ones, to achieve the desired out- live a fair life can be noticed, often con- fit (Jenß 2004; Veenstra & Kuipers 2013). nected to DIY (Do It Yourself) or DIT In fact, one argument for shopping for vin- (Do It Together) tips and tricks on how to tage items is “self-expression” (Guiot & reuse objects or recycle material (see for Roux 2010:358). These kinds of dressing example www.365slojd.se and www. activities have been interpreted as expres- Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 43

sions of “aesthetic creativity” (Delong et What is Vintage, Retro and Shabby al. 2005:26). Others say that dressing and Chic? mixing items from different style periods On the re:heritage market definitions of is a way to create an “eclectic assemblage vintage, retro and shabby chic vary, and of garments” (Veenstra & Kuipers 2013: furthermore the use of them is changing. 356). However, a strong desire for unique- This is a contrast to concepts such as an- ness has been identified as a driving force tiques and semi-antiques. A general agree- for those who consume/prosume vintage ment is that antique objects are supposed clothing, not only connected to certain to be at least a hundred years old and in items but also to the different possibilities original condition (Cervellon et al. 2012: to create a unique and personal outfit 957; Bogdanova 2011:103). The category (Cervellon et al. 2012). of semi-antiques is used for objects that If choosing, mixing and matching is are at least fifty years old and in original one creative aspect of the re:heritage mar- condition. Which objects that circulate on ket, another one is about people making or the antiques market varies; most of them crafting their own versions of styles. are of artistic and historical value but These activities are parts of another kind some are quite basic ones (Bogdanova of circulation process focusing on knowl- 2011:103). Studies show that defining an- tiqueness is a complex process; not all ob- edge of how to make and craft, a knowl- jects classed as antiques or semi-antiques edge connected to tricks of the trade, ma- are of artistic and historical value (ibid.). terials and techniques, often combined Furthermore, certain themes, styles and with an interest in history, aesthetics and epochs are preferred in the trade depend- style (Palmsköld 2016). Some of the sec- ing on trends and fashion (ibid.). As an- ond-hand textile prosumers are genuinely tique and semi-antique commodities are interested in using their finds as a starting collectibles, the market tends to turn to point for different kinds of transformation collectors, but also to customers that are processes (Palmsköld 2013). They are generally interested in cultural and art ob- looking for certain materials, cuts and de- jects as well as things with history. tails, such as interesting textile tech- These exemplify rather distinct agree- niques, buttons, lace or embroidery. What ments, which is not the case when it they do with the second-hand textiles dif- comes to vintage, retro and shabby chic. fers, and there is a scale from making Vintage is a concept originally used for small adjustments and mending and re- wines.5 In the 1990s vintage came into use pairing, to creating one’s own unique “to distinguish the authentically old gar- clothing and interior textiles from used ment from the modern copy” (Jenß 2016). material, sometimes mixed with new. Pro- Sellers on the market of vintage clothing sumers are looking for commodities that use hands-on definitions, such as Etsy, the can be transformed, fixed up and remade. “global marketplace of handmade, vintage They give them a new life and at the same and creative goods” (www.etsy.com). time they express themselves as individ- Their policy says that “Vintage items are uals and their creativity and crafting skills. 20 years or older” (www.etsy.com/). Ac- 44 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

cording to these rules, 1990s items are ations that previous owners might have therefore considered as vintage when pub- done. Highest valued, however, are items lished on Etsy. In other contexts these are in “mint condition”, which means that classified as “vintage to be or […] modern they have never been used. or contemporary fashion ” (Cervellon et Studies show that collecting, buying al. 2012:957). Second-hand and vintage and using vintage clothing is a way to re- consumption sometimes overlaps, as “vin- appropriate and reinvent the past by con- tage pieces might be second-hand and sec- structing historic looks, sometimes in new ond-hand pieces might be vintage” (ibid. combinations (Jenß 2005:179; Veenstra & 2012:958). Consumers of vintage clothing Kuipers 2013:356). The consumers/pro- are often looking for original pieces and sumers involved are driven by emotions of even for rarities of very high material and nostalgia and their interest in fashion and craft quality such as haute couture or style, as well as by their fashion involve- well-known labels and designers (Cervel- ment (Veenstra & Kuipers 2013). As vin- lon et al. 2012:961f). Vintage items are tage consuming is related to collecting, it therefore often referred to as authentic, is more connected to emotion than to original and truly old. Traces of use can be function, even though customers tend to present, as well as minor mends and alter- use their findings (Cervellon et al. 2012:

Display in a retro shop specialized in items in 1960s and 1970s style. Photo: © Emil Palmsköld. Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 45

964). Furthermore, the consumers/pro- teresting to buy and to use (Baker 2012: sumers are driven by the aim of finding a 622). Retro objects can be of different unique piece (treasure hunting), rather kinds and are not limited to clothing (Jenß than hunting for a good (low) price (bar- 2016). What they have in common is the gain hunting) (ibid.). The vintage con- time distance between contemporary use sumer/prosumer seems to differ from the and the period that they relate to (ibid.). second-hand one: cultural capital by edu- Some researchers say that there is no exact cation and connoisseurship is needed and definition of the concept, as the phenome- comes from a historic or artistic back- non is complex and embraces multiple and ground (Cervellon et al. 2012:969). The sometimes even contradictory meanings motives are in both cases recreational and (ibid.). Others use more accurate defini- tions of the retro style concept: social (ibid.). The term retro refers to objects relating the dedicated revival of the 20th century in looks to or imitating earlier trends, fashion, popu- and things, most often from the period between 1950 and 1980. Being grounded in popular culture lar culture as well as technology. Retro and the recent past, retro differs from previous re- style objects are the result of a revaluation vivals and historicisms with their focus on distant, process that makes “items previously con- idealized pasts through high culture (Handberg sidered old-fashioned and everyday” in- 2015:68).

Display in a shabby chic style shop, with enamelled trays and pots in front of a cupboard. Photo: © Emil Palmsköld. 46 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

Retro style is said to be a way of creating websites and blogs about shabby chic cultural memories based on a “common that includes DIY tips and tricks, some of past and a cultural identity” (ibid. 2015: the style elements are: fleur-de-lis, royal 68). Just as when buying vintage, cus- crowns, angels, texts, the colour white tomers taking part in consumer activities and objects that have undergone different concerning retro have to be connoisseurs treatments to create the right patina rep- and to know a lot about periods and their resenting oldness (ibid. 2013:41). Mate- material culture as well as their aesthetic rials used are wood, cotton and linen. The expressions (ibid.). A distinction be- shabby chic style has been challenged by tween vintage and vintage style or retro bloggers interested in interior decoration, style, however, has to do with material and it has been replaced by vintage and manufacture-based authenticity (Rolfsdotter Eliasson 2011:44). This is (Cervellon et al. 2012:958). Retro style an example of how definitions and mean- objects do not have to be old, they can be ing are changing on this somehow fluid newly produced, manufactured or hand- market. made referring to the past. Vintage, on Rachel Ashwell, who runs a business the other hand, “carries the connotation selling products and arranging workshops of something that is truly old and aged, on how to execute the style, is said to be combined with the implication that it is the one who has developed the shabby special and distinct, if not expensive, pre- chic style (www.shabbychic.com). Exe- cisely because of its age” (Jenß 2016). cuting and doing the style involves cre- Another distinction is that vintage em- ativity and craft knowledge, sometimes braces a longer time period, starting in connected to the seller who makes com- the early 1900s. modities look old and shabby chic-like, Shabby chic is referred to as a lifestyle and sometimes to the customer/prosumer concept, involving mainly home decora- who transforms objects according to the tion but also clothing (Halnon 2002; desired style elements. Often flea market Rolfsdotter Eliasson 2011; Fredriksson finds are used for refurbishing (Halnon 2013). Shops selling shabby chic style 2002:502). objects often mix newly produced things Researchers have interpreted the style that look old or refer to the past, with au- as one of many expressions of what is thentic old ones. The old looks are creat- called “poor chic”, which means the use of ed by patina techniques; furniture for sale “traditional symbols of working class and can for example have a worn painted sur- underclass statuses” (ibid. 2002:501). The face and enamelled soap trays or pots can symbols in this case are the desired worn have visible spots of the metal under- look of the objects. Studies show that for neath. The colour nuances of the com- people living in meagre economic condi- modities are chiefly white, bright or light tions, the appearance of newness, or at pastels. The style is defined by the idea of least whole and clean clothes and a home a romantic and nostalgic country-like that is well taken care of, is of great impor- home, preferably executed by women tance (Palmsköld 2012, 2013, 2015). This (Fredriksson 2013:41). According to ideal is challenged by the shabby chic Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 47

style, as from Ashwell’s and her follow- are valued, sometimes expressed in a ers’ point of view stains and cracks repre- beautiful patterned fabric, or interesting sent a charming version of history instead cuts and handmade details (ibid.). The of poverty (Halnon 2002:510). items raise promises about what they can Vintage, retro and shabby chic styles become when reused in a creative way. have one aspect in common: they build on The planning and the actual transforma- the idea of certain qualities in the past that tion processes the textiles undergo are of- are desirable today. When it comes to vin- ten described as a work of pleasure and tage, the “items symbolize uniqueness and enjoyment (ibid.). The same has been no- authenticity: a distinctive individual look ticed when it comes to consumers/pro- that is worn by nobody else” (Veenstra & sumers of vintage clothing, who seem to Kuipers 2013:357). The authentic values emphasize “fun, fantasy and emotions” are connected to the oldness of the items, when searching for items to buy and when and the fact that they represent certain creating their own outfits (Duffy et al. fashion styles. Vintage items often had 2012:524). To be creative from a crafting economic as well as fashion values when perspective is associated with certain spe- they were produced and sold. Retro style cial competence and know-how. One has objects, on the other hand, refer to popular not only to know a lot about different craft culture and the previous past. The objects, techniques and when to use them, as well previously considered as old fashioned as the possibilities and limits that lie in and everyday, have been revalued. The them. Furthermore, knowledge about ma- authenticity connected to retro lies in how terials, their characteristics and how to things are created, in which colours, mate- handle them is required. Depending on rials and forms, rather than in if they are what one wants to achieve, knowledge is original and from the intended period. The needed about vintage or retro styles as shabby chic style is about creating objects well as fashion styles, contemporary fash- that look worn and old, as if they have a ion and clothing. long history. Flea market finds are some- Jenß has investigated “dress practices in- times a starting point for DIY and DIT volved in the construction of an authentic processes to create shabby chic, commu- retro style” in a group of people belonging nicated through websites and blogs. Using to “the Sixties scene in Germany” (Jenß patina techniques and choosing certain 2004:388). Making their own garments is a colour and material schemes, it is a style common practice among the members that you do. (ibid. 2004:390). Attention to details is shown as original patterns are used, and Making, Creating and Doing Vintage, fabrics are carefully chosen to create the Retro and Shabby Chic best effect and expression of the sixties Second-hand objects are considered by (ibid.). The versions created, however, are some prosumers and craft consumers as not like the clothes that were worn then; in- potential resources for creative purposes stead it is the stereotypical sixties that are (Palmsköld 2013:99ff). When it comes to preferred, for example space age and op art textiles the material and stylistic qualities looks – it is a “dense concentration, pre- 48 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

senting a hyperversion of the decade past” ing, to create a garment in one piece. The (ibid. 2004:392). The same attention to de- recreation of old processes to produce tail has been recognized among members knitwear, however, is done using modern of the Swedish Facebook group “Vi som technology and knitting supplies, such as syr medeltidskläder” (We who make medi- circular needles and stitch markers. The eval clothing), in an ongoing discussion same difficulties as in when sewing 1960s concerning historical accuracy in the mak- dresses to fit modern bodies have been ing of the clothing (Karlsson 2014). The re- recognized when knitted garments are cre- sult of the study shows that members in- ated. Some designers are therefore work- volved believe in the concept of true ing to adapt original patterns to modern (100%) historical accuracy (ibid.). When requirements (Crawford & Waller 2009, put into practice, however, a credible inter- 2011). To achieve the intended style, it is pretation of a historical garment is pre- important to study and recognize the char- ferred to an exact copy (ibid.). acteristic style elements, and from a de- The most important aspect in whether a signer’s perspective: 1960s or a medieval dress is created seems The shaping and fit of the updated patterns, whilst to be that the new versions suit modern expanded to fit the modern body, retain the origi- nal proportions of these designs; so if a garment bodies, and that they fit the people who was designed to be worn fitted to the waist, that is are going to wear them. Original dresses where the “new” pattern is designed to fit also. from the sixties have much tighter arm- Therefore, regardless of size worked, you should holes and sleeves than contemporary still achieve a garment with the correct vintage fit, clothes, and the newly created versions but proportional to your body size (Crawford & Waller 2011:9). are adapted to modern demands (Jenß 2004:392). The original sewing patterns The interpretations of the “vintage fit” used, are therefore adjusted to fit a unique vary, depending on which fashion period person/body and to contemporary ideas is in focus. Knitted garments from the about how garments are supposed to fit. 1950s, for example, were made smaller There has been an increasing interest in than the body they were supposed to fit. using old knitting patterns to create vin- When recreating 1950s knitting patterns tage, retro and/or historical jumpers, this “negative ease means that the gar- sweaters, cardigans or other garments (see ment is intended to be smaller than the for example www.ravelry.com and wearer, and that it will stretch signifi- www.etsy.com). Many involved in online cantly when worn” (ibid. 2011:12). The knitting communities are not only inter- characteristic style element here is to cre- ested in creating different styles, but also ate garments that follow the body shape in recreating the processes that differ in very closely. some details from a contemporary ap- Some creators are interested in making proach to knitting. In earlier periods the clothes connected to their favourite film or knitting was made in pieces, generally novel character, referring to popular cul- sewn together, and based on dressmaking ture and fiction. Jane Austen fans, for ex- (Crawford & Waller 2011). Contempor- ample, are invited to knit garments and ary knitting is rather about avoiding sew- accessories “inspired by Jane Austen Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 49

novels” in a magazine called Jane Austen People who share the same interest in Knits (www.interweavestore.com). These making, creating and crafting in a vintage, knitting patterns follow today’s ideals, retro or historical style as well as doing rules and methods for crafting and fitting, shabby chic are connected in networks and the design is inspired by the early that make it possible for them to “com- 1800s fashion – garments that Elizabeth municate their shared interests” (Jenß Bennett or Emma Woodhouse might have 2004:391). The networks are created from been wearing if they were not fictional blogs through recommendations, com- characters. Interested knitters are invited ments and collaborations with companies. to create and to be inspired by: “30 knit- The bloggers are often simultaneously ac- ting projects including sweaters, spencers, tive on Instagram, Websta, Facebook, on wraps, accessories and more” (ibid.). The other blogs or in companies related to aim is not to reconstruct historical period their interests. Apart from websites such garments, but to have fun, and to imagine as Etsy and Ravelry (“a knit and crochet what it was like to be one of Austen’s community”), Rachel Ashwell’s blog that characters living in the early nineteenth goes under the name of Rachel Ashwell century. Another example of the same Shabby Chic Couture gathers many phenomenon is the Harry Potter knitting visitors and followers (www.shabby- patterns that have been published in maga- chic.com/blog/). Through the blog, care- zines like The Unofficial Harry Potter fully chosen photographs and texts dis- Knits and on websites (www.the-leaky- play the world of shabby chic according to cauldron.org/features/crafts/knitting). Ashwell. In an entry posted on 24 June Through the knitting patterns the world 2015, visitors are invited to follow her of Harry Potter is created, and knitters are when shopping for second-hand and vin- invited to make Dumbledore’s smoking tage goods, and reflecting on what she is hat and his warm socks, as well as looking for when it comes to furniture: Hagrid’s sweater and Hermione’s Time- When hunting for wooden pieces, I am usually Turner Mitts (www.ravelry.com). The ex- looking for authentic paint in the Shabby palette amples mentioned are part of the phenom- (white, ivory, pale pink & blue, grey teal or enon often referred to as fan fiction, de- bleached raw wood) or pieces that can create a fined as stories published on the Internet rustic vintage decor and on a rare occasion I will repaint. I get great joy when I see pieces come emanating from existing texts, developing through our “restoration for reloving” process. characters, and exploring alternative per- Each piece is cleaned, shored up if wonky, draw- spectives (Lindgren Leavenworth & ers and shelves lined with vintage wallpaper, new Isaksson 2012:77). The genre is often glass, marble or hardware applied ... and when trans-medial and the characters can be rec- ready we proudly tack on our branded brass ognized from novels, computer games, plaque (www.shabbychic.com). films and theatre plays (ibid. 2012:78f). In a Swedish context, DIY instructions Creating clothes is an important aspect of on how to create shabby chic style paint being a fan, leading to dressing practices on wooden furniture have been published connected to well- known fictional char- on a website linked to a very popular acters and collective cultural memories. home renovation and decoration televi- 50 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

A worn wooden door outside a shabby chic style shop. Photo: © Emil Palmsköld. sion programme called Äntligen hemma wooden structure. The next advice is: (Home at Last). In five steps to be fol- “To get the right look it is important to lowed, one is advised to start by grind- remember to just grind away the paint in ing the surface and sealing the knots places that would naturally be exposed to (www.tv4.se). After grounding and be- wear and tear, such as corners, edges and fore the paint has dried, one is instructed knobs”. Now it is time to paint the sur- to pull the brush in the direction of the face choosing an effect colour, drawing fibres to achieve stripes. The next step is the brush as before to create stripes. The to grind the surface again, down to the next step is to grind again and to finish Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 51

the work by varnishing the surface. Other can be defined in different ways and patina techniques are described on the sometimes the lines between them are website, for example how to create a blurred, and under negotiation. When ex- crackled surface. Tips and tricks for mak- ploring the concepts in this study, how- ing shabby chic furniture have the main ever, we find some commonly agreed goal to get them to look older and slightly ways to define them. Vintage items or worn, making them refer to a past histo- vintage style is associated with authentic ry. Some think it is an advantage to do clothes and accessories, old and original, shabby chic when it comes to furniture. and made in a certain fashion period. The result does not have to be perfect; Buyers of vintage are often collectors, imperfection is actually the point and who desire to be unique and to express sometimes this is considered as a relief themselves by creating an aesthetic as- (www.stureplan.se). semblage, mixing new and old details in The same DIY tips and tricks as when their outfits. From a consumer/prosumer doing shabby chic are present on the Inter- perspective body size, shape and fits are net for those who are interested in ageing crucial points. or “relicing” their electrical guitars to Retro, on the other hand, is a style that “Achieve the Road Worn Look” (www. relates or refers to the recent past and to wood-finishes-direct.com/blog/art-aging- popular culture that has gone through a guitars/). To make the instruments look as revaluation process. Imitations as well as they are naturally worn, the advice is to authentic objects from certain periods pay attention to spots where “playing, are used to (re)create shared cultural storing or transporting the instrument memories in a faithful way. Retro ob- causes damage” (ibid.). Manufacturers of jects can be created and crafted, often musical instruments sell worn ones: newly adapted to modern requirements. They produced electrical guitars as well as can also be part of fan fiction, when fans guitar parts, such as microphones and and followers create garments referring tuners that look old and worn. Another to fiction. Shabby chic is rather a life- category is artist models, exact copies in- style concept, used for home decoration cluding wear and damage, of famous mu- and clothing. It is about the creation of sicians’ guitars, which are often vintage connections to the past through patina instruments. Copies are very skilfully techniques. The ideal is to make things crafted in minute detail after the original look worn in a natural way and methods and produced in limited numbers. The to achieve this standard are shared concept of vintage electrical guitars refers through websites and blogs. Shabby chic to old and authentic ones. is also associated with a certain palette of pale nuances. Conclusions The three styles are used in different The concepts of vintage, retro and shab- ways to reinvent and re-appropriate the by chic are part of an informal classifica- past, on a scale from selling or buying tion system used by the sellers operating things with history; things associated on the re:heritage market. The concepts and referring to the past or things that 52 Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic

have a worn look that have been created Acknowledgements by patina techniques. The aim is to cre- This article is part of the ongoing research ate either hyperversions of the past or project Re:heritage: Circulation and credible interpretations. In both cases Marketization of Things with History, knowledge is involved, whether it is 2014‒2017, at the University of Gothen- based on cultural capital, connoisseur- burg, financed by the Swedish Research ship, knowledge in art, design and histo- Council. Thanks to Emma Grundström for ry or craft skills. assisting, and Katarina Saltzman for read- The study shows how the styles and ing and commenting on the manuscript. the customers as well as shopkeepers and sellers operating on the re:heritage mar- Notes ket are parts of a world of doing, making 1 Second-hand is a concept used in this article and creating. Some of the main forces be- for objects that have been used before (see hind are creativity and having fun and a Cervellon et al. 2012:958). common interest in materials, tools, tech- 2 Marimekko’s Unnikko print was originally niques, craft, styles and design. Being a designed by Maija Isola in 1964 for home decoration and bed linen. In the last decade it craft consumer and a prosumer on this has also been used in other products such as market means interpreting commodities clothing, porcelain, lamps and furniture in a certain way that can be described as (www.marimekko.com). The pattern has de- affective. Valuing objects from a creative veloped, the colours have changed, and it has been enlarged as well as reduced, and details perspective means using one’s imagina- have been highlighted. Georg Jensen has tion and senses in order to come up with launched their Archive Collection, which pro- ideas and determine what the commodi- vides “Carefully curated jewelry pieces from ties can become through making and our fantastic archive, channeling the feel and crafting. The creative relationships that design sensibilities of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.” (www.georgjensen.com). are formed open up for different possibil- 3 The name of the project is Re:heritage: Cir- ities on a scale from mixing and match- culation and Marketization of Things with ing things to transforming and reshaping History. Within the project five work pack- commodities into something else. These ages have been identified dealing with differ- ent aspects of the market, such as: how mate- creative processes often build upon exist- rial circulates; marketization processes and ing products, that are circulating as sec- values; sites and localities as an infrastructure ond-hand objects on the re:heritage mar- for the market as well as part of the circula- ket. Yet they are all part of the prosumer tion; the role of museums when everyday ob- culture that is worth studying further to jects turn to cultural heritage. The fifth work package involves a study, resulting in this ar- see how the creative relationships are es- ticle, of key concepts used on the market and tablished and to follow the making pro- connected to the things circulating and to their cesses. reuse. Anneli Palmsköld 4 Since the map was made in 2014, many com- Professor of Conservation specialized in Craft panies have closed down, and other new ones Science have opened up. This indicates that the market Department of Conservation is changing quite rapidly. Box 130 5 “A vintage wine is one made from grapes that 405 30 Gothenburg were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in e-mail: [email protected] a single specified year” (www.wikipedia.org). Anneli Palmsköld, Vintage, Retro, Shabby Chic 53

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Introduction Brazil, India and many other countries, we Viared, a small village outside the city of see that people are ousted for the sake of a Borås in western Sweden, is today a thriv- “greater good” almost on a daily basis. ing industrial and transport nexus, with Those who support big projects argue(d) more than 100 companies and 4,300 em- that it will lead to development (Joseph- ployees (Samuelsson 2015:7). As late as son 1996:323), that it will only use lands the 1970s, though, family farms with which otherwise would be unproductive small-scale food production and forestry or at least yield much less (Willard Miller provided the main livelihood. The trans- 1949:97), that it will make nature more formation of Viared is one of the largest manageable and profitable (Adams & Ry- and most dramatic removals of rural popu- der 1998:689), that it will further stimu- lation in Sweden during the twentieth cen- late industrialization and resource extrac- tury. Over the course of the 1970s local tion (Barrow 1988:68 et passim), and so authorities transformed the area into an in- on. In Sweden, ousting people for the sake dustrial and logistic site, removing farms, of rapid development has not been very farmland and farmers in the process. common, at least not in the southern parts Some protested but in vain, by the 1980s of the country and certainly not in the sec- the village was gone and replaced by large ond half of the twentieth century. One of corporations such as Volvo and the mail- the most debated cases of relocation for order firm Ellos. The goal of the trans- industrial and development purposes is formation was to secure industrial devel- the ongoing transformation of the Kiruna opment through “rational” land use. This area, first to make room for the mining in- article will analyse the transformation dustry but also to create a “space town” process, focusing on how the different ac- hosting the European Space and Sounding tors articulated the landscape. The sources Rocket Range, ESRANGE. The process of represent two sides – those who argued for turning Kiruna, once a core area for Saami the transformation and those who opposed reindeer herding, into a mining town and it. For the first category, official planning subsequently also a space town, built on documents from the city of Borås and in- logics similar to the transformation of terviews with the planners have been in- Viared; growth, jobs, keeping up with strumental. For the resistance, interviews national and international competition. It and articles from local newspapers are the is also striking how the argument of state main sources. While the availability of officials and others promoting the trans- sources is uneven and this potentially formation of Kiruna and Viared are cen- could be seen as a problem, I see it rather tred on how the landscape in question is as a strength as it represents the uneven ideal for transformation (Backman 2015), power relations in the articulation process implicitly stating that current land use is of Viared in the 1970s. inefficient compared to potential future Forceful removals of people are in no uses. way a rare event in the history of mankind, A few questions stand at the core of this not even in recent years. Looking at major article. How was this removal of more hydroelectric power projects in China, than 600 people from the village of Viared

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 56 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

in the 1970s promoted? What ideas of ra- farmers to lay down their shovels and tionality, speed and scale were used to move to the cities. This has been a fast frame this landscape as an ideal site for in- transition compared to earlier transforma- dustrial development? What effect did the tions in human history. In Sweden, nine transformation of Viared have for local out of ten farms have closed down during movement heritage? the last 25 years (Lundell 2015). But it has The role and organization of agriculture also been a rather slow process compared has changed dramatically during the in- to the more extreme cases where farmers dustrial and post-industrial eras. The num- (or others who have stood in the way of ber of people working in agriculture has progress and growth as envisioned by decreased, while technological advances state officials and large corporations) have (machinery, pesticides, artificial manure, been forcefully removed to speed up the GMOs and the like) have encouraged urbanization process. larger farms, specialization, and rationali- The transformation of Viared also zation. The yield per employee has risen raises questions about relations between dramatically. Simultaneously aspects of man and landscape. Does history and tra- agricultural production have been out- dition matter when it comes to the right of sourced from the west to developing coun- land use? Scholars in the field of environ- tries and replaced first by industry and mental humanities have outlined theories later by the service and IT sectors. Arable of co-evolution, co-ecologies, embodied land has been claimed for industrialization time and responsible inheritance which and urbanization. highlight the importance of human-en- The case of Sweden is in many ways vironmental relations (van Dooren 2014; similar to the rest of the Western world. Rose 2012). This has been a key issue in Structural changes in Sweden’s economy northern Sweden as the Saami have tradi- and agriculture during the twentieth cen- tional claims to land, while Swedish com- tury have made small-scale farming un- panies and even the Swedish state have ar- economical. As in most of the Western gued that the relevance of such histories is world, the number of farmers decreased exaggerated and that legal ownership has and the size of the remaining farms in- priority. One of the most recent examples creased. Agriculture was rationalized, in- is the conflict between the Swedish state dustrialized and specialized (Myrdal & and the Saami village of Girjas, where the Morell 2011). Small-scale farms, where efforts of the state to undermine tradition- people were self-supporting and had a di- al land rights have been heavily criticized versity of crops and animals, could no (Allard, Avango, Axelsson et al. 2015). longer contribute to growth and were Can, and should, traditional land use and abandoned in favour of the industrial and heritage be a relevant factor in decisions service sectors. In this transformation, the about future land use? The Viared case interest of farmers has often conflicted may help anchor such discussions in re- with those of corporations, state officials cent history. and urban population. Structural changes Those who supported the development in agriculture and economy have led many of Viared for reasons of industrialization, Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 57

primarily the planners and politicians of Interviews with the planners Forsberg the city of Borås, argued that industrial and Jonson (who were the two most active jobs were much more vital for the city’s in the writing of the planning document development than a few farming villages which is analysed in this article) have also (Forsberg, Jonson & Brandt 1971). Those been conducted by the author in order to who worried about the ambitious develop- get their retrospective view on the events ment plans pointed to the potential loss of in Viared. These interviews, and the inter- valuable arable land, and a future residen- views with current and former residents of tial area. Sources include planning docu- Viared, were semi-structured. A number ments from the Borås city council, scien- of prepared questions formed the basis for tific studies from the 1970s, articles from each interview, but there was also room local newspapers, and interviews with for- for the discussion to lead in different di- mer residents of Viared and with politi- rections depending on what was brought cians and officials involved in the process. up by those interviewed (Wengraf 2001). These sources indicate that the ideas about A downside of this type of interview is how to best use the villages of Viared dif- that the answers are not fully comparable. fered greatly. In a qualitative study, I would argue that this is but a minor issue. With semi-struc- Theory and Method tured interviews, the material becomes This paper will examine the ideas and ar- more diverse and better represents the guments for and against the transforma- voices of those interviewed than if I had tion of Viared in the 1970s. The central stuck strictly to my pre-formulated ques- document describing the planned trans- tions. The interviews ranged between one formation is the so called “Blockplan” and two hours, and were recorded. Jonson from 1971, passed in the Borås municipal was interviewed at his office in central council (kommunfullmäktige) on 15 June Gothenburg, while Forsberg was inter- 1972 (Forsberg, Jonson & Brandt 1971). viewed in his apartment in Borås. The document is a visionary plan for the The opposition (as often in these kinds entire area around Borås, with optimistic of events) was more diversified and has estimated figures for population growth, left fewer written sources. The opposing housing projects, industrialization and voices analysed in this paper will there- traffic planning. It is in a sense the future fore come mainly from interviews or the of the city and its surroundings, as en- local press. I have used both current and visioned by the politicians and officials in historical articles from the local newspa- the early 1970s. This document reveals per Borås Tidning. These have been found the extent to which the planners and city through the archive of the newspaper, officials saw an industrialized Viared as a found in the Borås city archives. I have common good that would guarantee eco- also done interviews with four current and nomic growth, future development and former residents of Viared. While this progress. The document is a good rep- may seem like a relatively small number, resentation of how the representatives of not that many who lived in Viared at the Borås understood Viared. time of the transformation would agree to 58 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

View towards Ek, taken in the 1960s. A picture from the same spot today would show the Volvo fac- tory and other company buildings. The farm is no longer there. Photo: Viareds Natur- och Hembygds- förening. be interviewed. There seemed to be a clear that were interviewed all were of quite scepticism about discussing this issue, at high age, I have been cautious about some least with an outsider. To get in contact details. Information about when and with them, I approached the local heritage where a certain event took place has been society. I eventually chose these four cross-checked with other sources when people because they represented different possible. However, this is not primarily an geographical parts of the old villages of article about the landscape itself but rather Viared. All four were interviewed in their about the articulation process. Therefore, homes. The reason for this geographical it is the narratives of each side that are in diversity was to cover as much as possible focus. of the pre-industrialized landscape of I also interviewed Per Olov Blom, a re- Viared, and get an overview of how the searcher who in the 1970s studied the im- farms and villages used to be connected to pact of the local protests in Viared and each other through the paths, dirt roads other areas around Borås on the structural and other discrete infrastructure for mo- changes taking place. Blom also worked bility. Since the transformation took place within Borås municipality at the time and more than 40 years ago, and since those is one of the best sources regarding the de- Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 59

bates that took place within the municipal- cials in the municipality of Borås) that ity as well as in Viared. This interview was the driving agent behind the trans- was conducted via telephone. formation of Viared. Finally, I also used an element of auto- Sverker Sörlin’s (1999) theory of ar- ethnographic field studies (Allen-Collin- ticulation of territory, i.e. the process in son 2013). I walked around in Viared, vis- which a landscape is articulated through iting the places of importance brought up written, oral, physical or visual means as a in the interviews. I tried to find remains of place for and by certain activities, will the paths, dirt roads and other traces of also be put to use in my analysis. The small-scale mobility. These field visits landscapes of Viared have been articulat- may not appear as references in the text ed in two distinctly different ways. From but were nonetheless instrumental for my the rationalist perspective of the planners, own understanding of Viared and its land- it was articulated as an ideal site for indus- scape history. tries. The values brought forward built on I consider the transformation of Viared a rationalist approach, and the focus was as a form of rationalist and modernist on the location of Viared in relation to the techno-scientific disciplining on a land- highway Riksväg 40, the Gothenburg har- scape scale. It fits the general history of bour and the low cost of development. The Sweden (and most of the Western world) landscape was analysed more in relation at the time, when rationalization was a key to its potential in a techno-economic sys- factor in countering the economic crisis. tem than for its history. The concepts of rationalization, scale and The terms rational and rationalize will speed will be important throughout this ar- be used throughout this article to describe ticle. the ambitions of planners and other offi- Research on the history of large-scale cials in Borås to transform the econom- technologies and changes and how they ically ineffective small-scale farming area transform landscapes will also be useful, into a more productive, profitable indus- especially literature on displacements of trial/logistics site. The meaning of ration- people due to a perceived greater good ality advocated by the planners and politi- (dam projects, airports, roads and other cians at the time was heavily influenced such projects). I will specifically compare by economic ideas of efficiency, produc- Viared to the city of Kiruna in northern tivity, growth and development. In the Sweden, a place that both historically and rationalization movement of Sweden in the present time has been physically al- (strong from the 1930s onwards) efficien- tered to make room for industry (mining) cy and work intensity were means both to and other job-creating ventures (rocket secure profits and opportunities for pri- base) (Backman 2015). I will build on vate companies, and to ensure a produc- James C. Scott’s Seeing Like a State tive population that could sustain the wel- (1998), in which he outlines a history of fare state (De Geer 1978). state interest in rationalizing and optimiz- This ideology of rationality did not take ing landscapes, because I will argue that it other values, such as heritage, history and was the state (represented by local offi- memory, into account. The transformation 60 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

of Viared resulted in a dramatic loss of lo- ly. Movement heritage thus offers a criti- cal heritage and history, especially the cal potential in articulation of landscapes. type of heritage that I together with fellow By re-framing a historical case such as historian Sverker Sörlin have labelled Viared with this theoretical concept, I also movement heritage (Svensson, Sörlin & aim to offer a method for how such critical Wormbs 2016). This type of heritage is perspectives could be included in current grounded in movements, and includes articulations of territory (Sörlin 1999). small-scale, low-impact human trans- In this article, the two attempts at ar- formation of the landscape, such as paths, ticulation of territory will be analysed in herding grounds and dirt roads. Movement detail. It will be evident that the means for heritage are traces of human activity articulation were unevenly distributed, as which has had visible but small-scale they often are when an urban centre enters physical impact on the landscape, but ma- into a conflict over land use with a rural jor impact on how that landscape is under- periphery. While the planners of Borås stood and framed, historically and by had access to printed and broadly distrib- present inhabitants. The many centuries of uted planning documents as well as estab- rural life in Viared had produced a rich lished contacts in the local media, the resi- movement heritage, most of which was dents of Viared had to resort to informal destroyed in the transformation. In this ar- communication at local protest meetings. ticle I will contrast the movement heritage Their version, their articulation, was not and the close relation between inhabitants widely spread outside their own ranks. of Viared and their landscape, to the less romantic, more rationalist, economic lan- The Agricultural Villages of Viared guage and ideas of the planners. Viared has long been a small-scale agri- The way that residents in Viared fo- cultural site. It consisted of five minor vil- cused on tradition, personal knowledge of lages (Viared, Ek, Lund, Ryssnäs and the landscape and its movement heritage Västra Boda). Humans have dwelled in represents a different form of articulation. parts of this area since the Stone Age, but It builds more on the emotional values of Viared’s recorded history as an agricultur- the landscape than the economic one. al village dates to the fifteenth century There are reasons to frame such traces of when the forested area was partly trans- mobility as a heritage. Heritage signals a formed into fields through swidden farm- value that goes beyond personal attach- ing (Bondestam 1987:170). For centuries ment. When the heritage sector has ex- to come, the villages developed and more panded with previously neglected remains farms were built. A congregation, a (such as industrial heritage, mining heri- school, a local grocery store and a few mi- tage, farming heritage) these remains have nor businesses developed in the area, but been protected to a larger extent than be- in essence the rural farming identity re- fore. By expanding heritage to include mained. Not until the twentieth century, also traces of mobility in the landscape, when electricity, phones and a small air- the articulation of territory would include field came to Viared, did change acceler- voices that have been silenced historical- ate. Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 61

View of Viareds Missionshus in the 1950s. A man named Fritz Gabrielsson lived in the adjacent farm. In the background are Lake Viared and Sjömarken. Photo: Viareds Natur- och Hembygdsförening.

About 600 years after the initial fires, proponents of large-scale industrialization Viared was once again transformed in fire won the vote, 31‒18 (Borås municipal when the area, by order of the Borås mu- council protocol, 15 June 1972). Of those nicipal council, was turned into an indus- who voted against, the majority represent- trial site and many of the buildings were ed the Centre Party, traditionally the party burned to the ground as training objects of farmers in Sweden. for the local fire-fighting department. The In the years that followed, the city transformation of Viared was formally de- bought farms and land in Viared including cided on 15 June 1972, when the munici- some of the most fertile land in Borås. The pal council passed a new development farmers had no alternative but to sell, and plan for Borås and the adjacent areas. The the deals were signed under threat of ex- Municipal Board of Borås suggested that propriation. In 1975, the city had bought the passing of proposed development plan enough land to begin the physical trans- without major changes. A counterpropos- formation. During the years 1975‒1977, al was made in order to open up for keep- some 300 buildings were burnt or torn ing parts of Viared as residential areas, but down. Out of these 300, 87 were residen- 62 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

tial buildings, the rest were barns or other road, the industrial area is expanding to buildings related to farming (Samuelsson the west. But unlike when Viared was first 2015:7). And in 1977, a new Volvo Buses transformed, this land is not easily flat- plant opened. The first decades of the new tened and made suitable for industrial industrial area were slow in terms of other buildings, as wetlands, mountains and for- companies establishing their business in ests have to be removed. There are not the area, and the optimistic prognosis of many houses in the area, but the few that the planners of thousands of jobs was not are there face a similar situation as did the realized at first. Eventually, however, the people of Viared in the 1970s – sell or area did become a success in terms of the have your farm expropriated (Hedenryd number of jobs and companies with over 2012). Apart from a few cows grazing be- 4,400 new positions and further expansion tween the industrial complexes, there is now under way. little rural about Viared anymore. It is now The decision to transform Viared ended an area filled with expansive companies, more than six centuries of agriculture. and an important part of the growth of Some residents tried to resist the develop- Borås in recent years. ment, but in 2013 the last farmer gave in and sold his cows (Boersma 2013). There Viared in Relation to Previous  are now no active farmers left in the area, Research although some residential houses are still As one of the largest and more recent there. And the transformation continues. displacements of people in Sweden, the One of the last houses affected by the ori- case of Viared needs further attention in ginal development plan was destroyed in order to understand how such a large re- January 2014 (Rosenqvist 2014). Several moval of people was possible and how it old houses remain in Viared, but these was motivated. Rationalization and tech- were excluded from the development plan nologization of landscapes in order to from the start because of their relative dis- use it more effectively is a common tance to the main road, Riksväg (state theme in cases from many areas of the highway) 40. The areas where the first in- world (e.g. Worster 1982; Sörlin 1988; dustrial complexes were built all lie closer Barrow 1988; Qing 1993; White 1995; to the main road, and the road itself was Karlsson 2009; Pritchard 2012). Agri- one of the major arguments as to why in- cultural landscapes have likewise gone dustrialization of Viared was so profit- through similar transformations (e.g. able. In 2012, the next phase of develop- Fitzgerald 1991; Myrdal & Morell ment began and the industrial expansion 2011). Research on issues and ideas continued west and north along the high- about displacement and resource ex- way Riksväg 40, a process that will result ploitation in other areas of the country in another 88 hectares of industrial land (mainly in northern Sweden, especially (Samuelsson 2015:7). On the north side of focusing on the Saami) has been con- the road, towards Lake Viared, such new ducted that often indicated that the factories opened during 2014 and 2015, “greater good” of the country gained pri- and more are being built. South of the ority over the rights of individual citi- Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 63

zens, especially when water power was connections to the transformation of a at stake (e.g. Sörlin 1988, Öhman 2010). south-western Sweden rural village in Few of these cases can be found in terms of the conflict between tradition and southern Sweden. The fact that Viared economic development (Sörlin 1988). was transformed relatively late in the Histories of relocations of citizens, de- twentieth century also makes it stand out, struction of houses and appropriation of at least when also considering that it did private lands (or commons) are well docu- not cause any major debate. Compared to mented for the northern areas of Sweden. the debate about the possible domestica- Similar processes in the more densely tion of Vindelälven for water power in the populated south of Sweden have been less 1960s (which caused a massive debate in studied by historians and other scholars. the whole country), the Viared case did With Viared being one of the more dra- not attract any major interest outside matic events of this sort, its history de- Borås. Why did so few people take an in- serves further attention. It can also serve terest in preserving Viared? One possibil- as an example of how exploitation of for- ity was the “ordinariness” of the land- ests, mires and farmlands for the sake of scape. Rural villages like this are found all urban or industrial expansion is motivat- over Sweden, but rivers like Vindelälven ed. are quite rare (and many of them had al- ready, by the 1960s, been domesticated by Borås Blockplan – Long-term Plan- hydropower companies). Another possi- ning, Long-range Effects bility is the small number of people affect- Borås blockplan outlined the future of the ed. Similar cases in Sweden, such as the city of Borås and its surrounding munici- historical controversies of Vindelälven or palities Bollebygd, Dalsjöfors, Fristad, Stora Sjöfallet, or more recent examples Sandhult and Viskafors. The five smaller such as the resistance to mining in Sápmi municipalities had already in the 1960s, (the land of the Saami in northern Sweden, together with Borås, investigated the pos- Finland, Norway and Russia), demon- sibilities of forming a large municipality strate that resource exploitation and indus- with Borås as its centre. This merger was trial development often result in protests part of the major overview of Swedish from locals. But they have little chance of municipalities in the 1970s and was ap- stopping the development plans if they do proved and realized in 1974. The block- not manage to raise attention for their plan was therefore written with regard to cause on regional, national or even inter- the needs of this new, and (for Sweden) national scale. Viared remained a local large-scale, municipality of about 110,000 issue. citizens. The debate about other areas of Swe- During the years of unprecedented eco- den, especially Lapland and its resources nomic success in Sweden 1950‒1974, and potential for industrialization, reveals Borås relied on the textile industry and that the case of Viared was not unique. mail-order companies for its economic The way in which Norrland was perceived growth. But in the late 1960s there were as the land of the future has interesting signs that the textile industry would not 64 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

withstand increasing competition from tioned here either, but it fits the underlying countries with low labour costs. Between point that Forsberg and Jonson wished to 1950 and 1975, the number of people em- make: that cities and economies need to ployed in the textile industry of Borås grow, and that arable land may have to be dropped from almost 19,000 to about sacrificed in order to secure this desired 11,000, a major blow to the local economy development. This is a rationalist way of (Berglund et al. 2005:151). City leaders thinking about land use that had been in- saw the need to diversify the job market to creasing in Sweden since the rise of the ra- reduce vulnerability in the event of further tionalization movement in the 1930s (De crisis, and determined to pursue the attrac- Geer 1978). It also resonates with how tion of industry (ibid.:203–205). At the earlier industrial development in the area same time, the oil crisis hit the Swedish was tied to infrastructure and geography. economy, causing even more trouble The successful establishments of the nine- (ibid.:201–202). teenth century textile industry along the As a solution, three men, Sten Forsberg river Viskan were dependent on the river and Einar Brandt, employees of the Borås for power. The best-known example is municipality Blockplaneenhet (planning Rydal spinning factory, built in 1853 unit), and Sten Jonson, an architect who at south of Borås. In the 1970s, Viskan had the time worked as a consultant, produced lost its role as a decisive factor for indus- the Borås blockplan (Forsberg, Jonson & trial expansion. Instead, it was the new Brandt 1971). It was mainly Forsberg and road, Riksväg 40 between Göteborg and Jonson who designed the plan. The work Borås, that presented the infrastructural on authoring the plan had begun in 1970, argument for placing industry in Viared. as part of the preparations for the new The proximity to the new road meant easy Borås kommunblock, the new, larger mu- access to the port of Gothenburg, lifting nicipality where Borås was to incorporate Viared from the microlevel and placing it the surrounding, smaller municipalities in a macrolevel technological system in- (ibid.:1). cluding trucks, roads, ships and interna- Already in the first pages of the docu- tional trade. ment, there was reason for concern for Forsberg and Jonson also presented a those who lived in Viared. The authors “land requirement prognosis”. They pre- Forsberg and Jonson reviewed the current dicted that new industrial establishments and future land use in the Borås area, but would require more land than older forms did not mention Viared despite its high of industry, because of the tendency to use status as an agricultural area. They stated one-level plants and serial production that “arable land that is situated directly (Forsberg, Jonson & Brandt 1971:34). adjacent to existing, larger densely popu- Unsurprisingly the need for rationaliz- lated urban areas will in some cases be in ation (of industry) in turn led to a rational- conflict with the urban expansion, espe- ization of land use, according to the eco- cially as this land is attractive to develop nomic and ideological standards of the from an urban planning-economic per- time. Further into the document, the plan- spective” (ibid.:12). Viared was not men- ners outlined three potential solutions for Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 65

Viared. In options one and two they in- with clear separation between living areas cluded both industry and housing, but op- and industrial areas instead of the mixed tion three (which they argued for) “means landscape of rural Scandinavia (Engset that the whole area is reserved for indus- Høst 2016: 128‒129). trial purposes” (ibid.:68). This follows a The prose of the plan is bureaucratic, certain logic that was not unique for Swe- but follows a certain rationalist logic that den. Rationalization movements across justifies the proposals. First, Forsberg and the world argued for increasing speciali- Jonson argued that urban expansion zation, not least in cities and their sur- should be done in a manner that enables roundings, during the twentieth century each urban residential area to support a (Scott 1998). The famous French architect lower secondary school (högstadieskola) Le Corbusier argued tirelessly for separat- (Forsberg, Jonson & Brandt 1971:42). ing dwelling and working areas. His argu- Once this prerequisite had been estab- ments, picked up by planners across the lished, the alternatives to industrialization globe, framed the multifunctionality of of Viared (like a mixed area with both in- landscapes as an obstacle for planning ef- dustries and residential buildings) were fectively. According to Le Corbusier (and judged unfit because the number of people many of his contemporaries and follow- would not justify a lower secondary ers), a landscape should ideally serve only school (ibid.:68). one purpose. When faced with a multitude In modernist thinking, dichotomies like of uses and user groups, planning be- the one between nature and culture are es- comes much harder (Scott 1998:109‒ sential. The city and the countryside are 111). A place like Viared, which had not another such dichotomy. Planning of rural been planned but rather organically and areas is rarely done there, but often in ur- slowly developed into a multifunctional ban centres of calculation (Latour 1987), landscape, was a nightmare for the kind of where local knowledge is dwarfed by the high-modernist planning that Le Cor- overviewing ability of collected knowl- busier advocated. Forsberg and Jonson edge (Flygare & Isacsson 2011:219 et pas- may not have been explicitly influenced sim). In the Viared case, the focus of the by Le Corbusier, but their arguments fol- planners who wrote the planning docu- low in his footsteps. Both Le Corbusier ment was the city and its needs. They con- and the officials of Borås built on a Carte- stantly justified the transformation of the sian dualism and ideas about order village through the benefits for the city of through division and specialization (ibid.: Borås, as when they argued for industrial- 55‒56). In the articulation of territory ization of Viared as the only way for done by the planners, Viared was framed Borås to have a large and easily trans- as a monopolized landscape devoted sole- formed industrial area with good commu- ly to industry. Similar arguments were nications (Forsberg, Jonson & Brandt raised in Denmark and other countries 1971:68). Tradition, history, emotion and around the same time – rural areas often movement heritage were not included in troubled by unemployment deserved the the calculations, and agriculture was re- right to be industrialized and developed, duced to the number of jobs it can result 66 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

in. Why did they not include it? How can way. Viared was a flat landscape that anyone quantify history, heritage, beauty, could easily be rebuilt, and the costs per justice? By leaving such values out, plan- square metre could be kept to a minimum. ning documents themselves therefore Finally, Jonson and Forsberg argued that have an inherent political agenda. Viared was a vital part of the future indus- Given that rationale, it was no longer trial expansion (and therefore also the feasible to keep Viared as an agricultural general expansion) of Borås. In summary, area, according to the planners. They ar- the planners Jonson and Forsberg argued gued that the number of jobs in agriculture for Viared as the most favourable location in the Borås area was declining (from for industrial expansion from economic 2,200 to 1,700 between 1960 and 1965, a and practical perspectives. They were not loss of 500 jobs in only five years) and that insensitive to the protesting villagers but the kind of small-scale farms that domi- argued (and still argue) that the interests nated in Viared would exist “only during a of the few must sometimes give way to the transitional period” (ibid.:12). In summa- greater good of the many. Similar argu- ry, there were more rationalist ways to use ments are found in other urbanization-re- this land, and the farms would not remain lated environmental issues, such as sew- in any case due to their incompatibility age systems causing downstream disturb- with modern, rationalized agriculture. ances (Rosenthal 2014). In the concluding remarks of the plan, Who were the two men behind this Forsberg and Jonson stressed the great document, and how did they motivate the need for industrial areas of 2,500 hectares. industrialization of Viared? Sten Jonson, a They stated that “Viared should be made young architect at the time, had his own fully available for industrial purposes. The business in Gothenburg. He had already area’s location in relation to communica- done similar planning work in other cities. tions and suitability for construction Sten Forsberg was an economist, educated should make it very attractive for indus- in Stockholm and employed by the city of trial expansion and it will be a decisive Borås. Together they had the main respon- factor in securing the municipality’s in- sibility for the content of the plan. As I dustrial development” (ibid.:112). The have shown, their argumentation was first argument was one of logistics. based on rationalist ideas about effective Viared’s location close to the new motor- and specialized land use, economic way between Gothenburg and Borås was a growth, and attraction of industries and key factor, and the road was seen by Fors- jobs. Forsberg and Jonson were experts, berg and Jonson as a corridor of expansion and their job was to plan the expansion of in which companies would be likely to in- Borås in the most effective and profitable vest. The other alternatives for industrial way. They did this based on modernist ar- expansion did not have this advantage and guments which fit into the general dis- that alone was enough to recommend course of the modern Swedish state, Viared as the next industrial site of Borås. where the city emerged as the ideal, ra- The second argument was also based on tional way of living and the countryside logistics and economy, but in a different was reduced to an old-fashioned, irration- Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 67

al remnant of the past. The argumentation The process was on a local level but the re- echoes the frustration of dualistic philoso- semblance to the articulation of other, phers like René Descartes over the seem- more iconic landscapes is striking. Articu- ingly chaotic diversity of medieval cities lating places like the French Riviera as and land use (Scott 1998:55‒56). Rural tourist destinations was done with similar life was to be planned and engineered techniques to Viared’s articulation as an from the city, implicitly because the city industrial site (ibid.:107), namely, by writ- experts had a much better overview (Fly- ing the landscape of Viared into a narra- gare & Isacson 2011:219‒220). To speak tive of specialization rather than the multi- with Bruno Latour (1987), the centre of functionality that had historically been the calculation was Borås, and it was Jonson case. and Forsberg who did the calculations. Forsberg and Jonson down-played the Engineering the landscape for arguably traditional and historical aspects of the better use has a long tradition in Sweden, landscape in favour of its potential as not least in the industrial expansion in home for industry. The planning docu- Norrland from the late nineteenth century ment framed Viared as the best, maybe onwards (Sörlin 1988). Transformation of even the only, option for future industrial landscapes by mining, bridge-building, expansion in Borås. The counter-narra- roads etc. was also one of the core aspects tives from residents of Viared were not of early engineering education in Sweden, published or recorded, further underlining and as such a sign of the ambitions of the the demarcation between rationalistic state to use scientific-technological exper- (written, scientific, universalist) articula- tise for the sake of growth and rationaliza- tion and traditional (oral, experiential, lo- tion of landscape use (Sundin 2006: cal) articulation of territory. The power- 245‒249). relations between the urban centre and the The work that Forsberg and Jonsson rural periphery are clearly part of this ar- performed was in essence an articulation ticulation process. While the planners had of territory, a way of framing Viared as access to all sorts of written and visual something other than it had been, full of communication, the residents of Viared potential for future development. As Sör- had to rely on personal communication. lin puts it, articulation of territory is “a Their articulation reached a smaller audi- process of differentiating one area from ence, and because it built on personal ra- another, establishing communities of af- ther than scientific knowledge it was not fection and memory” (Sörlin 1999:108). I seen as relevant. would argue that the same process (articu- lation) can also do the opposite – obscure The Voices of the Village – a Move- and break down such communities and re- ment Heritage Lost place them with other ideas of community Residents had been left in the dark about based on the preferences of the articulat- these early discussions. This fact was not ing actor. In the Viared case, the tradition- even addressed in the planning process, al understanding of place was re-articulat- which indicates that this was a self-evi- ed in favour of industrial development. dent way of doing things. The first official 68 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

informational meeting with the residents in the new Viared – his experiential was held in early 1972. And by then, the knowledge about where best to walk, ride plan had already gained significant tech- a horse or bike, go fishing or pick mush- nique-bureaucratic momentum, because it rooms has lost its practical application. was part of a larger technical system in- However, by articulating such knowl- cluding a major road, international trade edge (place-names, maps etc.) it can be and logistics (Hughes 1983). When city turned into a movement heritage. As such, officials finally presented the plans to the it has potential as counter-narrative to the people of Viared, so much time and re- official story of progress and economic sources had already been invested that, in growth. Articulation of territory based on practice, it would be too expensive to stop personal knowledge and experience of the development according to the plan- moving through the landscape has histori- ners. The plan had gained momentum. cal roots. Nordic traditions of access to na- One of the more persistent opponents of ture through Allemansrätten (Right of the industrialization plan was Sture Mag- Public Access), emphasize personal effort nusson. Now over 90 years old, Magnus- (Kayser Nielsen 1997:87‒89). Viared was son has for decades run a museum in his no exception – it was full of paths that barn where he displays tens of thousands were a sort of commons, open to all who of tools, memorabilia and other artefacts had an errand of any sort. In the trans- related to the old Viared. He has also pro- formed landscape, the industrial com- duced a film about the landscape trans- plexes are often surrounded by fences and formation, as well as a website that has the the paths are not accessible in the same heading “Viared – the raped village” way as before. This fact constitutes a loss (Viared.eu 2015). Sture lives in one of that is comparable to the loss of houses very few farms that were not destroyed and other buildings. Experiential, person- during the industrialization process. Most al knowledge of how to move through a of his lands (south of the house) are still landscape is important for our feelings open fields, pastures or forests, but the about a place. As Susanne Österlund- view from his kitchen window to the north Pötzsch (2011:111) has framed it: “The is dramatically altered. Where he once ability to find one’s way and to know how saw fields, a few farms and Lake Viared in to move within a place are significant fac- the background, he now sees a large road tors for feeling at home.” Massive loss of and several massive industrial plants. movement heritage would therefore risk Sture shows pictures of Viared in the of undermining such feelings of belonging 1960s, and points at a small dirt road and being at home. where he used to ride a bike when he was Moreover, paths and small roads con- younger: “That’s where the Volvo plant is nected the farms of Viared into a commu- now, and the old road is gone” (Magnus- nity. As Tim Ingold (2016:3) has argued, son 2015). The roads are broader now, and lives are lived along lines and it is along bikes make no mark on the asphalt- paths and other such lines that “people covered road. The local knowledge that grow into a knowledge of the world Sture has acquired over time is of little use around them, and describe this world in Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 69

Monument at Viared Museum, run by local man Sture Magnusson. The inscription translates: “From time to time, from hand to hand”. Photo: Daniel Svensson. 70 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

the stories they tell”. This is probably one buildings (barn, henhouse) in the autumn reason why the paths and dirt roads keep of 1976. One of the sisters, Ingegärd Da- emerging in the articulation of territory vidsson, who had grown up on the farm by inhabitants of Viared, but are totally and lived there as late as the to mid 1960s neglected in the planning documents. The with her husband, her son Lars and her planners worked with a “building” per- daughter Lena Davidsson, remembers the spective, which in this case means plan- paths she used as a young woman. She ning and building comes first and is then went cross-country skiing from her home filled with mobility (Ingold 2000:180‒ in Viared to the ski training sessions in 181). Movement heritage, on the other Hestra (about 5 kilometres north), and hand, is more based on a “dwelling” per- says that “even at night with only moon- spective that presupposes a long tradition light to guide me, I knew exactly where of mobility in an area. That mobility is the the path was” (I. Davidsson 2015). Both very reason for the roads and paths being Ingegärd and Lena stress the kind of expe- there at all (Ingold 2000: 185‒187). riential knowledge about the landscape Across Viared, city officials treated lo- that is dependent on years and years of cal folk and their farms with hurried dis- land use. “It was a very free life. Dad cut dain. Lund Västergården was neither ex- firewood in the forest and our horse car- ceptionally large nor small, a mid-sized ried it, and where the horse couldn’t go farm producing oats, rye, barley, wheat, across the bog we carried it [the firewood] potatoes, honey and vegetables. Livestock ourselves. That’s why I was a good skier,” included cows, chickens, pigs and a horse. says Ingegärd (I. Davidsson 2015). The The city of Borås approached the owners memories are still there, but the small in 1973 (when the municipal council al- paths through the forests surrounding ready had passed the development plan Viared are now mostly gone. Memories meaning that Viared would be trans- such as these have remained largely un- formed), and the contract was signed in articulated. By articulating them now, by January 1975. The four sisters who then turning memories and personal knowl- had inherited the farm from their parents edge into a movement heritage, the history got 590,000 kronor, a price that was rea- of Viared may become a little less one- sonable in economic terms. Nothing in the sided. deed of sale, which the politician Eskil In the years after their family farm had Jinnegård signed as a representative of been burnt down, the family gathered a Borås city, reveals that the farm was sold few times in what used to be their garden. under threat of expropriation.1 And per- “We brought coffee and sat there in our haps this is not surprising. It is a document garden and watched the motorway. We regulating a deal, and not outlining how talked about our old memories. That was the deal came to be. But the farms in the purpose. We could never get it back Viared were sold with the threat of expro- but it is no use dwelling on that” (L. Da- priation lurking in the background. vidsson 2015). A large ash tree, planted by In the spring of 1975 the house was Ingegärd’s uncle, is still standing in the burned down, followed by the rest of the old garden, like a monument over Lund Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 71

Västergården. Maybe it will outlive even lage against the Swedish state regarding the industries? hunting rights on Saami land (Heiki & Several churches and other social or- Frygell 2016). In Viared, even traditional ganizations also raised concern about the land rights paired with legal ownership of plan. The local congregation of the Mis- the land did not help. sion Covenant Church of Sweden voiced With the emotional tone of the article, some critique toward the plan. Their Alexandersson fits well into the dichot- church (or missionshus as it is called in omy of history and future. The people of Swedish) stood on the land that is now Viared represented history, according to part of Volvo Buses plant, and they want- themselves and to the planners. The devel- ed to assure a new location for the church opment plan, on the other hand, was the (which they eventually did, in neighbour- future. Such was at least the articulation of ing Sjömarken). this landscape in the media and in other The so-called formal protest commit- written sources. Apart from being a minis- tee, Viaredskommittén, voiced critique ter, Alexandersson was a local representa- against the development plans. They sug- tive for the Centre Party (traditionally the gested that both industries and residential party of Swedish farmers), and several areas could be built in Viared (Blom 1972: other members of the protest committee 24‒25). One of the committee members, also had ties to the party. In the deciding Nils Alexandersson, was also a minister in vote on the development plan in June the above-mentioned congregation. He 1972, a majority of those who rejected it wrote an article in Borås Tidning, basing were members of the Centre Party. his rejection of the development plan on In the spring and early summer of 1972, historical and emotional arguments. He when the development plan was about to underlined the long history of the congre- be passed and the villagers in Viared had gation (started in 1877) along with the finally realized that most of their village suitability for residential expansion and was about to be destroyed, there were ended with an “appeal to planning and de- some reactions in the local media. In the cision-making authorities […] so that our largest local newspaper, one farmer asked congregation also in the future may fulfil if the people of Viared “will be driven its mission in Viared” (Alexandersson from Viared like the Finns from Karelia” 1971). He clearly tried to emphasize the (Borås Tidning 8 June 1972). Linking long history in a place as basis for right of Borås municipality with the Soviet inva- use. Such claims have rarely been suc- sion in Finland was a strong statement, but cessful in Swedish history. Traditional even such a provocative argument did not land rights have been ignored in many cause any broad debate. This was on 8 cases when the greater good (or greater June. A week later the answer from the profit) of society as a whole has stood on municipal council was to pass the devel- the other side. Saami villages have fought opment plan. Apart from the few articles tirelessly to have their traditional land in local media, there was not much debate. rights (hävd) recognized legally, but 2016 Even those who protested had no illusions a court decided in favour of a Saami vil- of keeping Viared mainly as an agricultur- 72 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

al area. Instead, they tried to convince the riculture over the last few decades (Fly- planners that there should be residential gare 2012). I would argue that it is not just buildings alongside the industries. This the property as such (buildings, land) but strategy also failed. The clash between ex- also the paths and micro-landscapes pert and local knowledge in the case of across and between farms, what I here Viared is in many ways typical. Even if have called movement heritage, that gets the issue at hand (industrial expansion) lost when continuities no longer function. was important, there is also something The transformation of Viared disrupted about the rule of experts that is hard to le- such traditional patterns of property trans- gitimize in rural areas. From skiers who fer through inheritance. protested against scientific training advice (Svensson 2014), via British sheep farm- The Relative Silence ers who distrusted the experts that forbade Unlike such other environmental and dis- them to sell their products in the wake of placement issues in Swedish history such the Chernobyl accident in 1986 (Wynne as Stora Sjöfallet or Vindelälven, the 1992), to the farmers in Argyll in Scotland Viared case did not cause a lot of debate, who rejected the environmental protection and in the years since the events this has agendas of experts (Lykke Syse 2010). not changed. In a three-volume history of There is an abundance of similar ex- Borås city, the transformation of Viared is amples, which testify to the difficulties in barely mentioned. In a short paragraph the direct interaction between local knowl- authors explain that the large-scale wel- edge and expert knowledge. Viared was fare society needed long-term planning no exception, and the direct communica- and therefore land available for industrial tion between locals and experts almost and residential expansion, and that this ended in a fistfight when the planners Sten could affect individual citizens or even Jonson and Sten Forsberg visited Viared whole areas, like Viared (Berglund et al. in spring 1972 to inform the villagers 2005:292‒293). In a section where the au- about the content of the development plan thors discuss the need for land acquisi- (Jonsson 2015; Forsberg 2015). The plan tions and long-term planning, they do not would go through. Some still protested, even mention Viared (Berglund et al. but in a way that confirmed that the battle 2005:310‒312). And in a section that por- had already been lost. A resident of Viared trays the first chair of the municipal coun- went to Stockholm to attend a funeral on cil of the new, expanded Borås municipal- the day that her childhood home was burnt ity in 1974, Eskil Jinnegård, his role in the down, and she was relieved that she did transformation of Viared is totally ne- not have to be there to see it for herself glected (Berglund et al. 2005:307). Given (Anonymous resident of Viared 2015). It the magnitude of the Viared events, even has been pointed out that the concept of on a national scale, the lack of debate is family land and the complex practices of surprising. succession at farms has played an import- One potential explanation for the rela- ant role historically, and has continued to tive silence is the turmoil and anger creat- do so through the structural changes in ag- ed by other issues in Borås in the early Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 73

1970s. The merging of six smaller muni- as a scarce or even very valuable resource. cipalities into a larger Borås municipality On the contrary, rationalization of agricul- with 110,000 inhabitants led some people ture was the way to go, producing more to protest against centralization (Blom food with fewer people involved and on 1972). However, these protests remained smaller areas. Fewer people were em- a local issue, and I have found no records ployed in agriculture and large parts of the of any serious attempts to organize a rural population moved to the expanding broader resistance against the new ad- cities. And the most fertile agricultural ministration. The fears of a decline in the lands are in the same areas where there are textile industry also caught the public at- most cities and towns (Flygare & Isacson tention. And the biggest issue in the public 2011:236, 253). debate at the time was the proposal to As the planners Jonson and Forsberg build a road through the Borås city park, had stated in the planning document, Stadsparken, the most iconic park in the arable land close to cities was needed for city. Almost 25,000 people signed the pe- industrial and urban purposes (Forsberg, tition to stop the road (Johansson 2008). Jonson & Brandt 1971:12). And it still is. Per Olov Blom, local politician and chair The local association of businesses aims at of the city’s building department from doubling the number of companies until 1974, argues that the public attention was 2022, underlining that the growth para- drawn to other things. digm is still a guiding principle in the area The road through the park was seen as something (Viareds företagarförening 2017), and the that affected the whole city. Compared to this, history of Viared that they funded (Da- Viared was seen as a much smaller, more local nielsson 2010) frames the transformation issue. Very few protested, except for those who and continued expansion in a positive lived in Viared (Blom 2015). tone. This illustrates the different prob- The focus of public debate turned to other lems that rural areas face in Sweden de- issues and Viared was not debated in pub- pending on their distance or proximity to a lic except by people who lived there. In major city. Rural landscapes in peripheral any case, it is clear that other issues areas struggle with effects of urbanization, caused much more public protests than did as people move out and services shut the exploitation of Viared. This is yet an- down. Rural areas close to cities like other example of what Arne Næss pointed Borås, instead face the prospects of being out decades ago: local residents are rarely incorporated into the city and transformed successful in protecting their environment from rural to urban (Westholm 2013:57). if they cannot rally the support of other Similar developments can be seen around groups, such as tourists or environmental- other towns where the creation of new ists (Næss & Rothenberg 1990). Another jobs is perceived as critical. The trans- reason for the failure to raise enough pub- formation of Viared shows how industri- lic opinion to affect the outcome of the alization is often unequal. The need for in- planning procedure may have been the dustrial land was not distributed amongst relative commonness of Viared. In Swe- the entire population but rather focused on den in the 1970s, arable land was not seen a peripheral area with residents that had 74 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

little chance of making their protests small-scale, but rather large-scale in heard. This aligns with similar experi- both temporal and geographical terms. ences in other countries, where the poor- The need for space to grow became more est, most segregated or most peripheral evident as the smaller municipalities of (geographically and economically) are Borås, Bollebygd, Dalsjöfors, Fristad, more often hit by the consequences of pol- Sandhult and Viskafors merged into one lution, environmental degradation and in- large administrative area. Per Olov dustrial expansion (e.g. Pulido 2000; Blom, local politician and chair of the Guhathakurta & Wichert 1998). The dis- city’s building department from 1974, tribution of environmental degradation recalls that the framework of the politi- (not least effects of climate change) is also cal agenda was changed. “It became a key issue on a global scale. much more large-scale, and the common understanding was that it had to be so in Discussion order to secure future jobs and indus- The transformation of Viared into an in- tries” (Blom 2015). Large-scale technol- dustrial area was, in retrospect, a success ogies, as well as large-scale planning in economic terms. And it was perfectly in and development, runs the risk of being line with the ambitions of the Swedish less transparent and less democratic state in the 1960s and 1970s to rationalize (Scott 1998) while also causing severe and industrialize agriculture, i.e. to have effects on nature (Josephson 2002). It is fewer and bigger farming units and relo- striking that totalitarian regimes such as cate the surplus workforce to the expand- the one in Soviet Russia have been par- ing industries of the cities (Flygare & ticularly fond of large-scale technolo- Isacson 2011:231‒232). For many of gies and centralized planning (Josephson Viared’s residents, however, the scars of 1996:298‒299 et passim). In a democra- this perceived injustice go deep. And the cy such as Sweden, one would expect ongoing and ever-growing debate about more dialogue with and consideration of how to balance small-scale rural life with local residents. urban expansion remains unsolved. The We may ask what is lost and gained produce of Viared in terms of food pro- when social and environmental change is duction was marginal on a national and directed from the outside. The gaze of the even on a regional scale. However, the state official is simplistic and synoptic, growing demand for ecological, local food promoting “state simplifications”. Such in Sweden and the increasing focus on simplifications exclude aspects of human sustainable food production may add a existence that do not fit into the model of different, more critical perspective on the aggregate, utilitarian facts (Scott 1998: transformation of Viared. 79‒80). In our case, the planners carefully Scale is an important issue here. counted on the potential number of jobs Throughout this article I have framed the created in Viared while neglecting local farming activities as small-scale. The tradition and heritage, because such local centralized planning needed for the new, values could not make an impact in a uni- expanded municipality of Borås was not versalist, rationalistic analysis. Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 75

By the western entrance to Viared, there is a sign with a map listing all the companies in the area. Signs such as this one are part of the articulation process, framing Viared as an industrial landscape. Photo: Daniel Svensson. 76 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

This way of thinking about landscapes volves aspects of this large-scale manage- and wanting to order them into specialized ment approach. Humanity as a major force spaces of industry, living, leisure, nature of change on a planetary, geological scale protection, forestry and so on is typical of implies a need for more control, more hu- Swedish twentieth-century planning. It man involvement and less unproductive builds on a Cartesian dualistic vision wilderness or low-productivity farmlands. where multi-use, multi-species, organic This has been heavily criticized by schol- use and growth over time are problematic ars who argue that previous human large- and ineffective (Scott 1998:55). Viared scale interventions have had disastrous ef- was in a sense the twentieth-century fects (Crist 2013). Swedish equivalent of a medieval town – If local heritage was lost in Viared used for multiple purposes (houses, agri- then the intended jobs were indeed culture, small-scale crafting and home in- gained, so far at least 4,300 of them. This dustry, schools, churches, paths and dirt has obviously meant a lot for the econo- roads). It lacked a general plan – it was not my of Borås. The transformation was rational but traditional. It had reached its part of an ongoing exploitation of rural current state through organic development areas for industrial reasons across the over hundreds of years, rather than by a Nordic countries. Turning farmers into large-scale, fast remodelling. wage workers and spreading industry and Viared did not fit into a Cartesian di- welfare services to rural areas was an im- vide between wild nature and artefactual, portant aspect of the social democratic man-made, rationalized landscapes. It was ideology (Engset Høst 2016:132) and it both nature and culture, landscape use was in this context that the planners in which affected the ecology and aesthetics Borås worked. of the place but did so slowly and sustain- What was lost is perhaps a bit trickier to ably. Such boundary places, called “gaps” answer. The homes of about 600 people by Anna Tsing (2015), threaten a rational- are one thing but the most striking loss is ist world order. Viared was neither wild perhaps that of heritage. The landscapes nature nor fully rationalized. It was both a of Viared were shaped by many genera- residential and work area, both “natural” tions of farmers. Change occurred all the (forests, lakes, animals) and “cultural” time, but it was slow and dynamic. The (humans, houses, fields, crops, paths). To imprints (paths, grazing fields, dirt roads) the planners pointing out the future of this are gone now, and part of the history of place, specialization was badly needed. Borås was lost with them. Villages have They argued for a transformation into an typically been framed as static, and mobil- industrial area, where people could work. ity has been seen as external to such (ru- And their homes should be in another ral) communities (Uusitalo 2012:101 et area, where they could live (Forsberg, passim). The small-scale mobility so im- Jonson & Brandt 1971). It was a vision of portant in many villages has been more or separation and specialization, where no less neglected. In this article, I have ar- gaps were included. The now increasingly gued that mobility and its heritage is in- popular concept of the Anthropocene in- stead a vital part of both historical and cur- Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 77

rent village community. Indeed, it is at the Such practices differ radically from very core of such community as it ties the what the environmental humanities individual farms and households together scholar Thom van Dooren (2014:19) has through roads and paths. named responsible inheritance. Respons- Mobility heritage/movement heritage ible inheritance pays attention to the di- (Svensson, Sörlin & Wormbs 2016) is a versity of a place and its history. It also concept developed to frame and analyse means inheriting a place “as a dynamic the remains of movement of different and changing gift that must be lived up to kinds in the landscape. In the Viared for the good of all those who do or might case, the movement heritage is the traces inhabit it” (van Dooren 2014:19). In order left behind by small-scale agriculture and to do this, more attention needs to be paid movements by humans and animals to the interconnectedness of humans and (paths, pastures, fields, peat-bogs). This the landscapes in which they live. As cer- is almost eradicated. There are very few tain species (e.g. plants, animals) or cul- signs, monuments and other memorabilia tures (e.g. small-scale farming, reindeer to inform visitors about the history of herding) are diminished, or even extinct, Viared. As a final failure to recognize the the landscape will change. As discussed historical importance of those that lived by van Dooren (2014:12), we are shaped and worked in Viared over the centuries, by generations of co-evolution. Removing the streets are named not with reference parts from these intricate webs of co-exist- to local history but only to the new era. ence will affect our heritage, and our lives. Streets such as Företagsgatan (Company In the case of Viared, most historical webs Street), Bussgatan (Bus Street) and Stäm- of co-existence were destroyed in the fast pelgatan (Stamp Street) may be suitable process of turning this area into something for the companies, but they seem less re- else. Speed is a key issue here. The long lated to those generations of people that history of Viared was based on slow prac- dedicated their lives to work the earth in tices – farming without machinery, trans- Viared. Such re-naming is an important port without cars, communication without aspect of the articulation of territory phones. Large-scale technologies of high (Sörlin 1999), not least used in colonial speed, such as the motorway, mechanized efforts to incorporate new territories into agriculture, buses etc., were part of an ac- the nation. The names on the maps and celeration that left historical practices be- the physical signposts in the landscape hind. It was a slow landscape deemed un- all further the agenda of those articulat- fit for an accelerating world. This was ing Viared as an industrial area, making partly due to necessity – Borås suffered its long pre-industrial history invisible in from the decline of its textile industry. But the process, to the grief of former resi- it was also something inherent in the dents (Anonymous resident 2015). A few speed of technology itself – with large- of the old buildings are still there, but scale mechanized farming, who needed taking the complexity of human/land- small farms? Rationalization and large- scape co-existence into account, pre-in- scale solutions led to the abandonment of dustrial Viared is gone. traditional practices, as well as the de- 78 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

struction of the traces of earlier, and slow- documents supporting their claims, they er, mobility. Paths and dirt roads vanished have turned to arguments of history and under the cars, and horse paths, school tradition which they have had a hard time paths, church paths and other traces of tra- defending in court. In Viared, the villagers ditional mobility became redundant in the did have legal ownership, for which they process. were compensated as the city of Borås The past of Viared is hidden behind ge- bought their land. But their traditional and neric street names and massive industrial historical claims to the land were not rec- buildings, but it is still there. The farms ognized. No extra compensation was paid and lands of those who were forced to for the loss of memory, heritage and cul- leave are gone, but maybe more could be ture. Like the traditional lifestyle of Saami done to recognize their history and what it reindeer herders, the traditional lifestyle means in terms of moral, traditional and of small-scale family farmers has been emotional claims to land rights. Movement pushed back by industrial and urban ex- heritage can in this respect be used as a pansion during the twentieth century. The counter-narrative, a counter-articulation. number of farmers and farms has de- By recognizing remains of traditional pat- creased, while the size of farms has in- terns and practices of mobility, local heri- creased (Myrdal & Morell 2011). Given tage and experiential knowledge would that development, Viared would probably thus be included in the articulation pro- not have remained an agricultural area cess. Articulating such remains through even if the development plan had been re- maps, signs and digital media gives voice jected by the municipal council. Still, the to generations of people who otherwise situation could have been managed differ- are muted. Thus, there could be a critical ently to avoid causing such resentment potential in movement heritage. Paths, among former residents. Tradition often like other heritage, are political, and the loses in court, but the recent verdict in the eradication of such heritage is too. While Girjas vs. Sweden case, which gave the the work of the local heritage society may Saami village the rights to administer not have changed anything in the develop- hunting and fishing on their traditional ment of Viared, they have at least articu- lands (Heiki & Frygell 2016), may prove lated a heritage of trails, paths and to be a breakthrough for the juridical sta- place-names that would otherwise have tus of tradition and local history. In such a been lost not only as physical remains but process, articulating a movement heritage also from memory. may help to balance the articulation of The changes in Viared relate to the on- territory to include aspects reliant on ex- going issue of traditional land rights in periential as well as scientific knowledge.2 northern Sweden. There is recent critique of the Swedish state’s unwillingness to ac- Daniel Svensson knowledge traditional claims, and the sig- PhD, researcher, lecturer nificance of a long history of land use (Al- Division of Science, Technology and Society Chalmers University of Technology lard, Avango, Axelsson et al. 2015). Be- SE-412 96 Gothenburg cause Saami villages rarely have had legal email: [email protected] Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future 79

Acknowledgements Blom, Per Olov, phone interview, 9 April 2015. This work was supported by financing Davidsson, Ingegärd and Lena, interviewed in Borås, 26 March 2015. from the following projects: “The Move- Forsberg, Sten, interviewed in Borås, 27 May ment Heritage: Paths and Trails in Sus- 2015. tainable and Inclusive Heritage Manage- Jonson, Sten, interviewed in Gothenburg, 13 May ment” (2017‒2019, funded by the Swe- 2015. Magnusson, Sture, interviewed in Borås, 11 dish National Heritage Board), and March 2015. “Mistra Arctic Sustainable Development” (2014‒ 2018, funded by Mistra). Archives I would like to express my gratitude to Deed of sale for Lund Västergården, 7 January 1975, Borås City Archives. Professor Sverker Sörlin, KTH Royal In- Archives from the Borås municipal council (kom- stitute of Technology, and Professor Paul munfullmäktige). Josephson, Colby College, for valuable Borås Tidning archives. Ska vi drivas från Viared comments on this manuscript. Last but not som finnarna från Karelen? Borås Tidning, 8 June 1972. least, a sincere thank you to all who agreed to be interviewed. Literature I am also grateful for the insightful Adams, Patricia & Ryder, Gráinne 1998: China’s comments by the reviewers of Ethnologia Great Leap Backward. Uneconomic and Out- dated, the Three Gorges Dam Will Stunt Chi- Scandinavica. na’s Economic Growth. International Journal 53(4):687‒704. Notes Alexandersson, Nils 1971: Viared. Borås tidning, 1 Deed of sale for Lund Västergården, 7 Janu- 26 November 1971. ary 1975, Borås City Archive. Alexandersson, Nils 1977: Minnesskrift utgiven 2 Ongoing research by the author of this article till Viareds missionsförsamlings 100-årshögtid. together with Sverker Sörlin (KTH Royal In- Borås: Viareds missionsförsamling. stitute of Technology) and Katarina Saltzman Allard, Christina, Avango, Dag, Axelsson, Per et (Gothenburg University), funded by the Swe- al. 2015: Rasbiologiskt språkbruk i statens dish National Heritage Board, suggest that rättsprocess mot sameby. Dagens Nyheter, 11 movement heritage may also be more actively June 2015. used as a category of heritage in the coming Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn 2013: Autoethnogra- years. phy as the engagement of self/other, self/cul- ture, self/politics, selves/futures. In Handbook References of Autoethnography, ed. S. Holman Jones, T. E. Adams & C. Ellis. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Websites Coast Press. Heikki, Jörgen and Frygell, Moa 2016. Samebyn Barrow, Chris 1988: The Impact of Hydroelectric får jakträttigheterna i fjällen’, published at Sve- Development on the Amazonian Environment. riges television, official website, 3 March 2016. With Particular Reference to the Tucurui Pro- . raphy and Development in the Humid Tropics, Viared.eu, retrieved 9 April 2015.  pp. 67‒78. . Berglund, B., Caldenby, C., Johansson, L. & Ols- Viareds företagsförening: Vision 2022. Retrieved son, K. 2005: Borås stads historia. 2, Industrins 27 June 2017. . Lund: Historiska Media. Blom, Per Olov 1972: Kommunal beslutsprocess Interviews (by Daniel Svensson) ‒ arbetsmetoder hos lokala opinionsgrupper. Anonymous resident of Viared, interviewed in Fallstudie i anslutning till Borås blockplan. Borås, 21 April 2015. Stockholm: Stockholms universitet. 80 Daniel Svensson, Making Place for the Future

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Österlund-Pötzsch, Susanne 2011: The Ephemer- Sörlin, Sverker & Warde, Paul (eds.) 2009: Na- al Act of Walking. Random Reflections on ture’s End. History and the Environment. Lon- Moving in Landscapes of Memory (Loss). Eth- don: Palgrave Macmillan. nologia Scandinavica 41:111‒128. Sundin, Bosse 2006: Den kupade handen. Histo- Pritchard, Sara B. 2012: From Hydroimperialism rien om människan och tekniken. Stockholm: to Hydrocapitalism. ‘French’ Hydraulics in Carlsson Bokförlag. France, North Africa, and Beyond. Social Stu- Svensson, Daniel 2013: How Much Sport is there dies of Science 42(4):591–615. in Sport Physiology? Practice and Ideas in the Pulido, Laura 2000: Rethinking Environmental Stockholm School of Physiology at GCI, 1941– Racism: White Privilege and Urban Develop- 1969. The International Journal of the History ment in Southern California. Annals of the As- of Sport 30(8):892‒913. sociation of American Geographers 90(1):12‒ Svensson, Daniel 2014: Changing Tracks? The 40. Battle between Natural and Scientific Training Qing, Dai 1993: The Three Gorges Dam Project in Swedish Cross-country Skiing, 1948–1972. and Free Speech in China. Chicago Review Idrott, historia och samhälle 33:12‒41. 39(3/4), A North Pacific Rim Reader, pp. 275‒ Svensson, Daniel, Sörlin, Sverker & Wormbs, 278. Nina 2016: The Movement Heritage – Scale, Rose, Deborah Bird 2012: Multispecies Knots of Place, and Pathscapes in Anthropocene Tour- Ethical Time. Environmental Philosophy 9(1): ism. In Tourism and the Anthropocene, ed. 127‒140. Martin Gren & Edward Huijbens. London: Rosenqvist, Håkan 2014: Här rivs det sista huset i Routledge. odlingsområdet i Viared. Borås Tidning, 29 Ja- Tsing, Anna 2005: A History of Weediness. In nuary 2014. Retrieved at:  Friction. An Ethnography of Global Connec- , April 13, ty Press. 2015. Rosenthal, Leslie 2014: The River Pollution Di- Uusitalo, Eeva 2012: Beyond the Village and lemma in Victorian England. Nuisance Law Across Borders. Experiences of Mobility in Ru- versus Economic Efficiency. Farnham: Ashgate ral Northern Finland. Ethnologia Scandinavica Publishing. 42:101‒120. Samuelsson, Karin 2015: Viared – från landsbygd Westholm, Erik 2013: Välfärdsstatens geografi. till industriområde. Borås tidning, 22 March, In Sveriges historia. 1965‒2012, ed. Kjell Öst- pp. 6‒10. berg & Jenny Andersson, pp. 55‒62. Stock- Scott, James C. 1998: Seeing Like a State. How holm: Norstedt. Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condi- White, Richard 1995: The Organic Machine. New tion Have Failed. New Haven: Yale University York: Hill and Wang. Press Willard Miller, E. 1949: Strip Mining and Land Sörlin, Sverker 1988: Framtidslandet. Debatten Utilization in Western Pennsylvania. The Scien- om Norrland och naturresurserna under det in- tific Monthly 69(2):94‒103. dustriella genombrottet. Umeå: Umeå Univer- Worster, Donald 1982: Hydraulic Society in Cali- sity. fornia. An Ecological Interpretation. Agricul- Sörlin, Sverker 1999: The Articulation of Territo- tural History 56(3):503‒515. ry. Landscape and the Constitution of Regional Wynne, Brian 1992: Misunderstood Misunder- and National Identity. Norsk Geografisk Tids- standing. Social Identities and Public Uptake of skrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography 53(2– Science. Public Understanding of Science 1(3): 3):103‒112. 281‒304. What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic Public-Health and Lay Perceptions of the 2009‒2010 Swine Flu Outbreak and Mass Vaccination in Norway By Karine Aasgaard Jansen

In April 2009, the arrival of a new virus population (The Directorate of Health, A(H1N1), more commonly known as Helsedirektoratet, HD 2010:46). swine flu, raised public concerns across In this article, I will compare and dis- the world. Norway was no exception. On cuss public-health and lay perceptions of the afternoon of 24 April, the Norwegian the swine flu pandemic in Norway in gen- Institute of Public Health (Folkehelse- eral, and the mass vaccination in particu- instituttet , FHI) was officially informed lar. What was the reasoning behind the by the World Health Organization’s public health authorities’ decision to mass (WHO) notifiable disease surveillance vaccinate, and how was it received by lay system of the disease’s pandemic prospec- people? The research methods and empir- tive risk (Interview with N1, FHI, 27 No- ical material that inform the analysis con- vember 2014). The following day WHO’s sist of interviews with 17 public health General Director Margaret Chan publicly stakeholders, and responses to 196 quali- declared the swine flu as “an international tative questionnaires sent out by the Nor- 1 threat to human health”. Despite alarm- wegian Ethnological Research (Norsk et- ing reports of serious cases and even nologisk gransking, NEG). My argument deaths in Mexico where the virus originat- is that insofar as there are differences in ed, it soon became clear to the FHI, how- opinion about the events that followed in ever, that although the swine flu could Norway after the declaration of the have potentially severe consequences for 2009‒2010 swine flu outbreak as a pan- a small number of people, on the whole demic, and mass vaccination as the main the outbreak would be mild, that is, with precautionary method, these can be under- lower mortality rates than during regular stood to have been caused by so-called seasonal flus (Interview with N1, FHI, 27 November 2014). Nevertheless, based on epistemic asymmetry, or uneven knowl- the Norwegian preparedness plan for pan- edge regarding an issue in which one party demic influenza (The Ministry of Health claims to “know” more than the other and Care Services, Helse- og omsorgsde- (Grimen 2009:28). This, in turn, can argu- partementet, HOD 2006), general or mass ably be seen to reflect varying expecta- vaccination was recommended as the tions of rights and duties accorded to Nor- main preventive strategy against infec- wegian “health citizenship” as developed tion. This would be implemented if the from 1945 onwards. While ideas of pa- swine flu was declared a full-fledged pan- tient autonomy are generally seen to have demic by the WHO, which it was on 11 replaced medical paternalism both inter- June 2009. Concomitant with the peak of nationally and nationally in the 1990s, in the pandemic during the autumn of 2009, this article I argue that it is rather the con- vaccination was thus widely offered at tinuing co-existence of these two “medi- various public venues such as schools, cal models” that appear to have contribut- city halls, gyms etc. across Norway. As a ed to diverging views between lay people result approximately 2.2 million Norwe- and the public health authorities regarding gians were vaccinated against swine flu, the latter’s handling of the swine flu out- that is, 45 per cent of the country’s total break in Norway.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 83

Situating the Study: Governmentality [1976]; 2001 [1977]) describes such and Health Citizenship forms of governmentality aimed towards My objective with this article is to investi- citizens’ bodies as “biopower” or “body gate the Norwegian public health authori- politics”. This can include public vaccina- ties handling of the swine flu pandemic tion programs as previously discussed in and lay people’s views thereof, as part of the case of Norway by Fjell (2005). In an ongoing cultural historical formation of contrast to governmentality, the concept what health citizenship currently entails in of health citizenship also attaches impor- Norway. The term health citizenship is tance to the social relations between state here understood as a social contract that and civil society, the main focus of this ar- regulates benefits and responsibilities ticle. After all, decision makers within the concerning health between the nation state public health sector form part of civil so- and civil society (see for example Porter ciety as well. During the swine flu pan- 1999; 2011). Vaccination may be seen as demic, public health authorities appear for a particularly tested area in this respect example to have considered it their re- (Alver, Fjell & Ryymin 2013:204). Al- sponsibility and duty to offer the Norwe- though vaccination is voluntary in Nor- gian population vaccination. This decision way today, this is neither how it is usually was to a large degree based on what they portrayed nor perceived. As pointed out believed to be lay people’s expectations of by Alver, Fjell & Ryymin (2013:244), how they should handle the pandemic. In- public health authorities appeal to patient stead many lay people, at least in retro- participation and freedom of choice, but spect, disagreed with this decision. In my simultaneously encourage obedience by opinion, this can be taken to illustrate dis- underlining the importance of vaccination crepancies in understandings of health as the “right” decision to make. Vaccina- citizenship as it was communicated and tion can as such be looked at as a question of “governmentality” as described by played out during the pandemic, rather Foucault (see for example Foucault 1986 than issues of governmentality. My claim [1982]). By establishing a certain dis- is that the Norwegian public health au- course or knowledge regarding what is thorities to a large degree saw themselves, right, governments are able to produce in a metaphorical sense, as “healers” and citizens who act in accordance with the lay people as their “patients” during the government’s views and policies. This pandemic. In order to discuss this, I will form of social control occurs on all insti- (re)turn to Arthur Kleinman’s (1980) sem- tutional levels, is internalized by individ- inal work on the inner workings of health uals and ultimately leads them to self- care systems, and the distinction between govern. “disease” as a medical diagnosis and In addition, through various means of “illness” as a subjective experience. How- bodily control such as risk reduction or ever, such a view also includes what Gri- population control, governments produce men (2009) describes as epistemic asym- compliant, healthy and in turn economi- metry in the health professional–patient cally viable citizens. Foucault (2004 relationship. 84 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

Research Methods: Interviews and of the strategic level, followed by the Di- Qualitative Questionnaires rectorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet, The empirical methods and materials HD), the Norwegian Institute of Public which are presented in this article are Health (Folkehelseinstituttet, FHI), the based on a combination of interviews and Norwegian Medicines Agency (Statens responses to qualitative questionnaires. legemiddelverk, SLV) and the Directorate During the winter of 2014‒2015, I con- of Civil Protection and Emergency Plan- ducted a total of 17 semi-structured and ning (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet recorded interviews with representatives og beredskap, DSB) which was respons- from various public health departments ible for the evaluation of the Norwegian and institutions, health care organizations- public health authorities’ handling of the and facilities, and medical researchers. pandemic. While HOD has the supreme The informants were recruited on basis of responsibility for all matters of concern to their involvement in pandemic prepared- national public health, in a pandemic it is ness, decision-making, evaluation and HD, on the authority of HOD, which is in care. The informants were either recruited charge of crisis management (Byrk- due to their visible roles in the media dur- jedal-Bendiksen 2012:35). During the ing the pandemic, or for those who pandemic, HD worked closely together worked primarily “behind the scenes”, with FHI, which is the national public through the snowball method. The re- health competence institution. The FHI is, search participants thus covered, in Goff- among other things, responsible for the manian (1992 [1959]) terms, both the national surveillance and prevention of frontstage and the backstage of Norway’s communicable diseases, and Norway’s handling of the swine flu. In order to en- public vaccination programme. Some of sure that informants could speak freely the informants also served in the national even if their personal views were contrary pandemic committee (Pandemikomiteen). to official governmental lines, most sub- Pandemikomiteen is a national advisory jective information such as their positions board appointed by HOD, and consists of as spokespersons, age, gender etc. have members from across the Norwegian been removed according to agreement. health sector on both a strategic and an op- Although the majority of the informants erational level. Of those who were inter- represented the strategic level of so-called viewed, some also represented the special crisis management, that is, the political interest organization The Norwegian and administrative command level within Medical Association (Den norske lege- the public health sector, some also be- forening, DNL), Oslo University Hospital longed to the operational level, such as (OUS) and Haukeland University Hospi- emergency medical personnel, district tal (HUS) in Bergen. I also interviewed re- GPs etc. (McConnell et al. 2008, in searchers at Oslo University and the Uni- Byrkjedal-Bendiksen 2012:34). The in- versity of Bergen. formants represented the Ministry of In addition to the interviews with public Health and Care Services (Helse- og om- health actors, in this article I will also sorgsdepartementet, HOD) at the very top draw on 196 responses to the qualitative Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 85

questionnaire no. 251 “Cold and Flu” sent various actors involved in the 2009‒2010 out by NEG at Norsk Folkemuseum, Nor- swine flu outbreak understand pan- way’s largest museum of cultural history. demics? The questionnaire was divided into a total According to the WHO, which bases of five sub-themes. These were “Being in- its definition of a pandemic on the Dic- fected by cold or flu”, “Protection against tionary of Epidemiology (Last 2001), a contagion”, “Treatment”, “The 2009‒ pandemic is “an epidemic occurring 2010 swine flu” and “The risk of future worldwide, or over a very wide area, pandemics”. Each of the sub-themes con- crossing international boundaries and sisted of five to ten questions. usually affecting a large number of Qualitative questionnaires as research people”. This definition has, however, method- and data cover a wide spectre of been criticized time and again for being various quotidian topics of everyday con- vague, or elusive even, as it does not in- cern to many of us (Kjus 2013; Salomons- clude factors such as novelty, explosive- son 2003). In contrast to quantitative ness, contagiousness or severity (Mo- questionnaires, the qualitative ones are rens, Folkers & Fauci 2009:1008). As a semi-structured and ask open-ended ques- result the definition can also apply to tions in order to retrieve respondents’ re- other infections subject to global spread flections on the particular topic in ques- such as cholera and HIV. In the case of tion. The respondents answer in writing, the swine flu pandemic, this too appeared and replies can vary from single words in many cases to contribute to confusion and sentences to longer coherent narra- as to whether what we were facing was a tives. The respondents are made up of a public health emergency and a serious fixed group of regular “contributors” on cause for alarm, or rather a storm in a tea- one hand, and one-time repliers who are cup (Briggs & Nichter 2009:190‒191). provisionally recruited via social media So how can we know a pandemic when such as Facebook on the other. This com- we see one? Many respondents’ answers bination of regular contributors and did, in fact, resemble the WHO’s defini- one-time repliers thus makes for a rather tion of a pandemic: heterogeneous group with various world I interpret the word “pandemic” as an epidemic views, experiences and practices. For ex- that causes a large number of people to fall ill, ample, the youngest respondents to the maybe even across the entire world. A pandemic questionnaire “Cold and Flu” were born in concerns the outreach of a disease and the number the 1990s, and the oldest in the 1920s. Of of affected cases, but not how serious the disease the 196 respondents, 43 were men and 153 is (44978, M1938, teacher). were women. Other respondents rather questioned WHO’s definition of a pandemic by mak- “It’s the Pandemic, Stupid!” Defining ing a deliberate point out of how a pan- and Diagnosing a Pandemic demic, to them, was still something highly So what is a pandemic? And does it carry contagious and potentially lethal irrespec- the same meaning for public health stake- tive of official definitions of it (44948, holders and lay people? If not, how do the M1966, museum employee). Instead of 86 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

taking biomedical definitions of a pan- verity, the pandemic preparedness plan as demic as framed within the professional of 2006 outlines two different scenarios sector at face value, the respondent rather for public health response: A moderate questioned its validity. Many respondents pandemic scenario with a reasonably high also expressed doubts regarding the char- number of infected, but low mortality acterizations of pandemics similar to rates, and a worst case scenario with both those raised by Morens, Folkers & Fauci high numbers of infected and high mor- (2009): “The word pandemic makes me tality rates (HOD 2006:67). The swine flu think of very dangerous diseases like pandemic was described as a “reasonable Ebola or AIDS, but not influenza” (44952, worst case scenario”, thus merging the M1988, student). two scenarios in order to account for any Uncertainty regarding the definition of eventualities resulting from the A(H1N1)- a pandemic was not the case among the virus’s new genetic make-up: Norwegian public health authorities how- The point we wanted to make was that this was a ever. In the Norwegian influenza pan- new virus that could potentially lead to serious demic preparedness plan of 2006 (3rd edi- illness among some people. We didn’t know ex- tion), HOD defines a pandemic as fol- actly at the time who was at risk. For that reason lows: “Influenza pandemics are large, we thought it was necessary to notify the public worldwide epidemics of influenza by a that some people would indeed die during this new virus which the majority of the popu- pandemic, and that some people would be admit- ted to hospital with serious complications. At the lation lack immunity against” (HOD same time we made it clear that for most people 2006:5, my translation). In contrast to lay the pandemic would in fact be relatively mild. We people, biomedicine and public health already knew this from an early stage, and could tend to focus on the biology of a disease therefore set people’s minds at rest by informing (Singer 2009:202). them that it was highly unlikely that we would end Similar to WHO’s definition, HOD up with a worst case scenario. Then again, as the does not mention severity specifically. virus could change during the course of the epi- demic similar to what happened during the Span- This has been changed in the revised and ish flu, we also needed to make certain reserva- updated new pandemic preparedness plan tions clear since there was always a possibility [of from October 2014 which also includes a it turning more severe]. So our message was subsection on how the degree of severity somewhat mixed: On the one hand we needed to is relational, and therefore difficult to pre- explain that the pandemic could be dangerous, but dict (HOD 2014:8). For example, should on the other hand that the pandemic wasn’t really estimates of and claims to severity be all that dramatic (Interview with N2, HOD and FHI, 12 December 2014). based on the total number of infected, the number of serious cases and causalities, As implied by N2, the severity of the pan- the age of the deceased, whether effective demic appeared somewhat complicated to vaccination can be provided in time, or the affirm. As an airborne disease, the swine public health sector’s capacity to ade- flu was highly contagious, but for the ma- quately handle the outbreak (HOD 2014: jority of those who were infected the 8)? In order to deal with, among other symptoms were mostly mild. An estimat- things, the question of a pandemic’s se- ed 900.000 cases and a total of 32 deaths Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 87

were registered in Norway due to the pan- would occur in the same sentence. But demic (HD 2010:3). Part of the reason for how was this message received by its au- such high numbers of infected was the dience? Furthermore, how did the public A(H1N1) virus’s new genetic composi- health authorities come to the conclusion tion consisting of swine, human and avian that mass vaccination was the best preven- strains. Although zoonotic diseases, that tive measure against infection? is, diseases which spread between animals and people, are very common, in the case Pandemic Panic? The Unfolding of of the swine flu immunity in the popula- Swine Flu as Disease and Illness tion was generally low. Moreover, the Although the severity of the A(H1N1) A(H1N1) virus could cause severe re- pandemic may have been difficult to pre- spiratory symptoms on occasion among dict, and the WHO does not include sever- children, young adults and pregnant ity in its definitions of a pandemic, this women. In contrast to seasonal influenza, does not entail that the question was left elderly were less at risk than the younger completely off the table by various public due to a partial immunization caused by health stakeholders. When the WHO de- the A(H2H2) or Asian flu virus during the clared that the swine flu had reached stage Asian flu pandemic of 1957 (Interview six, which is the highest level in its pan- with N3, FHI, 18 December 2014). This demic influenza alert system, the WHO apparent unpredictability of swine flu was simultaneously described the severity of something which consistently came up in the swine flu as “moderate” (DSB 2010: the interviews with public health officials, 77). As mentioned in the introduction, this and which led one informant to describe announcement took place on 11 June the disease as “Doctor Jekyll and Mr 2009, thus almost two months after they Hyde” (Interview with N4, FHI, 15 De- had first notified public health authorities cember 2014): across the world about the potential global Although it [the swine flu] was mild and kind to dispersion of the swine flu. The first Nor- most, it was catastrophic for a few […]. And some wegian press conference on the pandemic, of those patients made a lasting impression. That for example, was held on 27 April 2009 by was what was so paradoxical, you know. Very the then Minister of Health, Bjarne Håkon many of those who were infected didn’t really fall ill at all, I mean, they hardly noticed it because Hanssen, together with the Director of they were so mildly affected. But then you talk to HD, Bjørn Inge Larsen and FHI’s press emergency doctors and nurses that tell you how spokesperson during the pandemic, Bjørn teenagers and youth, who are perfectly fine one Iversen. While presenting the public with moment, are close to dying and in respirators in the different scenarios for public health re- emergency care units two hours later. sponses as outlined in the Norwegian pan- In order to communicate the risk of conta- demic preparedness plan (HOD 2006:84), gion to the public, both public health offi- the national newspaper VG picked up on cials and politicians therefore tended to one PowerPoint slide in particular: The opt for two rhetorical moves simultan- slide that presented the swine flu as a “rea- eously, concern and reassurance (Briggs sonable worst case scenario”, the scenario & Nichter 2009:191). Sometimes both agreed upon by the public health and med- 88 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

ical experts (Interview with N5, HD 11 Although HD and FHI worked closely to- December 2014). In order to explain a gether during the pandemic, many in- worst-case scenario, which the swine flu formants within FHI mentioned that HD pandemic was not (Interview with N1, had been slightly too “trigger happy” for FHI 27 November 2014) the slide also their taste, and that this press conference presented, however, calculations from the was an example of that (Interview with much more severe Spanish flu, and N2, HOD and FHI, 12 December 2014). showed in excess of 1.2 million infected According to FHI, the intention of the cases and 13,000 deaths. This was con- press conference had been to modify the fused by the tabloid press as relating to the international tabloid media coverage of current swine flu pandemic, and resulted the pandemic, and thereby lower in a headline that claimed that 13,000 Nor- people’s fears of the coming pandemic. wegians could die of swine flu (Skevik & Instead the plan backfired as the Nor- Brenna, VG 27 April 2009). The press’s wegian public health authorities were ac- interpretation of the information came as a cused of ballyhooing and scaremonger- shock to most central public health in- ing. When asked what a pandemic is, one formants, some of whom had even been respondent answered, for example: “It is present at the press conference. Further- [a pandemic] when the devil’s advocates more, in recounting the occurrence, some appear on the evening news and try to informants also pointed towards what may scare the living daylights out of the ordi- perceived as internal differences in the nary citizens of this country” (44883, collaboration between the two stake- M1943, chief engineer). By devil’s advo- holders HD and FHI: cates the respondent here referred to the When I saw the newspapers the next morning, I public health authorities, and not the was shocked […]. The image of the pandemic that press. However, other respondents rather the press chose to convey was something com- targeted the press and media, as did some pletely different from what we had tried to com- public health informants: municate in our report that very same morning. I experienced the authorities’ information as Our evaluation was that this wasn’t a very bad well-balanced, while the media was hysterical. pandemic. We’re not there, so we thought that it Every time there’s an epidemic (the bird flu, the was silly to bring up such a scenario. However, swine flu, Ebola), the media yells about the danger HD said that “It’s better that we present it our- of a pandemic. It never happens. The risk is prob- selves because the journalists will dig it out any- ably there, but I find the press’s speculations to be way” […]. It was what their public communica- a waste of my time, so I rarely bother reading any tion people had advised them to do. I thought it of it (44947, M1983, academic). was silly, and believe that they should have pre- sented the press with what we truly believed, If you were present at the press confer- which was that this [pandemic] didn’t look that ence, then you would see that this [slide] bad at all, and that it would most likely be both wasn’t a big deal. It was one slide in a long mild and with low mortality. That’s what we session […]. It has still been used as an ex- wrote that very same morning as well. Instead, what came out [of the press conference] was ample of how the authorities blew it [the “13,000 deaths”” (Interview with N1, FHI, 27 No- pandemic] out of all proportions. And vember 2014). that’s actually a retrospective falsification Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 89

of history (Interview with N4, FHI, 15 De- daughter home from the nursery. I bought gloves, cember 2014). and lots of hand sanitizers and face masks. I was All the same, the infamous press con- actually monitored by my GP… because of my fear. I cried my way to receiving the vaccine at a ference held on 27 April 2009 was also small office, rather than being mass-vaccinated at criticized in DSB’s evaluation report for the football stadium where people shouted at preg- contributing towards the escalation of nant women and those with new-born babies. It people’s fears rather than reducing them was insane. […] It is difficult to be in a risk group. (DSB 2010:43). Furthermore, Hornmoen I was pregnant during both the bird flu and the (2013) claims that the Norwegian news swine flu. Ha ha, no wonder my husband doesn’t coverage of the pandemic led to the devel- want to have any more children (44862, F1973, activity therapist). opment of a public “pandemic paranoia”. Bjørkdahl (2015) claims, however, that Whether the respondent’s anxieties were this so-called “panic” can, arguably, be primarily caused by failing public health described as a “meta-panic” caused by an communication, sensationalist media cov- established mediated myth of people’s an- erage or something else is difficult to es- ticipated fears of so-called “pandemic tablish. All the same, to her the fear was paranoia”, rather than actual panic. Bjørk- tangible, and not imagined. As such the dahl (2015:119) argues that when lay respondent points to the difference be- people expressed themselves publicly tween disease as a medical diagnosis and about the swine flu during the outbreak, it illness as a subjective experience of it was mostly to express concerns about its (Kleinman 1980), something I find to be apparent over-dramatization by public missing in most discourse analyses of the health and media, and how such exagger- pandemic as a disease per se. People inter- ations led other people to be afraid. This is pret their symptoms in various ways based also the case in the majority of the ac- on personal experiences that are, among counts of the swine flu outbreak in the other things, formed in encounters with qualitative questionnaires which tend to different healers in what Kleinman (1980: point towards “meta-panic” rather than 50) describes as the inner workings of a “pandemic panic”. One respondent local health care system. A local health (44978, M1938, teacher) describes, for care system consists of a professional sec- example, how “all the fuss” about the tor characterized primarily by biomedi- swine flu outbreak made him irritated cine or other established medical systems rather than afraid. According to him, and depending on the cultural context, a folk many other respondents with him, both sector operationalized by complementary the public health authorities and the media medical practices, and a popular sector cried wolf. Then again, some respondents made up of lay people’s own perceptions, also expressed genuine fear of the pan- beliefs and experiences of disease and demic: treatments. The sectors tend to overlap, and lay people’s knowledge of disease can I was pregnant with my second child, and was panicking about falling ill. I read everything! The therefore be based on information drawn British authorities encouraged pregnant women to from all three of the sectors simultaneous- stay inside. Then I panicked. I kept my oldest ly. While the Norwegian public health au- 90 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

thorities as institutions are firmly placed ulation should follow suit (Interview with within the biomedical sector, lay people N1, FHI 27 November 2014). In late No- are not. This can even include public vember 2009, SLV updated the recom- health decision makers, although to a less- mended vaccine dosage from two to one er degree based on their specialist knowl- in line with new clinical data (DSB 2010: edge. As a result understandings and ex- 46). periences of illness can differ between the As it was established early on that the two. pandemic would in fact be mild to most people, critics of the mass vaccination still Why Mass Vaccination? Divided question, among other things, whether the Views on How to Handle the Pan- extended financial effects of choosing not demic to vaccinate at all were a determining fac- Diverging views among scholars, public tor in the public health authorities’ deci- health professionals and lay people not sion to recommend mass vaccination (In- only concern the question of the severity terview with N6, HUS 29 January 2015). of the pandemic, but perhaps to an even According to the decision makers that I in- larger degree the Norwegian public health terviewed within the public health sector, authorities’ recommendation of mass vac- this was not the case. The agreement with cination as a preventive measure against GlaxoSmithKline entailed that, econom- infection. When the WHO declared the ically speaking, the vaccines would cost swine flu a fully-fledged pandemic, Nor- the Norwegian nation state exactly the way’s influenza vaccine supply deal from same amount of money whether they were June 2008 with the pharmaceutical com- put to use or not (Interview with N2, FHI pany GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was re- 18 December 2014). Nonetheless, an in- leased. FHI had opted at the time to buy formant from DSB who took part in the two dosages of the influenza vaccine Pan- national evaluation of the Norwegian pub- demrix for all Norwegian citizens, that is, lic health authorities’ handling of the pan- 9.4 million dosages at a total price tag of demic still claims that the vaccine may in 730 million NOK (DSB 2010:12). The fact have been primarily used “just be- agreement with GlaxoSmithKline was not cause they had it” (Interview with N7, open for negotiation once influenza stage DSB 27 March 2015). If disease is con- six was reached, meaning that all of the sidered primarily as biology within the vaccines were either released at once, or professional sector, then so is its treat- none at all (Interview with N3, FHI 18 De- ment. Moreover, in order to control dis- cember 2014). ease, particularly as a rapidly spreading Vaccination of risk groups started on 16 pandemic, identifying so-called “medical October 2009 (DSB 2010:46). Upon magical bullets” becomes an urgent public learning that some of the smaller munici- health priority (Singer 2009:202). There is palities completed this task already within thus little room for illness, especially per- a week and were now sitting on a surplus haps since in this case the so-called “med- of vaccines, FHI recommended HD on 23 ical magical bullets” or the vaccines were October that vaccination of the entire pop- even dangling like a carrot in front of de- Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 91

cision makers. According to N7 everyone ized into seeing themselves as beneficial in the public health sector therefore ap- helpers, as they indeed also are. If public peared to have been somewhat “carried health authorities acted as healers, mass away” by the prospect of a mass vaccina- vaccination can also be perceived to have tion, and illustrates this claim by criticiz- been considered the correct treatment of ing the fact that no cost-benefit analysis the swine flu diagnosis within the profes- was supposedly ever performed in this re- sional sector at the time. The decision to gard (Interview with N7, DSB 27 March encourage mass vaccination was thus 2014). about ensuring that all of their patients When it comes to the respondents to the would have access to the designated pre- qualitative questionnaires, some blamed ventive cure for the disease. As N3 puts it, the media for exaggerating the pandemic it was “the right thing to do” (Interview threat as previously described, while with N3, FHI, 18 December 2014). others rather blamed the public health To me this reasoning illustrates more authorities for recommending what they than the “mentalities of rule” represented perceived as unnecessary vaccination: by governmentality, and rather reflects, as None of us caught the swine flu […], but unfortu- previously mentioned, the social relations nately I was vaccinated. I regret it bitterly. There between the nation state and civil society. are probably many epidemics that have been seri- For decision makers, vaccination during ous throughout the years, and that have required the pandemic was considered the right vaccination, but this mess of a swine flu and the choice all around. Even with the unex- authorities’ more or less hysterical behaviour was pected discovery of the chronic neuro- crazy in my opinion (44922, M1952, real estate logical sleep disorder narcolepsy among manager). children as a serious side effect of the Pan- However, if the Norwegian public health demrix vaccine,2 all of the decision sector did indeed get “carried away” as is makers within the public health sector still implied by N7 and many respondents, thought that mass vaccination was rightful they did so both in accordance with advice at the time. Never mind the criticism, it from the WHO and the Norwegian nation- was their responsibility towards the Nor- al pandemic preparedness plan of 2006 wegian population. Some also mentioned where mass vaccination is outlined as the that although a focus on individual choice main preventive strategy in the case of a and potential side effects would be more pandemic (HOD 2006:47). In addition in- explicit in a coming pandemic, they would formants from HOD, HD and FHI all re- still continue to insist on vaccination as peatedly insisted that the underlying rea- the main preventive precaution against son for the decision to recommend mass pandemic influenza (Interview with N2, vaccination was based on the fact that as HOD and FHI 12 December 2014). It is, the swine flu so severally affected some after all, both medical doctors’ and public young people outside of the established health authorities’ job to assess what is risk groups, it was best to offer the vaccine risky to their patients, and not least of all to everybody. According to Grimen eliminate that threat (Grimen 2009:20). (2009:16), health professionals are social- While critics claimed that mass vaccina- 92 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

tion was used in order to avoid a public what is right for patients, or medical pater- confrontation concerning the waste of nalism, create tensions regarding the ques- millions of tax money for the vaccines (In- tion of patient autonomy. Medical pater- terview with N8, UIO 18 March 2015), nalism legitimizes health personnel’s au- public health authorities rather argued that thority over their patients on basis of their they potentially saved lives through vacci- claim to superior knowledge. It illustrates nation. Then again, such reasoning also as such the inbuilt power differences be- views narcolepsy as a side effect of vacci- tween disease and illness, and is an ex- nation as a very unfortunate, rare and un- ample of epistemic asymmetry (Grimen precedented occurrence, while Pandemrix 2009). has been claimed time and again not to In the case of Norway, the very founda- have been properly tested according to tion of the Norwegian social welfare sys- standard procedures before being put to tem, as developed from 1945 onwards, is use (Interview with N7, DSB 27 March for example based on medical paternal- 2015). ism. The “Evang system”, as it is de- scribed by the Norwegian sociologist Epistemic Asymmetry and Health Rune Slagstad (1998), refers to the previ- Citizenship: Framing Vaccination in ous Health Director and medical doctor Norway Karl Evang’s vision of a universal, egali- Baked into such reasoning is a narrative of tarian health care system for all Norwe- public health authorities as beneficial gian citizens. In order to achieve this, it helpers. In addition to being beneficial was also necessary to have a strong public helpers, health professionals are also gate- health sector (Heløe 2012). The welfare keepers and controllers of information, and health of citizens was thus ultimately however (Grimen 2009). Epistemic asym- considered the nation state’s responsibili- metry in the healer‒patient relationship ty, and according to Evang it was profes- can as such be understood as a universal sionals, particularly medical and public phenomenon since a modern society can- health experts, who were considered the not, after all, function without uneven dis- most capable of securing this kind of tribution of knowledge between health health citizenship. After all, who was bet- professionals and their patients (Grimen ter suited to know the correct treatment for 2009:16). As pointed out by Grimen medical problems, or come up with the (2009:31), this is not necessarily a bad best solution to public health issues, than thing in itself. In fact, it would be rather the experts on the subject (Alver, Fjell & worrying if those who treat diseases do Ryymin 2013:142‒143)? Medical pater- not know more about them than their pa- nalism as epistemic asymmetry was not tients do. Nevertheless, epistemic asym- merely an idea, but also a practice. Central metry may harbour various national and positions in the Norwegian public health regional institutional forms of inbuilt administration, for example, were given to power differences that may be considered medical doctors, sometimes by Evang problematic from patients’ points of view. himself (Shiøtz 2003). Even in 2014 and For example can insisting on knowing 2015, the majority of those I interviewed Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 93

within the public health sector were in fact less, a central public health informant and medical doctors. medical doctor still mentioned how volun- With people’s improving social welfare tary vaccination of children is not neces- and health conditions, at least in the west- sarily communicated clearly to the public: ern world, lifestyle related diseases gradu- “The [public health] authorities’ attitude ally started to replace infectious diseases on this matter is that when it comes to the as public health authorities’ main concern children’s vaccination programme, ‘Yes, from the 1970s onwards. This phenome- it’s voluntary, but we don’t say so’” (In- non is referred to as the epidemiological terview with N9, SLV 12 December transition, and several public health in- 2014). formants mentioned how it affected their Was this the case during the swine flu practice of medicine on one hand, and lay as well? Vaccines against influenza are people’s views of what to expect from usually framed as individual benefit, them on the other hand. Rather than taking while children’s vaccination programmes “doctor’s orders” for granted, people now often draw on the argument of solidarity started to question their decisions instead (Lundgren 2016). From a public health (Interview with N2, FHI and HOD 12 De- perspective, mass vaccination is desirable cember 2014). The epidemiological tran- in order to achieve herd immunity, which sition also gradually changed the public requires 80‒95 per cent vaccine coverage health authorities’ focus from collective depending on the disease in question benefit to preventive personal responsibil- (www.fhi.no). By vaccinating you not ity for one’s own health (Alver, Fjell & only protect yourself, but also others Ryymin 2013:185). With the introduction around you. Lundgren (2016) claims for of new public management and the con- example that the solidarity argument was cept of patient autonomy in the 1990s, drawn heavily upon by public health au- Evang’s model of treatment was replaced thorities in Sweden during the swine flu by a model of patient rights in Norway ac- pandemic. According to Norwegian pub- cording to Heløe (2012). lic health informants, the solidarity argu- So how does any of this relate to vacci- ment was less outspoken in Norway, al- nation in general, and the Norwegian mass though still a contributing factor (Inter- vaccination during the 2009‒2010 pan- view with N2, HOD and FHI, 12 Decem- demic in particular? As previously men- ber 2014). As one respondent puts it: tioned, vaccination is one of the areas in I thought there was intense pressure from the me- which the question of state benefits versus dia about how dangerous the swine flu was, and individual rights has been particularly how important it was to get vaccinated. I had a tested throughout Norwegian public four-year-old and a one-year-old at the time. I health history (Alver, Fjell & Ryymin swayed between whether we should vaccinate or 2013: 204).Vaccination of children has for not. We didn’t belong to any risk group in my example been both obligatory and volun- opinion, but obviously I understood the effect of vaccination, that is, if everyone does it, it [the tary at different times (see for example swine flu] can’t break out. And that we would Harthug 2014). Today it is voluntary, as is sponge on those who vaccinated if we didn’t vaccination against influenza. Neverthe- (44914, F1973, researcher). 94 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

As brought up by this respondent, vacci- much larger if you don’t have enough vaccines nation framed as solidarity speaks to col- and people die because of that. lective responsibility as a health citizen of According to N2, a decision not to offer a welfare state. However, the solidarity ar- vaccination to everyone during the swine gument resonates more with medical pa- flu outbreak would have been judged as ternalism and the “Evang system” than much worse by the Norwegian population, with patient autonomy. My argument is and thus ultimately detrimental to lay therefore that rather than looking at the people’s trust in the public health authori- patient rights model as replacing the treat- ties. In N2’s view the public health sector ment model, both seemed to be operating was less “damned if they did, than if they at the same time during the 2009‒2010 didn’t”. Because of Norway’s wealth, N2 pandemic in Norway. To the public health claims that Norwegians no longer accept authorities, encouraging vaccination was the risk of disease as part of everyday life. ultimately about identifying a risk, that is, If there’s money, and there is, then disease the infection of swine flu, and offering the can be removed. However, Grimen (2009: population a preventive measure to con- 21) argues that health care professionals trol it (patient rights model). At the same tend to think that patients think like them- time informants appeared to a large degree selves, but that this is often not the case. to have considered mass vaccination a As mentioned previously, in order to welfare benefit offered to the Norwegian make sense of disease, lay people draw on population in a time of need in order to po- medical information from all three of the tentially save lives (treatment model). health sectors simultaneously (Kleinman Moreover, N2 (Interview with N2, HOD 1980). Illness is not disease, and was, in and FHI 12 December 2014) mentions fact, mostly considered a normal part of how public health decisions also draw on life by respondents: “I don’t vaccinate, I lay knowledge, not merely the other way hardly ever get influenza, and I believe around: that it’s just good for you to get it [the flu] We tend to think that it’s all about technical as- every few years” (44841, F1980, journal- sessments. But technical assessments always de- ist). Even risk tended to be framed in a pend on the generally accepted view in the popu- similar way: “Life is full of dangerous lation. If we, that is FHI, were to make our deci- things, and if you try to protect yourself sion without taking this into consideration, we against everything, I think you will lead a probably would have ordered much fewer vaccine poor life lacking in experiences” (44848, dosages. But we knew that it would cause a ter- rible outcry if we ended up in a situation where we M1944, senior consultant). were facing a serious pandemic, and it turned out that there weren’t enough vaccines for everybody. Concluding Remarks And we know that here, in the world’s richest While public health informants claimed country, to defend yourself by saying that we that the majority of those who vaccinated wanted to save 1 million NOK, but put the popu- did so out of fear (Interview with N3, FHI lation at risk; no one would understand that […]. It’s important to make a mistake in the right way 18 December 2014), this fear appears to so to speak. I mean, if you give too many vaccines, reflect “meta-panic” (Bjørkdahl 2015) there’s a risk of making a mistake. But the risk is among public health professionals as well Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 95

as lay people. As healers, health profes- during the swine flu outbreak. However, sionals were afraid that their patients in the case of the handling of the would be afraid. Moreover, they were 2009‒2010 swine flu pandemic in Nor- afraid that young people could die on their way, there also appears to have been a gap watch, as 32 severely affected patients in- between how public health authorities and deed did. While there is no denying the lay people conceive of benefits and re- power embedded in specialist knowledge, sponsibilities regarding protection against public health does not purely represent the the risk of infectious diseases. While the so-called medical gaze (Porter 1999). Al- public health sector as healers seems to though the governmentality perspective is have considered vaccination as lay highly useful in order to understand the people’s rights, and therefore their respon- subtleties of power and politics as a de- sibility to offer vaccination within the centred process, it can also fall short of treatment model, lay people did not neces- capturing non-compliance with state dis- sarily think it was their duty or their re- courses and policies. Moreover, I find that sponsibility to be vaccinated in accord- it lacks a focus on so-called acting actors ance with the idea of patient autonomy. on both sides of the government, while Health citizenship thus appears to have health citizenship on the other hand in- somewhat different meanings for the Nor- cludes the negotiations and balances of wegian public health professionals and lay policies and practices between the nation people, which may in turn have led to con- state and civil society. Who was, for ex- flicting views following the events after ample, ultimately responsible for the Nor- the recognition of a pandemic threat to the wegian population’s health during the country. By focusing on the inherent pandemic, and according to whom? If nar- power imbalances in the patient‒healer colepsy had not been established as a side relationship while simultaneously paying effect of Pandemrix, and the pandemic careful attention to the range of various had, paradoxically, been more severe, the views on the pandemic, the objective of well-planned Norwegian pandemic pre- this article has thus been to challenge epi- paredness including mass vaccination stemic asymmetry by contributing to a might have been a success story. In most critical epistemology (Farmer 1999; see cases differentials in knowledge between also Lundgren 2015). The evolution of the health professionals and their patients, or pandemic, how it was handled and repre- epistemic asymmetry, is both necessary sented, and experiences with and percep- and desirable, also from patients’ perspec- tions thereof, were complex to say the tives (Grimen 2009). least. A respondent summarizes it as fol- Health professionals possess different lows. knowledge than their patients, and any- I am positive to vaccines. But this particular case thing else would most likely be considered of mass vaccination was perhaps somewhat hasty? highly worrying by most of us. Sometimes I don’t know. A lot has been written about how the pharmaceutical industry used the opportunity to our lives even depend on it, which was in benefit from the situation, but I find this to be too fact the Norwegian public health authori- speculative. The possibilities are always weighed ties’ main argument for mass vaccination up against each other. I don’t know anyone who’s 96 Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic

suffered from side effects [of vaccination] person- 3. Respondent 44948, M1966 ally, but I’ve heard about it. At the same time we 4. Respondent 44952, M1988 don’t know how it [the pandemic] would have 5. Respondent 44883, M1943 evolved without the vaccine. Maybe more people 6. Respondent 44947, M1983 would have fallen ill and died? This is an equation 7. Respondent 44862, F1973 with lots of unknown factors (44839, F1971, 8. Respondent 44922, M1952 teacher). 9. Respondent 44914, F1973 10. Respondent 44841, F1980 Indeed it was, and to scholars, stake- 11. Respondent 44848, M1944 holders and public alike. 12. Respondent 44839, F1971

Karine Aasgaard Jansen Literature Forskare Alver, Bente Gullveig, Tove Ingebjørg Fjell & Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper Teemu Ryymin 2013: Vitenskap og Varme Umeå universitet Hender. Den Medisinske Markedsplassen i SE-901 87 Umeå Norge 1800 til i Dag. Oslo: Scandinavian Aca- demic Press. e-mail: [email protected] Bjørkdahl, Kristian 2015: Metapanikk! ‒ Om svineinfluensautbruddets retoriske forviklinger. Notes Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift 32 (2). 1 The statement was made with reference to the Briggs, Charles & Mark Nichter 2009: Biocom- International Health Regulations (IHR) of municability and the Biopolitics of Pandemic 2005, 2nd edition, and 196 countries have Threats. Medical Anthropology 28 (3). agreed to its implementation, Norway includ- Byrkjedal-Bendiksen, Øyvind 2012: Svine- ed. As of June 2007, the IHR has been a bind- influensaen ‒ en varslet krise. Master’s thesis, ing instrument of international law regarding Department of Administration and Organiza- the management of transnational spread dis- tion Theory, University of Bergen. ease. Direktoratet for Samfunnssikkerhet og Beredskap 2 According to the Norwegian System of Pa- 2010: Ny influensa A(H1N1) 2009: Gjennom- tient Compensation (Norsk pasientskade- gang av erfaringene i Norge. erstatning, NPE) 70 minors under the age of Farmer, Paul 1999: Infections and Inequalities. 19 have been diagnosed with narcolepsy after The Modern Plagues. Berkeley: University of the vaccine as of February 2015 California Press. (www.npe.no). Fjell, Tove Ingebjørg 2005: Fri tvang eller tving- ende frihet- eller begge deler? Om vaksine- References ringspraksikser i samtids-Norge. Tidsskrift for Kulturforskning 4 (3). Interviews Foucault, Michel 1986 (1982): The Subject and N1, FHI, 27 November 2014 Power. In Michel Foucault: Beyond Structural- N2, HOD and FHI, 12 December 2014 ism and Hermeneutics. Hubert L. Dreyfus and N3, FHI, 18 December 2014 Paul Rabinow (eds.). Brighton: The Harvester N4, FHI, 15 December 2014 Press. N5, HD, 11 December 2014 Foucault, Michel 2001 (1977): Seksualitetens His- N6, HUS, 29 January 2015 torie. Oslo: Exil Forlag. N7, DSB, 27 March 2015 Foucault, Michel 2004 (1976): Society Must Be N8, UIO, 18 March 2015 Defended. London: Penguin Books. N9, SLV, 12 December 2014 Goffman, E. 1992 [1959]: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Oslo: Pax Forlag. Questionnaire Grimen, Harald 2009: Power, Trust, and Risk. Norsk Etnologisk Gransking 2014: Spørreliste no. Some Reflections on an Absent Issue. Medical 251 Forkjølelse og influensa: Anthropology Quarterly 23 (1). 1. Respondent 44969, F1946 Harthug, Henrik 2014: Mellom påbud og frivillig- 2. Respondent 44978, M1938 het. Strategier i de norske vaksinasjonspro- Karine Aasgaard Jansen, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Pandemic 97

grammene 1940‒1980, Master thesis, Depart- point. The intersection of compassion and con- ment of Archaeology, History, Culture Studies tainment during the A(H1N1) pandemic in and Religion, University of Bergen. Sweden 2009. Sociology and Anthropology 4 Helsedirektoratet 2010: Håndtering av pandemisk (12). influensa 2009‒10. Morens, David M., Gregory K. Folkers & Antho- Heløe, Leif Arne 2012: Fra paternalisme til ny S. Fauci 2009: What is a Pandemic? Journal pasientrettigheter. Tidsskriftet Den Norske of Infectious Diseases 200 (7). Legeforening 132 (4). Porter, Dorothy 1999: Health, Civilization and the Helse og- omsorgsdepartementet 2006: Nasjonal State. A History of Public Health from Ancient beredskapsplan for pandemisk influensa, ver- to Modern Times. London: Routledge. sjon 3.0. Porter, Dorothy 2011: Health Citizenship. Essays Hornmoen, Harald 2013: “Pandemisk paranoia”? in Social Medicine and Biomedical Politics. – En analyse av nyhetsomtalen av «svineinflu- Berkeley: University of California Medical Hu- ensaen» i norske aviser. Tidsskrift for Sam- manities Press. funnsforskning 52 (1). Salomonsson, Anders 2003: Folklivsarkivet och Kjus, Audun 2013: Hvorfor spørre? Norsk etnolo- frågelistorna. In Frågelist och Berättarglädje. gisk gransking og spørrelistas framtid. Tids- Om frågelistor som forskningsmetod och folklig skrift for Kulturforskning 12 (1). Oslo: Novus genre, ed. Bo G. Nilsson, Dan Waldetoft Forlag. &Christina Westergren. Stockholm: Nordiska Kleinman, Arthur 1980: Patients and Healers in Museets Förlag. the Context of Culture. An Exploration of the Singer, Merill 2009: Pathogens Gone Wild? Med- Borderland between Anthropology, Medicine, ical Anthropology and the “Swine Flu” Pan- and Psychiatry. Berkeley: University of Cali- demic. Medical Anthropology 28 (3). fornia Press. Skevik, Erlend & Jarle G. Brenna 2009: Myn- Last, John M. (ed.) 2001: A Dictionary of Epi- dighetenes skrekkscenario: 13 000 døde av demiology , 4th edition. New York: Oxford Uni- svineinfluensa. Verdens Gang, 27 April. versity Press. Slagstad, Rune 1998: De Nasjonale Strateger. Os- Lundgren, Britta 2015: ‘Rhyme or reason?’ Say- lo: Pax Forlag. ing no to mass vaccination. Subjective re-inter- pretation in the context of the A(H1N1) influen- za pandemic in Sweden 2009–2010. Medical Internet sources Humanities 41 (2). http://www.fhi.no Lundgren, Britta 2016: Solidarity at the needle http://www.npe.no Routines on Trial The Roadwork of Expanding the Lab into Everyday Life in an Exercise Trial in Denmark By Jonas Winther

Introduction tive methods implies that questions of In public health research, the randomized context and social practice tend to be controlled trial (RCT) constitutes the omitted (Shoveller et al. 2016; Brives et “gold standard” method for testing and al. 2016; Holman et al. 2017; Cohn et al. evaluating interventions that target 2013; Broer et al. 2017). Others have people’s behaviours and lifestyles (Craig highlighted that the methodological re- et al. 2018; Holman et al. 2017). Such in- quirements of the RCT imply that inter- terventions may seek to improve people’s ventions into people’s lives are often health by encouraging them to change modelled and designed according to posi- their diet or take up more exercise. At the tivistic ideas about the body, human na- heart of this endeavour lies the question of ture, and context (Bell 2012). One conse- how to align requirements of social rele- quence is that RCTs risk corroborating vance and methodological rigour. On the problematic ideas about agency, responsi- one hand, trial designs and the interven- bility, and health (Cohn 2014; Blue et al. tions they seek to test must be socially ro- 2016; Bell 2016). However, while these bust and meaningful enough to be per- critiques highlight important issues in the formed in everyday contexts. On the other performance of trials in everyday con- hand, they must be stringent enough to texts, they rarely provide ethnographic in- meet methodological requirements of sights into the workings of specific behav- standardization, measurability, and con- ioural trials (Bell 2016:94). Therefore, trol (Will 2007; Rushforth 2015). This little is known about the particular ways in challenge has led public health re- which people’s everyday lives are im- searchers to develop trial designs that agined and accommodated in specific might better accommodate the uncertain- trials and about how trial participants, in ties, complexities, and dynamics of differ- practice, follow RCT protocols as a part of ent societal contexts (Craig et al. 2008; their ongoing lives. Treweek & Zwarenstein 2009; Hawe et al. In this article, I take up this agenda 2004). Also, process evaluation is increas- through an ethnographic account of an ingly promoted as a way to account for the RCT in Denmark aimed at evaluating the practices of implementation, the influ- health effects of three exercise interven- ences of context, and the mechanisms and tions. In so doing, I draw on my involve- “active ingredients” of health interven- ment as an ethnologist in the trial and tions (Wells et al. 2012; Tarquinio et al. fieldwork with participants and research- 2015; Clark 2013; Michie et al. 2011; ers to engage with two overall questions: Moore et al. 2015). (1) How were people’s everyday lives in- Though many trials now adopt elabor- scribed into the trial protocol? (2) How ate designs that seek to consider the com- did participants routinize the exercise in- plexities of “the real world”, social sci- terventions in their everyday lives? In ence researchers have questioned the firm answering these questions, I argue that commitment to the RCT within public the design and protocols of the trial both health. Researchers have pointed out that presumed and produced particular every- the commitment to the RCT and quantita- day lives. The analysis shows that the en-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 99

counters between the implicit norms of rails and connect them but you cannot the protocols and participants’ bodies drive a locomotive through a field” (ibid.: and everyday lives were fraught with 155). With this imagery, Latour highlights friction. The participants’ work of deal- the work of constructing and reworking ing with this friction not only recon- material, social, and political structures to figured their daily lives; it also recon- allow scientific facts to travel and become figured the experience of exercise. In effective outside the controlled spaces of other words, aligning the RCT with the laboratory. In line with Latour’s tenet everyday life required work that both en- of studying “science in action” (1987), abled compliance and challenged the many ethnographers have highlighted the basic categories and assumptions of the significant amount of work trialists do to trial. This point raises questions about ensure the standardization of scientific how we understand everyday life as a practices in messy worlds. In doing so, context for behavioural trials. studies have portrayed the RCT as a re- The article proceeds as follows. First, I sourceful, effective, and standardizing ex- develop the notion of “roadwork” as an perimental apparatus, whose effects go far analytical lens to understand the work the beyond the relationships and entities with- participants did to discipline their every- in the focus of the experiment (Mont- day lives and bodies according to scien- gomery & Pool 2017; Brives 2016; Bijker tific exercise protocols. Second, I present et al. 2016; Montgomery 2017). While the the trial protocol and its core ideas and as- work that trial personnel do to extend sci- sumptions. Third, I present three partici- entific practices has been well analysed, pant stories that show the work required most studies of participants’ work focus by the protocol and the kinds of friction on pharmacological trials (Brives 2013; that emerged in following its trajectories Wadmann & Hoeyer 2014). Notably, in everyday life. Finally, I argue for the Melinda Cooper and Catherine Walby need to consider the situated effects and (2014) have conceptualized the contribu- work entailed in protocol compliance in tions of trial participants as “clinical la- the evaluation of health behaviour inter- bour” to shed light on the precarious ventions. forms of bodily transaction and risk that lie at the heart of biomedical innovation Roadwork and growth. Although behavioural trials In this article, I am concerned with what rarely entail the same risks as drug devel- Bruno Latour has described as extension opment or feed into bio-economies, such of lab practices and conditions (Latour trials similarly rely on participants’ ac- 1983:155). Using the infrastructural meta- tively taking part in the production of data phor of railways, Latour has argued that by changing their bodies, behaviours, and the production, circulation, and spatial everyday routines according to specific distribution of science relies on transform- research questions and protocols. The idea ing the world beyond the laboratory: “Sci- of trial participants as “labourers”, in entific facts are like trains, they do not other words, broaches questions about the work off their rails. You can extend the forms of work that participants in behav- 100 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

ioural trials must do to extend lab prac- Jo Lee and Tim Ingold’s (2006) discus- tices into their everyday lives. sion of Michel de Certeau’s work (1984) Inspired by this body of literature, I pro- in their study of walkers in Aberdeen can pose the notion of “roadwork” to highlight be a resource. With reference to de Cer- the work trial participants in behavioural teau’s idea of people’s tactics as a re- trials do to follow protocols that at once sponse to the city’s strategy, they discuss seek to change their everyday lives and the dynamic relationship between the bodies. In English, the word “roadwork” planned city and the map, and the pedes- refers both to “work done in building or trian, who experiences, appropriates, and repairing roads” and “athletic exercise” engages with the city on the ground. Un- (Oxford English Dictionary). It thus aptly like de Certeau, who situates urban walk- highlights both the infrastructural work of ing within a system of binary power rela- creating conditions for science in every- tions, Lee and Ingold suggest that the day life and the physical work of perform- routes and routines people follow in ing a bodily routine. In developing the no- everyday life are at once structured by the tion, I follow Charlotte Brives (2013) and city and creatively improvised in the aim to grasp participants’ engagements everyday: “It is not simply a question of and experiences with health interventions ‘domination’ from above and ‘resistance’ – not in isolation – but as entangled with from below, as de Certeau tended to sug- the practices and standards making up the gest. The lines and routes of walkers are trial (ibid.:398). In what follows, I intro- made through everyday choices and ac- duce a line of perspectives that highlight tions” (Lee & Ingold 2006:76). These per- what extending lab practices into every- spectives broach questions about how par- day life might entail in the context of a be- ticipants succeed and experience estab- havioural trial. lishing and following routines in their With an apt idea for this purpose, Billy everyday lives that are planned according Ehn and Orvar Löfgren have proposed to research criteria. that cultural analysts consider the etymol- Tine Damsholt and Astrid Pernille Jes- ogy of routine and explore how everyday persen (2014) have similarly proposed con- routines – like “small paths” – are made, sidering everyday life as practised and per- unmade, and remade through continuous formed but focus on the norms and idea(l)s practice, use, and maintenance (2010:81). that structure and inform people’s deci- In this perspective, the establishment of sions, actions, practices, and routines. Ac- new routines, such as taking up regular cording to these authors, everyday life exercise, constitutes a construction work comprises social and material practices that that concerns re-engineering the complex are continuously performed, (re-)organ- infrastructure of collective routines that ized, and tinkered with in relation to vari- make up everyday life. The image of ous, and sometimes conflicting, versions of everyday life as an infrastructure of rou- “the good life”. As Damsholt suggests, tines also entails an analytical focus on everyday life not only comprises intimate movement and the body, and how people routines and repetitive actions but it also navigate through their everyday life. Here, constitutes an arena in which specific pub- Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 101

lics, politics, and issues unfold and take mann 2013; Wadmann & Hoeyer 2014). shape (2015). In so doing, she proposes that Several studies have shown how follow- one follows Noortje Marres (2012) and ing a biomedical protocol might constitute consider everyday life as “a space in which a viable way of attaining specific subjec- multiple conflicting concerns, activities, tivities and receiving otherwise unavail- and values must be juggled or somehow able care and treatment (Cussins 1998; Id- brought into alignment” (ibid.:529). From vall 2017; Timmermans 2010). In this this perspective, a scientific protocol for sense, one might understand trials as what lifestyle change becomes one of many Michel Foucault termed “technologies of norms, logics, and versions of “the good the self” (1997). By engaging in trials and life” that participants must juggle and align subjecting themselves to specific forms of as an integral part of their roadwork in a be- objectification and surveillance, partici- havioural trial. pants are presented with an opportunity to A distinctive feature of trial research is work on their body and selves in the pur- that participants are expected to follow and suit of specific ideals and goals. However, embody specific norms of standardization through their enrolment in a trial, partici- and measurement. The production of bio- pants also enter a governmental apparatus medical data, as Jespersen et al. (2014) (Brives 2016) comprising complex sys- have argued, requires that participants en- tems of accountability and power. While gage in various forms of “bodywork” participants receive care and treatment, aimed at aligning their bodies and subjec- they are also made responsible for the tivities with practices of objectification. As proper collection of data and execution of Loïc Wacquant (1995) has argued in his the trial protocol (Idvall 2017; Brives work on professional boxers, bodywork 2013, 2016). Cheryl Mattingly et al.’s concerns the careful disciplining, cultivat- concept of “homework” (2011) captures ing, and refining of the body according to what this might imply for participants. specific cultural, social, or in this case sci- With this term, they focus on the border entific norms and practices. Bodywork, he zones and friction that emerge when argued, constitutes a transformative labour health professionals instruct and expect that changes both the bodies and the sub- patients and their relatives to perform jectivities of the practitioners through spe- clinical tasks at home. While the exten- cific forms of “bodily asceticism” (ibid.: sions of the clinic into the homes and lives 76). It broaches questions about the onto- of patients might ostensibly resemble a logical preconditions, requirements, and form of biomedical colonization or gov- consequences of scientific norms about the ernmentality, they seek to highlight the body when followed in everyday life (Mol situated and creative ways in which par- 2013). ticular forms of expertise, biomedical To ensure participants’ compliance, knowledge, and disciplinary practices are trials often involve intense forms of moni- appropriated and re-imagined in the realm toring and control. For many participants, of everyday life. With the idea of road- the opportunity to be monitored consti- work, I similarly aim to highlight the rela- tutes part of the attraction of trials (Wad- tionship between trials and people’s 102 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

everyday lives as a border zone, in which struction and performance of new every- scientific standards and practices meet day routines according to scientific proto- everyday norms and routines in ways that cols that carry specific ideas about how do not necessarily but might come to align one’s everyday life is structured and how through (road)work. one should move one’s body. By using roadwork as an analytical concept, my goal is to highlight what The Trial Anna Tsing has called “friction” (2005). The article builds on my engagement as a For Tsing, friction concerns the “grip of PhD fellow in an interdisciplinary re- encounter”, and the (e)motions and effects search project at the University of Copen- produced when “universals”, such as hagen called GO-ACTIWE (Governing forms of truth, science, capital or in this Obesity – Active Commuting To Improve case RCT-based exercise protocols, en- health and Wellbeing in Everyday Life). counter place, people, and particularity The project focused on physical activity as (ibid.:5). “A wheel turns because of its en- obesity prevention and health promotion counter with the surface of the road,” she and involved a group of researchers from wrote, before stressing the importance of biomedicine, public health, data science, grip, contact, and encounter, “spinning in and ethnology. Each researcher’s project the air it goes nowhere” (ibid.). Important- connected to a trial aimed at evaluating ly, friction, or “encounters across differ- the health effects of three ways of meeting ence” (ibid.:3), may destabilize the course the recommended level of at least 30 min- of action, but it does not stop momentum utes of physical activity per day (Pedersen or bring an end to whatever is going on. & Andersen 2011). Rather friction fosters creative and collab- The trial took place between 2013 and orative acts of cultural invention. Some- 2016 and involved 130 healthy, physically thing similar applies to a trial and the in- inactive women and men with moderate terventions it seeks to roll out in people’s overweight, aged 20‒45 years. The par- lives. Like wheels, health interventions ticipants were randomized into four 6- only work, if they “grip” (ibid.:5) their tar- month intervention groups: (1) moderate- get subjects and their everyday lives. intensity leisure time exercise, (2) high- However, the trajectories and paths that intensity leisure time exercise, (3) active are created when RCTs meet people and commuting by cycle, and (4) a control their everyday lives can be both compro- group.3 Each exercise intervention pre- mising and empowering (ibid.:6). Friction scribed five weekly exercise sessions, and work, in other words, is both a precon- which the participants had to perform ac- dition and a potential problem in the pro- cording to a standardized exercise proto- motion, construction, and performance of col in the context of their everyday lives. new bodily routines in everyday life ac- During the trial, all participants underwent cording to the tenets of the RCT. biomedical laboratory tests, performed With these perspectives in mind, my various home measurements, and took goal is to use roadwork to highlight the part in questionnaire and interview sur- work and friction involved in the con- veys regarding their motivations, experi- Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 103

ences, and their sleep, eating and activity they tried to implement the protocols and patterns. To support the completion of the how they experienced the interaction with trial, participants received exercise super- the researchers and the experimental tech- vision, gym memberships, health assess- nologies (i.e. the exercise standards, the ments, heart rate monitors, and a modest heart rate monitors, and the protocols). A reimbursement (see Rosenkilde et al. key observation from my fieldwork was 2017 for full protocol description). that the trial design and the exercise proto- While the health researchers sought to cols carried several assumptions about the evaluate the health effects of the interven- practice of exercising and the structure of tions, my study was integrated into the the participants’ everyday lives that vari- ethnological part of the project, which ously influenced how participants rou- aimed to study the social and cultural di- tinized the interventions. As a starting mensions of the trial. My contribution point, I therefore unpack some of the core comprised an ethnographic study of the ideas and assumptions behind the trial practical completion of the trial protocol protocol, after which I present three ac- with a focus on recruitment, monitoring, counts of the roadwork that implementing routinization, and self-care. In that con- it required. nection, I did several rounds of fieldwork from 2014‒2017. In so doing, I shadowed The Protocol: Expanding the Lab and interviewed the four researchers, who Standardization constitutes a defining managed the trial and did participant ob- feature of how evidence is produced in servations during recruitment, enrolment, monitoring, and testing activities at Pa- trials (Montgomery 2017:30). In RCT re- num at the University of Copenhagen. I search, protocols constitute essential tech- also conducted over 50 interviews with 30 nologies in achieving this standardization, participants throughout the trial period. because they help to ensure uniformity Each interview was semi-structured, across various sites and contexts by defin- lasted 1‒2 hours, and took place at differ- ing the objectives and design of a trial, as ent points during their interventions in well as the procedures that must be per- connection with laboratory tests, exercise formed to answer a particular research sessions or in public spaces or their question. As Stefan Timmermans and homes. Further, I conducted participant Marc Berg (1997) have suggested, a pro- observations during the exercise sessions tocol can be seen as a “technoscientific of ten participants and asked a subsample script” that specifies particular actions, to document their experiences of follow- settings, actors, and trajectories to ensure ing the interventions with photos. conformity across contexts. In so doing, Through these engagements, my over- protocols carry particular “hypotheses” all goal was to explore the alignment of about the entities which make up the lifestyle change and biomedical research world in which they will be mobilized in the performance of an RCT in the con- (ibid.:275). The production of particular text of everyday life. In my fieldwork with versions of everyday life might according- participants, I therefore sought to explore ly be seen as integral to the practice of de- their motivations for participating, how signing trials. To stay with the infrastruc- 104 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

tural imagery proposed by Latour, one texts beyond the laboratory. While the re- might think of a trial protocol as a road- searcher highlighted how requirements of map; i.e. as the plan, the strategy, and the testing, monitoring, and standardization map of routes that participants, as well as inevitably influence the lives of those who researchers, must follow in the “extension participate in a trial, he also expressed an of the lab” into everyday life. ambition to create an experimental situa- In this context, the protocol had been tion that at once “simulated” people’s designed to enable the measurement of everyday life and offered sufficient condi- the exact health effects of the exercise tions for a controlled scientific experi- interventions. This ambition meant that ment. In other words, bicycle paths, public the trial involved randomization and parks, and gyms were imagined as “la- strict compliance criteria for partici- boratory-like arenas” in everyday life, pants. Usually, researchers prefer to per- wherein the health effects of physical ac- form such trials under “ideal condi- tivity could be measured accurately. Thus, tions”, i.e. settings that allow for rigor- the trial built on an idea of “scalability” ous monitoring and control. For this pur- (Tsing 2015), i.e. the idea that a research pose, people’s everyday lives are rarely framework can be applied at greater scales considered ideal contexts; especially not without changing the research questions, for rigid and long- term trials. The stated requirements, or project frames. In this idea in this trial, however, was that the context, the conviction was that the “la- everyday life of the participants could, in boratory” (and its norms and practices of fact, function as an ideal setting for a standardization and control) could be up- stringent exercise trial. Here, the idea of scaled and recreated on everyday condi- “expanding the lab” was central, as one tions and that this process of expansion of the architects behind the trial de- would neither impede meaningful routini- scribed in an interview: zation nor rigorous measurement of exer- We know we create an everyday life for the par- cise. ticipants in the trial, but we want the everyday life The ambition of expanding the lab was that we create to simulate the everyday life that based on a set of “hypotheses” (Timmer- might actually exist, instead of just asking them to either walk or run on the treadmills in the lab in mans & Berg 1997) about the motivations this or that way. In most cases, we can recreate an of the participants, the interventions, the effect in the lab, but can we recreate this effect by setting, and the material and temporal or- expanding the lab a little? You know, expanding der of their everyday lives. First, trial par- the lab, so that we are testing a behaviour that ticipation was considered an attractive people actually have. way for participants to become more As explained, demonstrating the health ef- physically active. Specifically, the idea fects of specific forms of exercise is usu- was that provision of individual exercise ally not a problem under controlled lab supervision, health assessments, and heart conditions. Results from such trials, how- monitors would motivate participants to ever, often lack generalisability and social exercise and complete the protocol. Sec- relevance, because the experimental con- ond, the exercise interventions were con- ditions have little in common with con- sidered feasible, convenient, and easy to Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 105

implement. Three, the city of Copenhagen a process.1 The minimal consideration of was thought of as “a perfect model” for the everyday lives of the participants, in the trial, as the chief investigator de- part, indicates how “context” remains an scribed with reference to its cycle-friendly underdeveloped theme in trial research infrastructure and many gyms and recrea- (McLaren et al. 2007; Shoveller et al. tional areas. In other words the idea was 2016; Brives et al. 2016; Holman et al. that the city would make it possible to ex- 2017). Also, it reflects the positivist as- pand the lab by providing participants sumption common within some forms of with bicycles, free gym memberships, trial research that a “context” constitutes a exercise supervision, and monitors. Four, uniform, singular “container for activity” the participants’ everyday lives were im- that can be described – if deemed neces- agined to be structured according to spe- sary – and ultimately disentangled from an cific “time and activity domains” (i.e. intervention (Brives et al. 2016; Dourish sleep, leisure, occupation, transportation, 2004:5). and home-based activities) (Ng & Popkin The randomization procedure in this 2012). This model of everyday life sup- trial manifested how RCT methodology in ported the idea that people can meet the some cases implies that interventions into official recommendations by engaging in people’s lives are configured as bounded exercise before or after work in the “lei- and context-independent entities (Cohn sure time domain” and by cycling in “the 2014; Bell 2016). The procedure took transportation domain”, which was hy- place as an old-school drawing of lots, in pothesized as a healthy alternative to other which the participants had to pick a cap- forms of exercise and transport. sule from a bucket, open it, and read aloud The trial design and protocol did not ex- a small piece of paper that revealed which hibit other explicit considerations about protocol they had to follow for the next six the participants’ everyday lives as the con- months. Considering the encapsulation of text of the trial, physical exercise as the in- the protocols, I suggest that the procedure tervention, or routinization of exercise as “enacted” (Mol 2002) exercise as a dis-

The two buckets with capsules used to randomize the participants. Photo by the author. 106 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

tinct, self-contained, isolated, and individ- kcal for men. […]. (Excerpt from one of the exer- ual “behaviour” that – much like a pill – cise protocols.) causes certain effects inside the body (Bell As is apparent from the excerpt, the inter- 2012; Thing 2009). Though the procedure ventions had been prepared to enable the would increase the validity of the trial, it trial researchers to measure and monitor also meant that questions regarding con- the participants with the heart rate moni- text and implementation were systemati- tors and to ultimately abstract the inter- cally omitted (Brives et al. 2016). In par- ventions from their situated enactment. ticular, the participants’ life situations, ex- The excerpt also suggests how the require- isting routines, work lives, family struc- ments of measurability and comparison, in tures, or ideas about which intervention effect, also carried certain assumptions would fit their lives were not accommo- about the abilities of the participants and dated in their group allocation. More gen- the structure and nature of their lives. In erally, the randomization procedure sug- particular, the protocols assumed that the gests how the trial was designed to participants’ daily lives were stable demonstrate the efficacy of the exercise throughout the intervention period and interventions, more so than to explore that the participants could and would per- their workability in people’s everyday form each exercise session in the same lives. Though the trial was not couched in way consecutively. terms of the widespread “exercise is This brief introduction to the protocol medicine” movement, its design similarly foregrounded the biological aspects of suggests how biomedical models and exercise and backgrounded the socio- methodological criteria mediated the goal cultural dimensions of physical activity of testing forms of exercise that resemble (Williams et al. 2018). “behaviours that people actually have”. The quantitative formulations of the in- One consequence was that the trial proto- terventions underscored their objectifica- col prescribed three somewhat rigid exer- tion as bounded entities. As Mike Mi- cise routines, which assumed the exist- chaels and Marsha Rosengarten (2013) ence of a stable and uniform everyday life. have pointed out, RCT methodology re- Although participants were highly moti- quires trialists to configure interventions vated to take up more exercise and con- as “quantitative objects” via externally tribute to the project, the interventions, in validated criteria and standards of statisti- some cases, turned out to be rather “hard cal measurement (ibid.:73). In this case, pills to swallow” (Thing 2009). In fact, the exercise interventions had been de- my fieldwork suggests that “the interven- signed following a physiological model of tion” for many participants included the exercise and accordingly prescribed set additional (road)work of expanding the standards on energy expenditure, heart lab according to a roadmap, which did not rate level, frequency, and modality: always map onto their bodies or everyday lives. Rather than a smooth process of up- Leisure-time physical activity (50%VO2max), 5 days/week/6 months […]. The average energy ex- scaling, expanding the lab was fraught penditure per day is 320 kcal for women and 420 with friction. Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 107

Three Accounts of Roadwork busy life as a student and a desire to In what follows, I focus on the roadwork change lifestyle. In my analysis, “time” of three participants, whom I call Sophie, and “pace” emerged as key themes in her John, and Mary, as their stories reveal sig- roadwork. nificant dimensions of the roadwork the protocol required and the different de- Time Management grees of friction that participants had to In line with the official health recommen- work through. In so doing, I draw from in- dation, the exercise protocols figured (lei- terviews conducted at different time sure) time as a resource that individuals points during their trajectories in the trial can use in more energy-efficient ways. and participant observations during the When I met Sophie two months into her exercise sessions of Sophie and John. In intervention, she told me she had the same analysing these materials, I used the no- idea, when she enrolled. Facing a less tion of roadwork to capture the organiza- busy semester at the university, she fig- tional work they did to make implementa- ured she would finally have time to exer- tion possible and the bodywork of per- cise. To her surprise, however, exercising forming the routines in line with the pro- in the leisure time domain five times per tocol. In constructing the accounts, I week required far more planning than she aimed to connect the friction they experi- had expected. To exercise, she had to enced with the assumptions made in the “plan it out”. As usual, she made a trial. Although most of the 30 participants “rough” plan a week in advance, which I interviewed experienced similar friction, she “fine-tuned” each day; yet “putting in” Sophie, John, and Mary do not represent a workout was challenging, as she had specific subgroups or participant experi- little control over her schedule, which was ences. Instead, I contend that what was crammed with activities: nominally defined as three distinct exer- For example, on Friday I have an appointment cise interventions in practice crystallized with an old friend I haven’t seen in a long time. into multiple routes and routines; each of So, I already know I won’t get to work out on Fri- which entailed specific forms of roadwork day, and I have to do it some other time. And I also and friction. To capture this specificity, I have a lot of girlfriends coming over to hang out now follow Sophie, John, and Mary some on Saturday. So, I have two things there! But I also have two shifts at one job this week. Plus, I of their way along the trajectory laid out have to work on Sunday at another job, and I have 2 by the trial protocol. homework for Friday and an assignment for next Tuesday, and then my mum suddenly decided to Sophie’s Roadwork visit too, and then I think, “Oh! There’re too many Sophie is in her mid-twenties and, like things.” So, exercise just becomes one of many things. many participants, she had enrolled in the trial to become fit and lose weight. I inter- Whereas the protocol took each day to be viewed her three times and attended two similar with the same set of activities, So- of her exercise sessions, which provided phie’s calendar revealed an everyday life me with insights into the challenges of comprising multiple tasks and activities, reconciling the exercise protocol with a which did not abide by one unifying tem- 108 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

poral logic. As suggested, her life fol- prescribed number of calories by commut- lowed multiple, intersecting temporalities ing to the university on bicycle instead of – work schedules, assignments, exams, going to the gym or cycling around a lake and appointments. Consequently, exercis- nearby which she sometimes did: “I ing in the leisure time domain was not a thought there’s no difference between simple question of earmarking 30 minutes cycling around a lake and cycling to the of a pre-existing time reservoir but a daily university.” Though the cycling suited So- task of “squeezing” yet another “thing” phie, only a few days passed before the re- into a schedule, wherein multiple activi- searchers discovered her creative solution ties already competed for a spot. To make to her time problem. Sophie was then told time for exercising, Sophie described that she could not “change intervention group” she had to leave school early to get to the (to the active commuting group) and ad- gym before closing time, even though she vised to keep her exercise to the “leisure was sometimes busy with group assign- time domain”; although it did not seem to ments. Also, she had to skip social events exist at that moment. and use weekends as a “buffer” to catch- This incident points to inherent friction up on missed workouts, even though she between two different logics of how exer- wanted to keep them “exercise-free” to re- cise relates to everyday life. For Sophie, lax and spend time with her friends, fami- the particular way the practice of exercise ly, or partner, whose late work hours as a might relate to other everyday practices chef meant they rarely saw each other. relies on a situational assessment of how Further, she had to exchange her school- different practices and their purposes and bag for an “ugly” duffle bag and walk “goods” can be aligned. While Sophie around in sports clothing to be able to aimed to maintain the calorie standard, “squeeze in” a workout on the go. These she also sought to arrive at school on time adjustments suggest how maintaining the to finish her exam project. Hence, she idea of domains required careful planning chose a form of exercise that fitted the and prioritization and how these restruc- available time-slot in her calendar. Unlike turings could generate friction between the trial, Sophie did not consider “situa- existing everyday routines and their vari- tional adaptation” to be at odds with ous “goods” (Mol 2013; Damsholt & Jes- rule-following but a prerequisite for ap- persen 2014). proximating full compliance (Rod et al. Though the boundaries between leisure 2014). Conversely, in the logic of the trial, and work fluctuated in Sophie’s life, exer- the relationship between exercise and cising in the right domains was critical for everyday life was prefigured in the proto- the researchers’ ability to compare the in- col and sought maintained to pursue a goal terventions. In our second interview to- of standardizing and comparing different wards the end of her intervention period, forms of exercise, rather than adjusting she recounted an instance where she had and coordinating different everyday prac- deviated from the protocol because she tices. The discrepancy between these was busy with exams. As a situated trans- logics highlights a central paradox of the lation of the protocol, she burned off the trial design. While the trial aimed at test- Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 109

ing everyday exercise routines (or “behav- the machines she could use in the gym, iours that people actually have”), the com- and the music she could listen to. I experi- mitment to standardization meant the re- enced her restricted room for manoeuv- searchers sometimes had to rebuff and ring when I attended one of her workouts. counteract, rather than welcome the par- While she had set her treadmill to the ticipants’ creative and genuine attempts at usual pace, we discovered that our conver- translating the protocol into workable and sation had made her exceed the allowed meaningful everyday routines. Although heart rate level, causing her to register as such tactics were not in opposition to the non-compliant. In the following inter- overarching strategy of the trial but inte- view, I learned that the bodily discipline gral to its implementation in everyday life, and control required to comply was par- they would categorically register as “non- ticularly frustrating to Sophie because her compliance”. For Sophie, the strict re- partner had just begun weight-lifting, tak- quirements of compliance meant her road- ing long runs, and changing his diet to pre- work in part entailed a daily job of recon- pare for a fitness event he had signed up ciling two different temporal logics in her for with a friend. Unlike Sophie’s exercise planning and developing tactics to change routine, her partner’s practice was result- her everyday life to “fit” the protocol, generating, unrestricted and serving an rather than the other way around. end that concerned him directly. While they supported each other, Sophie said Tempo and Trajectory that seeing his body change was frustrat- For the researchers to analyse the exercise ing because hers did not: interventions as “pills”, participants not It bothers me I’m not allowed to work out at full only had to exercise in the right domain throttle until my legs wear out. It’s extremely but also meet specific standards while annoying you can’t just push through! And, you exercising. The heart rate monitors and know, it’s extra annoying when you look at your the protocols were crucial technologies in boyfriend, and he gets in shape and loses weight, achieving the required standardization be- and you still stand there and think: “Nothing Hap- pens!” cause they allowed the researchers to monitor the participants’ exercise data and The intersection of their different trajecto- the participants to discipline their bodies ries towards a new lifestyle points to the according to the protocol. For Sophie, inherent friction between her desire to however, the required bodywork conflict- realize a “body project” (Shilling 2012) ed with her desire to change her body. In and her actual everyday practice of servic- one interview, Sophie described how the ing a research project in which “pushing exercise intensity was “too low”, which through” was not allowed. Sophie’s ex- meant that she was “not even sweating” periences of having “to hold back” thus and that the workouts were “boring” and highlights the situated normativities of “lengthy”. The prescribed heart rate level speed and, in this case, how exercise in- also prevented her from exercising with tensities do not necessarily translate well friends and attending fitness classes, and it from a lab to a public gym, from one body limited the exercise types she could do, to another, or from a research project to a 110 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

“Admiring all my exercise data.” Photo and caption by Sophie.

self-care project. As Sebastian Abrahams- tuted proof that she was, in fact, exercis- son has argued, whether a tempo is good ing: “Now that I can’t see the exercise on or bad materializes as “relational effects in the body, I can at least see it in the num- local situations” (2014:303). In the trial, bers.” In this way, Sophie’s liking for Sophie found herself in a local situation, numbers, her exercise data, the protocol, in which she had to endure being trapped and the researchers’ monitoring consti- in a slow-paced treadmill while desiring tuted a productive “grip” that kept her on progression and transformation. track. Her commitment to standardize her While the pace set by the protocol pre- data suggests how she actively sought to vented her from working on her body, I synchronize her “self” with the trial (Id- learned that Sophie tried to make the exer- vall 2017) in an attempt to sustain the fric- cise meaningful by setting out to achieve tion between the slowness of the protocol 100 per cent compliance with the exercise and her eagerness for progression. Through standards. As she explained, tracking her this synchronization, the standards of the exercise data appealed to her intellectual protocol, the researchers’ expectations, interests as a student engineer and the im- and her data overviews – rather than the plied norms of accountability motivated bathroom scale or the mirror – became the her to meet the researchers’ expectations. milestones through which trial participa- The data were paramount as they consti- tion gained purpose and meaning in her Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 111

everyday life. These examples from So- his home and work was only 400 metres. phie’s roadwork suggest how the re- With his sarcastic remark, John made the searchers and technologies of the trial obvious, but crucial point that protocols were key actors in the expansion of the only work if intended users consider their lab, but also how participants were re- instructions meaningful and workable quired to adapt their expectations and in- (Timmermans & Epstein 2010). More vent new forms of meaning within the re- specifically, his comment suggests that strained space for manoeuvring that the ideal experimental conditions are not re- protocol offered. ducible to “the intervention” or “the set- ting” of a trial but rely on far more specific John’s Roadwork matters. The specificities that might make John is a father of two in his late thirties, for ideal conditions were clear in the case whom I interviewed and followed on three of John, whose everyday life met the im- occasions. As one of few participants I plicit demands of the leisure time exercise met, John did not appear to have any seri- protocol. ous problems with the exercise protocol. In our interview, John noted his fortune Thus, the following account is a case of in the randomization and described the “ideal conditions”. ideal possibilities of implementing the protocol in his life. Aside from a brief The Specificities of Ideal Conditions commute, John had just got a new job with a fixed 6 a.m.–2 p.m. working schedule The trial was designed on the assumptions every weekday. He also had a scenic park that Copenhagen made up an ideal ex- on his doorstep, which enabled him to re- perimental setting and that all interven- vive his old running route. Further, his tions were workable. Most participants, eldest son had just left home to live by however, knew which intervention would himself and his wife and daughter would be ideal for them. When I interviewed normally not return home before 4 p.m. John as he was just beginning his inter- With around two hours of leisure time vention, he clearly made this point by de- available every day of the week – as stipu- scribing how active commuting would be lated in the protocol – John had no prob- a particularly bad fit, despite his address in lem getting the exercise done, as he de- “the perfect model”: scribed: I would only take the cycle if the weather was I’m quite lucky I have the job I have. When they good. You know, if it snows and things like that, [daughter and wife] come home, I have already then cycling 11‒17 km would be completely fool- done my exercise. So, they feel nothing. Instead of ish! If I was to get out there and then cycle off in taking a nap, I just do the opposite! the opposite direction of my work, and it’s pissing it down with rain. Arrrhhh… I wouldn’t do that At first glance, the structure of John’s more than a few times! For me to do it, the sun everyday life mirrored the temporal would have to shine, and the birds would have to model implied in the protocol. Yet a sing. closer look reveals that his ability to John could not see himself as an active comply did not rely on his time schedule commuter, because the distance between alone. In the clock-based and quantita- 112 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

tive understanding of time underpinning specific situation. In John’s case, his ad- the protocol, leisure time refers to those dress in an “attractive neighbourhood”, hours of the day in which individuals do his “work schedule”, his wife’s “work- not sleep, work, or transport themselves life”, his “life situation”, his “family struc- (Ng & Popkin 2012). In particular, the ture”, and his “motivation for moderate- protocol built upon an idea of leisure intensity exercise” combined enabled him time as opposed to and conditioned by to comply with the protocol. John’s story work time. However, John’s case sug- – a case of ideal conditions – thus brings gests that his “leisure time exercise” was into view the implicit politics of the proto- conditioned by a different set of tempor- col and how it essentially required and ca- alities, in particular, those of his house- tered to a very particular version of every- hold. While John was free from work at 2 day life that not all participants (e.g. So- p.m., his ability to comply also required phie) lived. that he would be free from his family. In contrast to the narrower notion of “work- Building Momentum free time” that the protocol subscribed to, A central hypothesis in the trial was that the word leisure etymologically means the interventions would eventually be- “being allowed” (Oxford English Dic- come everyday routines; as attested in the tionary ), which suggests that a broader project’s subtitle, “from lifestyle interven- set of circumstances condition whether a tion to lifestyle routine”. However, John’s specific practice may happen and take roadwork suggests that the protocol re- place. quired investment and effort to become In this perspective, the seemingly meaningful in everyday life, despite the “ideal” match between John and his seemingly ideal conditions for imple- everyday life and the intervention proto- menting it. col and the minimum organizational work During our conversations, I learned that and friction it generated cannot be attri- John considered participation in the trial buted to “the intervention” and “the con- as preparation for a cycling race. While he text” of the trial alone. The reason is that also wanted to contribute to science, he both the conceptualisation of and the con- conceptualized his participation as a part text derived from a design process that of a larger project of self-realization, in worked in another scale and through a dif- which he aimed to prove to himself that he ferent set of categories than those that could get in shape. To this end, the trial of- might explain why John’s everyday life fered a “collective” (Jespersen et al. 2014) was ideal for the “leisure time exercise” that enabled him to commit himself and protocol. In the conception of the trial, the his exercise to someone else: crucial questions concerned choosing an ideal “city” as the context, prescribing They must deal with the results themselves. The thing is that you sit and look someone in the eye particular “forms of exercise” as the inter- and say, “I will follow the rules”, “I’ll do this”, ventions, and recruiting a “homogeneous “I’ll send you some data!” So, when you commit group of people” as participants. John to it, then you need to stick to it. That has been the found himself in an ideal, but far more kick in the backside. Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 113

As suggested, John appropriated the trial vestments, materialities, and social net- as a kind of “technology of the self” that works to become meaningful practices in enabled him to subject himself to the gaze everyday life. of the researchers to pursue objectives be- Though John had only missed a few yond the horizon and scope of the trial. sessions and had improved his fitness, he During the trial, John for instance com- considered the prescribed routine to be mitted to another cycle race with his new unfulfilling in the end. His eagerness for boss, who had similar interests, and signed progression was apparent when I joined up for a duathlon. Also, John bought an John on one of his regular runs around expensive cycle, new trainers, and turned the park towards the end of his interven- his basement into a gym with an exercise tion. During our run, he abruptly stopped cycle and a treadmill. Further, he had be- at a point on the gravel path, where we gun to surf the internet for exercise tips to could see a large recreational area on the prepare for the coming events. These in- horizon. He then pointed and explained vestments and commitments reveal a form that the duathlon would take place there, of roadwork that concerns elaborating the before revealing that he “got carried protocol into a full-fledged practice with away” one day on his new cycle and did its own meaning, materiality, and purpose. a 40-kilometre ride in the area. Although This process of elaboration suggests how John informed the researchers’ of his what was nominally defined and meas- non-compliance, he described that he ured as distinct interventions, in practice, could “not help himself”. In contrast to required situated incorporation of other the trial protocol, which stipulated the forms of knowledge, commitments, in- exercise routine as a circular series of

“The view when ‘Moderate’ spinning is on the menu in the basement:-).” Photo and caption by John. 114 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

repetitions and as an end in itself, John commuting protocol. In the following ac- conceptualized his route around the park count, I highlight the friction that made as a run-up scheme through which he the protocol unworkable. could gain momentum to realize projects beyond the trial. Ultimately, this momen- Precarious Experiments with the  tum caused him to feel increasing friction Household between his obligation to comply with The trial built upon the hypothesis that the monotonous regimen and his desire to cycling to and from work is a time-saving prepare for the coming events. and easy way for people to meet the offi- Although the protocol mapped onto cial health recommendation and the idea John’s life without creating major organ- that Copenhagen provided an ideal set- izational or corporeal friction, it simul- ting for this purpose. When I met Mary taneously directed a path that transformed after her 3-month tests in the laboratory, his body, fostered new projects, and in- I learned that these exact assumptions spired him to recreate his everyday life. had complicated her trajectory in the John’s story suggests how the roadwork trial. entailed in following a scientific exercise As she described, the apparent problem routine in everyday life requires the enrol- was that she lives in the countryside, 50 ment of other practices, purposes, and pro- km outside the “perfect model” of Copen- jects, but also how these incorporations at hagen. This meant she that had 100 km to once support and might potentially under- and from work, rather than 9–15 km as mine projects of standardization. This pro- prescribed in the protocol and that she cess of situated enrolment also means that could not enjoy the luxuries of proper in- “the participants”, “the context”, and “the frastructure, snow removal, road lighting, interventions” of a trial, regardless of how and repair shops (which were implicitly ideal their match might seem, undergo a assumed to facilitate compliance). Also, process of mutual transformation through Mary’s usual commute was not an indi- the progress of the experiment that might vidual and isolated activity as assumed in challenge the framing ideals of standardi- the protocol but a collective practice, zation and conformity. Ideal conditions, in bundling several trajectories, actors, and this perspective, refers to situated, un- activities in a daily routine of providing stable, and temporary social and material for, distributing, and gathering the house- orders rather than pre-given and stable re- hold. In addition, she had just quit her lationships. regular job to start as a freelance consult- ant, which meant that her commute was no Mary’s Roadwork longer a regular back and forth travel be- Mary is a married mother of three in her tween home and work. Despite the obvi- forties, whom I interviewed twice during ous challenges, Mary initially managed to her intervention at the suggestion of one follow the protocol for a few weeks via a of the researchers, who described her tra- “solution” she had made with the re- jectory as an “interesting case” because searchers and her husband. The nature of she had serious challenges with the active the solution, however, reveals how replac- Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 115

ing the car with the cycle required com- able weekdays – a basic time unit of the prehensive reconstruction of her family’s protocol: daily routines: It’s different, where I have to be now. But I always Before, I took the car every day. But then we ar- have to think about the cycle. How do I fit it in ranged that my husband could have the car on here? Before, I just went out the door, but now, I’m most days, which meant that he also had to deliver driving around. Sometimes, I mount the cycle to the and pick up the kids. But then I could cycle to the car. Other times, I take the train with the cycle. nearest train station. Doing this made my workday As suggested, Mary had to perform vari- almost two hours longer because I had to take dif- ous awkward manoeuvres to handle the ferent trains to get to work. I also had to get out of discrepancies between her life situation bed very early, before the kids, and then get on out there on the bike, and then I had to ride home and the protocol and incorporate the cycle again later, regardless of how tired I was. in her daily life. Each time she had a new assignment, Mary had to coordinate with As Timmermans and Berg (1997) have ar- her husband and do the “homework” gued, standardization in practice depends (Mattingly et al. 2011) of metering routes on the transformation and incorporation of that fit the protocol and as a consequence existing routines and the strategic enrol- take “weird detours” instead of obvious ment of relevant allies (ibid.:274). For and scenic routes. Also, she occasionally Mary, her husband turned out to be a key had to cycle in a forest nearby at odd times ally, thanks to his willingness to take over to comply, which could interfere with rou- her roles in managing the care and trans- tines such as picking up her children and portation of their children and thereby tucking them in at night. These challenges “transforming” his own commuting prac- meant Mary had missed several workouts tice. Her compliance also relied on her and that the commute had become a “incorporating” another form of transpor- “stress factor”, causing her to feel guilty tation and taking on the attendant identity about “lagging behind”, “not getting da- of a train passenger. The nature of the ta”, and “ruining the project”. The require- “solution” clearly illustrates how several ment of measurability, in particular, ham- actors were involved in the roadwork en- pered a meaningful cycling practice: tailed in expanding the lab and how the It’s not for the sake of the actual journey I do it. It’s translation of a scientific protocol into an because it has to be a certain number of kilometres. everyday routine, in practice, could result The problem is that it has to be every day, and not in activities that were cumbersome and just whenever it makes sense. potentially at odds with other everyday In the interview, Mary recounted an in- practices. stance in which “it really crashed” despite In our conversation, it was clear that her her dedicated attempt to “make it work”. new job as a freelance consultant had The incident was triggered by a flat tyre caused active commuting to become a on a Monday morning. As there was no re- logistical problem she had to solve every pair shop nearby, fixing the cycle took day. The key problems were that her com- some days. During the time it took her to mute involved multiple destinations and get a new tyre and figure out how to put it that her schedule revolved around differ- on, her “guilty conscience” about not pro- ent job assignments rather than predict- ducing data grew. When the cycle was 116 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

finally ready, however, her husband was and her life situation. In the trial, active not there to help with the morning rou- commuting by cycle stood as the emblem tines. Therefore, she also had to dismantle of an active lifestyle; as the stand-alone the daily morning routine and compro- and ready-made routine to “improve mise her ideals about what a good mother well-being and health in everyday life”, as does in order to comply: the name of the trial suggested. Mary’s I’d even planned that the big kids had to walk to story, however, suggests that active com- school so I could cycle to the train station. I also muting, as it was defined in the protocol, had to deliver my youngest girl in the day-care could imply what John Law (1987) has centre so early that she had to eat her breakfast termed “heterogeneous engineering”. To there. She had to eat her breakfast at the day-care commute by cycle, Mary had to assemble centre! And, I already felt guilty about this having a network comprising various social, ma- way too much influence on our life. terial, and technical components (ibid.: For Mary, compliance with the protocol 113). As this work made the practice of required precarious experiments with her cycling cumbersome, taxing, and prone to existing routines and a collateral burden of breakdowns, Mary seriously considered dealing with their emotional, and indeed dropping out. collective, consequences. As Mattingly et al. (2011) have pointed out, everyday rou- Precision and Pleasure tines, such as making food and setting the In the trial, active commuting had to work table, might seem trivial and easily trans- as an everyday practice and as a research formable to health experts and policy- practice. For Mary, however, aligning makers. However, such practices, as these two purposes was fraught with fric- Mary’s story suggests, often constitute tion. On the one hand, she was happy to significant and deeply ingrained practices rediscover her joy of cycling and found of self-care and care for others (ibid.:370). the bike ride refreshing after a long work- Symptomatic of the mismatch between day. She particularly cherished her hus- the work of making the commute possible band’s comments on her rosy cheeks and and the physical work of pedalling, Mary energized appearance. On the other hand, was not able to cycle that day. Explicitly she considered her obligation to produce noting the irony of having put her house- data a significant drawback, as she was re- hold in motion without being able to quired to measure and document rather move, she explained why: than simply enjoy her ride: Apparently, I hadn’t assembled the cycle correctly. When I’m on the road; that’s the least of it. I’ve Only the first gear worked. So, I got nowhere! I actually become quite fond of it. When I’m on the trampled and pedalled hard, but I got nowhere! You cycle on those trips that I would otherwise never know, like when the chain has fallen off. At that mo- take – with the sunset and the sea view – it’s fan- ment, I was like, “I can’t do this anymore!” I was tastic. It’s a gift! Obviously, it’s the physical di- about to cry! Why did I agree to be a part of this!? mension, but it is also the psychological one. I’m alert, my cheeks are blushing, my pulse is pound- Mary’s somewhat comic retelling of her ing, and I’m fresh! So that part is the least of it. troubles of getting the commute to work But the thing is that it’s also one more thing I have alludes to the abyss between the protocol to live up to; something I have to achieve, show, Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 117

or document. And my life has just had too much though I only drove 2 km in the morning. So, there of that stuff… When I signed up for this, I really is this voice all the time, and it has been much didn’t think that I would feel that way… more pronounced than I thought. Ingold’s (2006) distinction between While the monitors only measured a few “wayfaring” and “transportation” can be quantitative parameters, Mary’s descrip- used to unpack the friction of Mary’s tion of the researcher’s presence as a kind roadwork, as it points to two different of “implicit partner” (Otto 2016) or pas- logics of travel. According to Ingold, way- senger suggests how the monitoring, in ef- faring is a way of engaging with the en- fect, entailed that participants were en- vironment; actively, physically, and per- rolled into a system of surveillance, ac- ceptually. In contrast, transportation is a countability, and responsibilization (Id- destination-oriented form of travel whose vall 2017). In the context of the trial, the only purpose is to relocate people and cycle and the monitors not only made up a their goods from place to place as fast and “technology of the self”, but also a tech- with as little mutability as possible. nology of research that instantiated certain Though Mary obviously wanted to trans- power-relations and promoted specific port herself to work, the notion of wayfar- ways of practising and making sense of ing captures the embodied and sensorial exercise. Her “inner dialogue with the experience of situated movement that she trial” suggests how the monitoring could took to be an essential aspect of getting to entail a moral pressure to abide by the pro- work by cycle. Conversely, Ingold’s no- tocol, to live up to the researchers’ expec- tion of transportation captures how the tations, and to “transport” the trial into protocol prescribed a distinctively pure everyday life – without changing it. It sug- and theoretical form of transportation that gests how she felt obliged to justify how was oblivious to the particularities of everyday life was an inevitable part of, a place, the transformative potentials of prerequisite for, and occasionally a barrier movement, and the everyday hassles of for cycling every day. Contrary to the pro- transportation. For Mary, wearing a heart tocol, which stipulated perfect transporta- rate monitor on each commute brought out tion, Mary made the point that transporta- this inherent friction, as it constantly re- tion, as Ingold has argued, in practice, is minded her that her trips were being meas- never perfect: “There is always some fric- ured according to standards that were im- tion in the system” (Ingold 2007:101– possible for her to meet. As she explained: 102). For Mary, the “system” comprised As soon as I put on the heart rate monitor, I invite her family routines, the protocol, her exer- [my exercise supervisor] into my life […] So, he cise supervisor, the heart rate monitor, the has been on the back of the cycle! And, for ex- environment, and the public transporta- ample, if I take a very short trip, I wonder if he will tion system, and as this system was now ask about it. Then, I remind myself that I fraught with friction, Mary was rarely “al- have to tell him I was running late and that I lowed” a smooth commute. stopped at another train station, and not the one we Some weeks after our first interview, had planned. And then I have to remember to take a long trip on my way home so that when they Mary decided to opt out of the trial. When check the numbers, they will see that I actually I met her at the project facilities, where cycled the number of kilometres I had to, even she had to return the heart rate monitor, 118 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

she described that numerous challenges zation meet people and their busy social, had made compliance close to impossible and material everyday lives. By drawing in the period between our conversations. on fieldwork in an exercise trial in Den- To make up for her missed exercise ses- mark, I described how its methodology sions, Mary recounted that she had tried to and protocol figured exercise as a discrete “simulate” a commuting routine by cyc- “pill” and “everyday life” as a uniform, ling to fictional destinations and that she singular, and stable background context. had even brought along the cycle when With the notion of roadwork, I then ar- she and her family had gone off to their ticulated how three participants took part summerhouse to celebrate Christmas. in the expansion of the lab through the Having to “construct some kind of every- situated work of constructing and per- day life became a joke” as she put it, “It forming a new bodily routine according to went from being super meaningful to a a generic research protocol. In doing so, theatre of the absurd.” my objective was to highlight how the evaluation of exercise interventions as pill-like entities effectively brackets off how trial designs (and their interventions, protocols, standards, and technologies) carry norms that variously rub against people and their routines, norms, and ideals. When individualized interventions are evaluated as “pills” the situated work and social, material, and collective condi- tions of individual lifestyle change are left out of the equation. So is the situated work of expanding the lab, even though this work is integral to the production of bio- medical data (Montgomery 2017). As Tsing (2015) has argued, projects that built on ideas of scalability only admit data that fits within the project framings and in so doing must remain “oblivious to indeterminacies of encounter” (ibid. 38). “Christmas Day in pouring rain!” Photo and cap- Whereas the biomedical researchers of tion by Mary. this trial aimed to locate the effects of the interventions inside the bodies of the par- Conclusion ticipants, my stories about Sophie, Mary, In this article, I have focused on the public and John reveal how the interventions health practice of evaluating health inter- generated effects beyond their bodies and ventions in everyday contexts and the fric- required work beyond that which was tions that arise when scientific ideals of measured and included in the final reports. uniformity, measurability, and standardi- As Brives (2016) has put it: “No bio- Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial 119

logical efficacy comes without con- everyday life emerges through the prob- comitant social, psychological, and cul- lematizations it undergoes. As a specific tural changes” (ibid.: 21). This inherent form of problematization, the RCT give productivity of trialling broaches ques- rise to intervention-specific (road)work tions about how researchers, who are en- that implies the continuous re-creation of gaged in similar trials, frame and con- everyday life. In this view, everyday life, figure people’s lives, their bodies as well is not a pre-existing domain out-there that as the interventions that are mobilized to can be mapped once and for all to allow change them as objects of research. One for the perfect intervention, but an object question that arises is this: Do we roll out that can be enacted in various ways (for RCTs in people’s lives just to give statis- example through the cultural analytical tical evidence of biological efficacy an air notion of roadwork, or the biomedical of everydayness or to learn about how technology of the randomization “pill”, or health interventions actually work for, in, through the embodied practice of follow- and with people in their everyday lives? ing an exercise protocol). As Emily Yates- As encouraging people to lead healthier Doerr has put it in her work on the logics lives constitutes an overarching ambition and practices of global public health, in much public health research, the figure “many locals do not add up to the global” of the pill is paradoxical, because it effec- (Yates-Doerr 2017:240). Similarly, many tively limits a broader understanding of everyday life studies do not add up to the particular health practices and the vast everyday life. So, instead of providing a cast of actors and conditions that are in- contextual background to biological evi- volved in changing (some)one’s way of dence, qualitative researchers might par- living. Here, the notion of roadwork might ticipate in the formulations and visions of constitute a useful analytical lens to ex- everyday life that are inscribed into proto- plore what it means to change one’s life- style because it locates the bodywork cols, and carefully attend to the ones that needed to produce biological health ef- emerge in the practice of implementation. fects in the practices that make this work Taking up this agenda might create possi- possible. Seen through the lens of road- bilities for public health to consider the work, seemingly standardized health in- productivity, variability, and situatedness terventions appear inherently situated, of interventions that aim to promote multiple, and demanding. health. Although qualitative research has been Jonas Winther promoted as a means to map the barriers PhD, MA in European Ethnology and potentials of health interventions in Copenhagen Centre for Health Research in the particular contexts, the points raised in Humanities (CoRe) this article suggest that this strategy might The Saxo Institute risk reinforcing the notion of context as University of Copenhagen Karen Blixens Plads 8 stable and extraneous to an intervention. DK-2300 Copenhagen S With this article, I have articulated how email: [email protected] 120 Jonas Winther, Routines on Trial

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The title of this article comes from a com- ries? How are women evaluated through ment made about me. It was uttered infor- the broader social context? mally, but within a research community Entering football as a female researcher nevertheless. I was referred to as “that is not without problems, although, from little football girl”, and although the com- my experience, it is not very dramatic ei- ment was swiftly trivialized, as in “I did ther. Football is a very creative and flex- not mean anything negative”, it left me ible environment, and it reflects broader pondering on how my gender reflected on social contexts with all its issues and de- the seriousness of my research. The aim of velopments. Thus, a local football club is this article is to explore from an intersec- firmly situated in its local reality, and also tional perspective how the researcher’s constructed and performed by individuals social markings influence the studied field who make football a part of their reality and how gender can be constructed, per- and of their everyday routines. The ability formed and contested in a context of to accommodate different narratives, ele- Swedish club football. The emphasis is on ments, and interpretations of football is ethnographic work done by a female re- also visible in gender constructions. searcher, but it probes gender expecta- Women are not only present physically in tions that become visible when expressed many different activities, but football also in the context of football, a context that presents interesting “grey zones” of gen- traditionally excluded rather than includ- der roles that are performed and interpret- ed females. ed on the spot. This article thus explores The article engages in a discussion of such instances, using examples from my femininity and females in football first, own experience as a multi-layered then focuses on one encounter from match stranger in the “male zone”, as football observations in 2015, which highlights the tends to be described (e.g. Welford 2011). complexity of this field. The material pre- When one talks about football, the im- sented here was acquired while conduct- mediate association is with the men’s ing interviews and observations in four football. It does not need any additional Swedish football clubs, but not with gen- words to be understood as a male activity. der in focus. However, the fieldwork hap- Because of this female football requires pened in the social space described and the adjective “female” before the name of acknowledged as being dominated by the game (field notes, 2016). As Pierre men. The intensity of this field and polar- Bourdieu commented in his book Mascu- ization in terms of the gender perception line Domination: “The strength of the made this perspective unavoidable. Fo- masculine order is seen in the fact that it cusing on small-scale agencies could be dispenses with justification: the androcen- one way to approach the taken-for-granted tric vision imposes itself as neutral and male domination that seems mostly un- has no need to spell itself out in discourses contested. The article deals with questions aimed at legitimating it” (Bourdieu 2001: that were triggered within this gendered 9). The norm has been established and one context. How are women framed in this gender’s domination has been institution- context? How do they negotiate bounda- alized. When I write about my study ob-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 124 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

ject, which is a set of Swedish male foot- trespassers and forcing them to apply cat- ball clubs, I can say “football” only, and I egories and evaluations already filtered reproduce a pattern of inequality that is and established through this domination taken for granted. (Bourdieu 2001:35). Further, gender In this article I problematize this specif- comes with the combination of class, age ic gendered space and the gender expecta- and ethnicity (to name some of the inter- tions that surround it. The aim is to ex- sections) that contribute to evaluations of plore how females are perceived and writ- the present form of football. ten about in the football context. This art- icle also presents a certain way of doing Women – Present but not Noticed masculinities while having femininities in Football environment is associated with a focus, exploring the margins that women certain type of masculinity and specific tend to be ascribed to and showing how displays of gender constructions, usually the centre can be disrupted (Fur 2006). strengthened by media depictions that fo- While taking on board my ethnographic cus on different sorts of aggression and experiences from several years, I shall violence, both by male fans on the stands present female participants in the “male and by players on the pitch. But women do preserve” who are supporters, who work watch football and they make up a con- for clubs, and deal with football profes- siderable share of spectators. A quantita- sionally as researchers. The available lit- tive study from 2006 from Sweden gives a erature concentrates mostly on females as number of 28 per cent for women present fans (Dixon 2015; Mintert & Pfister 2015; at the standing section during a match in Richards 2015; Dunn 2014; Pfister, Len- Malmö (Horsner & Söderberand 2006). neis & Mintert 2013). A recent British Danish researchers present similar figures study of female supporters focuses on (e.g. Pfister, Lenneis & Mintert 2013). their experiences in modern football and Football studies acknowledge the pres- rugby from a sociological perspective ence of women, yet they have also shown (Pope 2017). In Sweden, Aage Radmann that access does not mean equality (Wel- from Malmö University has been involved ford 2011). The norm has been firmly in a project about Swedish female sup- based on male supporters, with women porters. Women are present at stadiums in becoming “an oddity” in the masculine different roles, but their agency is often background. As Pierre Bourdieu re- filtered through the masculine reading of marked, “The dominated apply categories football. Thus, the negotiating and con- constructed from the point of view of the testing of borders that happens there is not dominant to the relations of domination, acknowledged. thus making them appear as natural” The category of gender is introduced (2001:35). While doing research I fell into here rather crudely, but because the inter- that trap. I started “noticing” women, writ- est in football is more inclined to be attri- ing in my notebook that there were many, buted to men (e.g. Mintert & Pfister that they were of different age, hopped 2015), this field does constitute a space of and sang in the standing section or accom- male dominance, thus making females panied their children (field notes 2015). I Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 125

fished them out of the crowd as something Devoted fans, referred to as ultras that I perceived as unusual due to my own groups with their picturesque accessories perception of football. (flares and smokes), are a relatively new Kevin Dixon (2015) and Carrie Dunn phenomenon (see Herd 2017; Testa 2009). (2014) have pointed out, referring to older They claim a strong influence on the phil- categorizations, that women still tend to osophy of being a “good fan” and behav- be branded as “new fans”, not authentic or ing according to specific rules during traditional, but civilizing, in contrast to matches, but as Maria stated, women had aggressive, authentic and norm-making rather limited access to specific sup- male fans. This “authentic” is rooted in the porters’ organizations, especially those perception of a working-class masculini- perceived as contesting the law and order. ty, especially in the English context. The One ultras group in Malmö was said to idea is that women have different reasons openly ban women from their structures to engage with football, or rather that foot- (field notes 2013). While attending an ball would not be the first and foremost away match I suddenly needed to get back choice of entertainment. One female inter- home and I was told I could not get into viewee, Maria, talked about interesting the same bus because women were not al- gender perceptions within the supporters’ lowed to travel with them. A group of organizations: young men from different social and eth- As a woman, you can only join Black Army and nic backgrounds, and also openly oppos- Sol Invictus, you can’t join the others. At Sol In- ing racism (field notes 2015), would then victus – they have a code during a match, if you create gender division in their organiza- want to be with them. You are there for AIK, not tion. for yourself. No kissing, you have to sing 90 min- This was both curious and unsettling as utes, no mobile phones, no selfies, no cute girl- female presence was just not physically friends. You are there for the team. acceptable. Manliness could be seen as a Maria was a devoted fan and she was very relational notion that was “constructed in active in one of the supporters’ organiza- front of and for other men and against tion. She singled out a phenomenon that femininity, in a kind of fear of the female, bothers some football goers – that women firstly in oneself” (Bourdieu 1978:53). there were just “girlfriends” accompany- This dichotomy of male-female might ing the boys. The code of behaviour pre- have become even more important since, scribed for the aforementioned group pro- as mentioned above, “the other” in the hibited things that could hinder support, form of ethnic divisions has become neu- “cute girlfriends” becoming one such tralized. Racial tensions previously visible problem. Although women could be in the in Sweden football faded away (field group, they were described from the male notes 2015). Many of the interviewed point of view, even by Maria, objectified match-goers were positive that there was a and classified in the same category as mix of all possible social classes at sta- phones and photos that distracted people diums too. Although very proud of how from the match and from providing a good inclusive and integrated they were with atmosphere. other social categories, the group man- 126 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

aged to build that unity by excluding Pierre Bourdieu commented on inter- women. pretations of female behaviour in restrict- One young woman I spoke with really ed spaces: “More generally, access to wanted to engage with the ultras, whose power of any kind places women in a members liked to bring flares to stadiums. “double bind”: if they behave like men, She said that she faced some very harsh they risk losing the obligatory attributes of evaluations because she was a female and “femininity” and call into question the thus suspected of going “after the guys” natural right of men to the positions of (field notes 2013). However, women power; if they behave like women, they could be seen in the standing crowd, and appear incapable and unfit for the job” for example, young girls put black hoods (Bourdieu 2001:68). Evaluations from re- on and held flares (field notes 2015). The searchers, as well as from their football- space was not forbidden to them, but quite oriented peers, leave women with little often the male structure made it difficult room to manoeuvre. They depend on the for them to participate without adhering to external gaze and they can be dominated “masculine” values. by those who hold power over them, Kevin Dixon (2015) and Jessica Rich- meaning the dominant supporters’ groups ards (2015) have both pointed out that fe- as well as those evaluating them from ex- male supporters need to acquire “mascu- ternal positions. line” behaviour in order to be seen as Mintert and Pfister put forward the no- “proper” fans. However, this masculine tion that the idea of femininity within the behaviour presents only one possibility football context might get a different of being a fan. The descriptions of purely evaluation outside that context, as the ma- “masculine” or “feminine” behaviour jority of participants are still biological seem to monopolize the popular under- males. Women are then “confronted” with standing of gender performance. Connell “norms and ideals of femininity in socie- (1995:70) pointed out that majority of ty” (Mintert & Pfister 2015:417). men do not fit with the dominant picture Women in this context face contradic- of masculinity in Western societies. It is tory evaluations and meet stereotypes then possible to problematize this further based on the idea that there are female as both women and men experience the biological bodies in a presumably mascu- “hegemonic” way of being a loud and line environment. Statements produced by slightly abusive supporter, but they do some scholars, that women who swear and not necessarily intend to reproduce it. shout like men do not do any favour to Certainly, because the majority of spec- other females, indicate the persistent no- tators are men, there is a tendency to tion of some sort of required “sisterhood” view their behaviour in terms of “mascu- in this kind of environment that would line” (Connell 1995:79). Female support- draw women together. Such evaluations ers are faced with a lot of prejudice not seem to be based on a specific idea of only from their male counterparts but femininity that is an intersectional con- also from other females (Mintert & struct of gender, class and ethnicity as Pfister 2015). well, yet resulting in opinions based on Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 127

gender as just one category (Skeggs 1997: girls just come to see guys” but I don’t see that 99). In short, when becoming active in anymore. We are all just fans there (interview with football, women are faced with a strong Martha, 2013). division between their gender identity and These women, Maria and Martha, sup- gender roles (Hatty 2000:111‒112). Why ported different teams, and they were very would women care about other women? emotional towards their clubs. They were As football supporters they are framed in also sensitive to the categorizations that a range of intersectional, anarchistic con- can happen within the context. They were flicts (see Foucault 1994:330) that include insiders, holding their ground against out- supporters of rival teams, supporters of side forces like the security or media, but their own team from different factions they were aware that they could be singled (with indicators like age and social class out on the ground of their biology, in a being spelled strongly), police, club offi- both excluding and including way. Ma- cials etc. (field notes 2015). ria’s remark about feeling safe was a curi- ous statement that revealed that it is up to Women in Stadiums men to control security issues as well. How do female fans describe themselves Dixon’s evaluation (2015:645‒646) then? Those that I encountered became that female presence during matches fascinated with this world, sometimes “does not necessarily disrupt established travelled for hours just to see their teams, gender discourses […] but perhaps does wanted to do more than just sit and watch nothing more than celebrate the practice and got involved in various organizations. of masculinity and segregate those fe- They talked about prejudice and hin- males that are unwilling to participate” is drances, but through the lens of being a a valid statement, but it takes into con- supporter. Through engaging with a club sideration only one version of masculinity and establishing themselves in the scene that currently dominates in football dis- they started feeling included, they did not courses making the hegemonic display of differentiate themselves from other sup- it the only one (Connell 1995:76‒77). Al- porters just based on the gendered issues. so, the point of their performance is to be Maria said in her interview: a fan, femininity becoming something to be negotiated in this specific context so An AIK woman is a tough woman. You have to be able to defend your club and it is not easy. There that it would allow women to participate is not a week without something written about fully rather than becoming a hindrance. AIK in the newspapers, like Aftonbladet constant- Although female supporters were never ly writes about us. And they can gang together officially banned from watching football, against you. […] But as a woman you feel safe the specific character of this context made here, because if the guys see you at away matches them unsuited for participation. Women and so on they look after you, they make sure that experienced what Bourdieu describes as you are safe (2015). “socially imposed agoraphobia” (2001: Another woman, Martha, said: 39). Certainly, it was not an institutional- Some just want to see the difference because you ized thing not to have women cheering for are a woman. Before some would say “oh those football, but the historical developments 128 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

and the sheer fact that football means 2015). The heterotopic character (Fou- men’s football imposed a frame of behav- cault 1984) of this space means that there iour and social acceptance that did not are no rigid boundaries and participants work in women’s favour. have a certain room to explore and de- Irene Andersson, a researcher in history velop their presence at stadiums. If fe- and gender, in her text about photographs males are selected and framed based only from early twentieth-century Malmö, on invariant displays of femininity, then pointed out how few women, almost none they are used yet again to strengthen the basically, appear on the old photos taken dominant group. in the streets of this city. Andersson also presents a nutshell definition of the mas- Complexities of Gender and Football culinity construct from those days; a man As the main empirical field of my research who would work in a shipyard, watch consists of male football clubs that are re- matches of the local team Malmö FF, and gion-oriented and dominated by native vote for the Social Democrats (2013:7). male participants, it marks me as an out- Although her book had nothing to do with sider on several levels – I was not born or football, she connected this sport event to raised in Sweden, I was an undergraduate the image of typical masculinity in the student, I was not a supporter, I saw my city, as that would be an essential ingredi- first match live when I began my work. ent for working-class men. The fieldwork happened in an environ- To develop this thought further one ment that I did not grow up with and thus could reason that the behaviour described it was quite unfamiliar. Categories like by scholars as the “masculine norm” could gender, nationality and purpose of partici- be viewed as being context-specific and, pation did not exactly resonate with the as Connell presented, masculinities rely majority of spectators at stadiums, and on historical evaluations and can be inter- gender was one of those categories. preted as political constructions as well Beverley Skeggs has written extensive- (1995). Not everybody strives for aggres- ly about the position that is ascribed to sive forms of expression and unruly be- women in various environments. As she haviour, but these performances attract the comments, “In order to produce spatial media attention and persist as the norm exclusion a centre has to be constructed there. These are negotiated within the that represents “real” belonging, and those framework of a club and a specific fan who really belong have to display and em- group as this environment is a socially body the right characteristics and disposi- constructed space (Lefebvre 1972). More- tions” (2004:19). The issue of inclusion over, supporters change their supporting and exclusion is right in the centre of style according to age, current life situa- various football discourses. It is not only tion and the group’s preferences. This about the immediate opponent in a form of means occupying different parts of a sta- another club. Further, deep divisions can dium too, from the very active standing be observed within one organization, for section, to “sitting & singing”, and even example among various supporters’ the family section (field notes 2014‒ groups (Herd 2017). Nobody really holds Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 129

a monopoly on the right kind of supporter, & Pfister 2015:417). Being feminine is and evaluations of support vary. A “hege- then about public acceptance and valida- monic” interpretation does exist, but tion. Women are not feminine automatic- mostly in the collective imagination creat- ally; it has to be constructed in an act of ed by the media, and it is contested and public performance (Skeggs 1997:107). re-evaluated (Connell 1995:77). This ideal is not suitable for many women Nevertheless, football is acknowl- and excludes different variabilities, em- edged, treated and described as an ex- bedded in a dominant class ideal that in- ample of a “malestream”, an environment tertwines with age, ethnicity, education built by men, for men and further still and economic capital. Thus, doing “femi- studied by men even in modern research nine” is not a natural behaviour but a (Welford 2011; Dixon 2015; Richards learning outcome (Skeggs 1997:116). 2015). As Mintert and Pfister put it: One could argue that while on the one Up to now, football research has been a predomi- hand female football supporters need to nately male domain. Male scholars conduct re- become more masculine, they are also search on men’s football on male fans. […] Foot- given social permission to explore femi- ball is a game invented by and for men. Until ninity within female behaviour, just as 1970, the national and international football feder- men do, as neither of those categories is ations did not support women’s football teams and fixed. Masculinities are also complex games (2015: 406). and context-dependent. Far too often Welford (2011:365) even referred to it as there is just one-sided form of presenting a “time honoured male preserve”. Thus, football through specific masculine per- the field I operate in puts women outside formance that fits with the established of the core cultural capital on many levels mainstream evaluation of football as vio- and situates them in the margins. Current lent and dangerous. I would suggest that football research has acknowledged the football does offer women and men pos- presence of female spectators, yet it also sibilities to transgress and challenge the acknowledges that access does not mean one-sided view of femininity and mascu- equality (Welford 2011). Being able to linity. conduct research in this field does not It should be stressed, though, that mean inclusion as such. At the same time, women in football are not given the cul- women, no matter what position and inter- tural capital when it comes to the “tradi- est they might have, encounter evaluations tional” view of the sport, commonly un- based on the established connection be- derstood as a stereotype of a male, slightly tween football and masculinity. abusive and slightly drunk, connected to Male performances of gender could the idea of working-class activities. How- undergo similar processes of evaluation, ever, the developments in football have albeit in a different way. Because the been oriented towards the experience broader social context holds a strict view economy, profitable marketing and family of what femininity is, female participants fun (Kennedy & Kennedy 2012; van Uden can face ongoing criticism for being “like 2005). After the tragic events in English men” or not being “like women” (Mintert football (e.g. the Hillsborough disaster – a 130 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

deadly accident during a match between try let me become an insider in one sense, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989 but also fixed me as an outsider as I did when 96 people were killed) there have not have one role but shifted from situa- been a number of voices advocating for tion to situation, from match to match. I more women and children at stadiums as could become, as Sara Ahmed puts it, a that would ease the atmosphere and make stranger-friend in one (2000). My partici- them feel safer, basically making them a pation and eagerness to learn and observe part of the gentrification process (e.g. were usually greeted with warmth and re- Dixon 2015 and Jones 2005, after Taylor spect but it would not result in deeper re- Report 1990). In that sense, women as a lationships. gender group became desirable precisely This contextualized friendship, as prob- because of their sexuality that somehow lematized by Ahmed, resulted in relative would guarantee a safer space. Presum- safety and self-assurance when watching ably for this reason, family sections at sta- football. My role and position were in a diums in Sweden are placed right next to way fixed as the one who translates the sections for away supporters. It is sup- football context into an academic environ- posed to soften some thugs’ hearts to see ment. Thus, I became a “professional small children, but it also means that those stranger” while maintaining rather close young fans listen to abuse directed at their relations with my informants (Ahmed team. Interestingly enough, one of the fa- 2000:59). I mostly interviewed and spent vourite forms of offence in the Swedish time with men and it seemed that my gen- context refers to female reproductive or- der contributed to separating me from the gans (field notes 2014). group. Nevertheless, football is very flex- ible and accommodating, and very differ- Hugs and Punches ent people are attracted to it as well. I have Thus, women in football face different been hugged quite a lot, usually when a evaluations depending on whether it is the team scored. The overflow and over-the- “old” shabby and slightly drunk football top display of emotions usually resulted in one wishes to portray, or the new, glossy an urgent need to embrace a person near- enterprise financed by rich oil magnates. by. Sometimes it happened to be me (field Femininity has been caught in the eco- notes 2014‒2015). nomic and class struggle on football The “friendship” or hugging would not stands. I found myself in this maze when I really happen outside the context. My es- entered the field as an MA student doing tablished position was as a researcher and qualitative research for one of the top as such I was granted a degree of access. It clubs in Sweden. I was lucky to be granted also, I dare say, made me into a “safe” in- access inside and I could observe and in- dividual. I did not claim knowledge or su- terview not only supporters of various perior interpretation, which is a touchy is- kinds but also the clubs’ management and sue in football. The categories that differ- players. I could watch matches with sup- entiated me from the usual football crowd porters, from the section for journalists or created a zone for fairly neutral discus- from the pitch. The different points of en- sions. Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 131

Since those categories could be ex- sewing machines. The ethnologist Jesper plained and brought forward, the other Fundberg wrote in his dissertation about hindrances were not as problematic for the youth football and masculinities (2003) purpose of the study. I was there to learn that females, mostly mums, engaged in and since I was so different from what youth football teams in Sweden, tend to could be called an average Swedish sup- arrange food and drink, so to speak “nour- porter I could claim total oblivion to foot- ish” the young players without having an ball-related matters and not be punished immediate contact with the game or train- for that. In my case, then, not knowing a ing. thing was perceived a norm, and being The “occupational identity” (Alvesson able to state just some facts was greeted & Billing 1997) that is at stake here not with enthusiasm. I would assume male re- only encompasses the “male zone” of searchers could be faced with the opposite football (Welford 2011) but also the cor- problem, when “not knowing” would porate character of the clubs that are cur- damage their position. rently run almost as businesses and em- The sociologist Jessica Richards brace the idea of being “experience econ- (2015), while conducting fieldwork in a omies” (Kennedy & Kennedy 2012; van football context, described herself as be- Uden 2005). That process results in fram- ing viewed as harmless and naïve, femi- ing women in a very specific way. They nine, and advocated for a “trusting rela- become visible as non-masculine workers tionship with key informants, who can and thus not challenging but strengthening play a protective role and assure the per- the gender dominance. It should be point- sonal safety of the ethnographer” (Rich- ed out, though, that a football club does ards 2015:400). Although I understand the not limit itself to male features only. call for a safe research environment, this Terms like logic, rationality, or strategy statement establishes the football scene as are very much associated with masculini- a closed space with rigid codes of behav- ty, but there are also features like love, iour that seem to refer to its one-sided emotional involvement, compassion masculine character requiring an insider clearly visible and expressed, which tend to manoeuvre through it safely. Unexpect- to be associated with stereotypical femi- ed things happen, but like any context ninity (Alvesson & Billing 1997). with its own logic, football is to be Football thus carries a strong associa- learned. The specific sense-making is tion of a specific version of masculinity, based on routinized and ritualized behav- and as a popular sport it also contributes to iour. a certain version of heroes that enter pop- Apart from the strategy of “toughening ular imagination. The heroic stories usual- up” to be taken seriously, there is also a ly have a man in the centre, who estab- “mother-figure” connected to football. lishes his power over nature, animals, and For instance, I have encountered women also women (Hourihan 1997:28). Women who bragged about the work they did fix- are like artefacts in fairy stories, props that ing flags and banners for supporters’ usually play the role of the final price for groups, i.e. sewing fabric together on their the finished mission. Football is not only a 132 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

place for heroes on the pitch. Supporters also feel like the important participants, even owners of clubs. Female bodies might disrupt the presupposed – expected – male space for heroism. One could also comment that women are more on the outside as supporters be- cause of the traditional way of looking at male and female experiences. The medie- valist Caroline Bynum Walker (1996 (1984)) in her critique of Victor Turner’s use of liminality, pointed out that his an- alysis seemed to be based on a particular class and category of people, namely men high on the social scale (Bynum Walker 1996 (1984):75). The liminal character of religious experiences analysed by Turner was then possible to notice because of the social structures those men operated in. An important part of entering liminality was “turning points” that were extraordi- nary for men (for example involving emo- tions) but ordinary for women (Bynum Walker 1996 (1984):74). Fans at the sta- dium engage in the behaviour that is spe- Some of the police and security present at the sta- cific for the space, but since men are more dium and a broken soda machine, May 2015. expected to be there, it might be that the presence of female fans just does not fit from other forms of research because of with the established narrative. the intensity of the experience” (Skeggs 1995:197). One can say that this intensi- Reevaluations fies during matches as it is a highly emo- As mentioned above, I have been able to tional event. After spending a couple of enter the football context from several dif- years with this field and becoming famil- ferent angles. The degree of engagement iar with evaluations there, I have become and the style is individual and it is con- aware that I could somewhat influence the stantly reworked and reinterpreted. Thus, scene. Sometimes supporters would ask categories of being insider or outsider are who I was when seeing me writing fran- not only a matter of external evaluation, tically in my notebook, but generally, I but there is also a degree of personal deci- was not given that much attention. sion. The following extract from my field Researching football has its special fla- notes refers to a match that I attended in vours: “Ethnography is very different May 2015 together with away supporters. Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 133

Since it was not the “home ground”, we I said it in English because the shock complete- were thoroughly checked and all the time ly cleared Swedish from my head. surrounded by, what seemed like, hun- “It’s a closed area.” dreds of policemen and security guards, He replied in Swedish. I did not see any tape, any markings, anything. Nothing was happening, dressed as if prepared for the worst of there was nothing behind him, just chatting po- riots, with batons, huge helmets, guns and licemen to his right side. so on ready to be used. I attended several “You can just tell me you don’t have to push games with away fans, but this was the me.” first real “high profile” match with visit- I was almost screaming, I felt so angry. He ing fans. I was alone on this occasion. Al- stared at me, almost as if he suddenly realized that so, I chose to wear a scarf in the colours of I was speaking English to him. I was very upset but also, to my surprise, I turned almost confron- the away team. Since I travelled with tational. I did not want to move from there. […] those fans to the stadium, wearing the Slowly, the policemen and guards left, supporters scarf seemed to me like showing some re- slowly moved back to the stands. Secret police spect. kept talking to themselves. When the movement began, I could go towards that “closed area”. Be- During half time something happened. Many hind a pillar, there lay a broken soda machine. young guys dressed in black, who were at the bot- Was this what happened? Somebody knocked tom of our section, rushed inside to the area with down a soda machine? small shops and toilets. I follow them. There were I went back to the stands too but I began to feel lots of people, many policemen and security overwhelmed. I started feeling scared. Legs were guards. Half of the crowd was grey-bright yellow (the security forces), and the other half was mostly shaking and I felt like crying. I had to leave. There black. The young supporters made like half a was almost no one outside, I walked out of the sta- circle and just stood there. Hardly anybody was dium and through several security fences, trying talking, the atmosphere seemed incredibly tense, to find my bike. I took the scarf off. I was almost but it was also very still, seemed frozen almost. crying at that point. There were some 4‒5 people standing in the The situation presented above decontext- middle, talking to themselves. It did not take long ualized my former experiences and re- to notice earpieces that they had, and unnaturally thick clothes. They had to be in a secret police framed my position in the field. It also force of something. They made an odd scene in brought the realization of how dependent the middle of this. I was on the external gaze and the evalua- One security guard was standing a bit to the tion of my position. side, the others talked in a big group, looking like This encounter was rather brief and giant bees with huge helmets in their hands and a lasted perhaps ten minutes. Nevertheless, lot of equipment attached to their belts. I kept thinking that there were more members of the it made a lasting impression on me and my police force than there were supporters. […] I position in the field. I felt violated and in- wanted to take a photo of the policemen and I took credibly vulnerable and I knew how a step forward, raising my mobile phone. In this powerless I would have been should the instant, the lonely security guard grabbed me by guard proceed in this evaluation of me as my shoulders and pushed me rather violently to a dangerous (or unwelcome) individual. the side. I almost fell down. I was extremely sur- prised but instead of walking away I went back to Suddenly, I was stripped of the many cat- a straight position and started to reason with him. egories I would define myself with. It all “What did I do?” was replaced by my supporter identity, the 134 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

one that I was not even fully aware of. But with a fixed identity rather than perform- I had a scarf around my neck. I was, clear- ing identity, and she stresses the passivity ly, a supporter. Would that mean that I of the position. In the situation described should have expected physical force? It above, the position as dangerous supporter seemed that I was influenced by the evalu- was ascribed to me more than it was per- ations of females in football that I came formed. My own gender expectations af- across but it did not protect me. Perhaps I fected my judgement. I was supposed to started to perceive myself as a harmless represent the “not-so-dangerous” group. individual, a pacifier, a small woman who Somehow, the space itself guaranteed keeps making notes and taking photos not that we would be evaluated as dangerous bothered by excited men around her. One individuals. I use “we” here, as in the could say that I should have been aware of crowd of perhaps a thousand persons the impression that I was making. I naive- there were children and the elderly, many ly assumed that if anything, police would women, and a group of 50‒60 youngsters be after the men in black, a sort of picture in dark clothes that might have been one gets from mass media. My own preju- more prompted into starting a fight (field dice was questioned. notes 2015). But none of this mattered. Further, just like many interviewed fe- The guard had no time to grade my indi- male supporters, I considered a stadium as vidual femininity. We constituted a dan- a safe place. Until the meeting with the gerous group when decorated with law-and-order representative, I had never scarves or shirts, opposite to the con- been scared there. I also heard in several siderably strong, well-organized group interviews that men would never touch armed with various devices and officially women when it comes down to fighting, organized, also able to communicate unless of course women chose to partici- through ear devices. pate (field notes 2013, 2015). Although Because I had a scarf, something that I football violence does not operate on did not pay much attention to, I openly gentlemen’s rules, a former hooligan marked myself as somebody different stated that he only “fought with those who from the rest of society. I allowed others wanted to fight” (field notes 2013). This to recognize me in a way. I assume that it exemplifies different evaluations of vio- contributed to the guard’s reaction to my lence and different types of it that can oc- attempt to take a photo. A social marker of cur there. my identity appeared, creating an intersec- I entered the scene from a complete tion of other markers. As Ahmed puts it, stranger perspective – in my own under- “through strange encounters, the figure of standing – and I slowly learned it. My own the “stranger” is produced, not as that understanding of my role and position was which we fail to recognise, but as that challenged by the security guard. He did which we have already recognised as ‘a not see me as a pacifier of any sort. I was stranger’” (2000:3). In that particular situ- ascribed a different position without no- ation the guard did not need to evaluate ticing it. Skeggs (2004:55) argues that people present there individually. We women are members of a social group clearly formed two camps, one consisting Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 135

of law-and-order representatives, the good fans and dead-serious, armed police could guys, and the other of potentially danger- be described as grotesque. ous “strangers”. Where I saw diversity, a This is not to claim that the space is safe multitude of fan styles and people marked and free from trouble, and when introduc- by different social categories such as age, ing here concepts of stranger and familiar, class, gender, and ethnicity, he saw a wall one can also ponder about the space itself. of supporters. This rings in tune with the Especially the away section is an interest- unchallenged process or recognition ana- ing construction of home away from lysed by Ahmed: “The stranger comes to home, where fans of the visiting team per- be faced as a form of recognition: we rec- form their social space. A heavy police ognise somebody as a stranger, rather presence disturbed the balance and the than simply failing to recognise them” concrete structure was claimed by some- (2000:21). body else, by a stranger from the sup- As discussed briefly above, the public porters’ perspective. I can only wonder and mass media seem quite stagnated in a who triggered whom and who would be to one-sided view of football fans. Attention blame for crossing the invisible line of is concentrated on the loud, angry-looking standing one’s ground or provoking the males who like to bring flares to stadiums. other. Ahmed developed the idea: The best pictures are the most dramatic, spaces are claimed, or “owned” not so much by in- and so half-stripped young men with habiting what is already there, but by moving masks on and holding burning flares make within, or passing through, different spaces which it to the front pages. The image of a tradi- are only given value as places (with boundaries) tional supporter is being set within that through the movement or “passing through” itself. frame and also fetishized as a dangerous […] Women’s movements are regulated by a de- stranger (Ahmed 2000:42). Because he (in sire for “safe-keeping”: respectability becomes the media it almost always is a he) often measured by the visible signs of a desire to “stay safe” (Ahmed 2000: 33). wears a mask, he has no face and no iden- tity. His body is blurred by the smoke Police presence around the event and all around it. He becomes the other, the the security precautions marked the space strange individual that shames the society, as dangerous at the point of entrance. a member of an affluent nation who Since football has been established as car- chooses to ignore the rules and engages in rying a risk, the participants also have what is officially consideried criminal be- fixed ways of dealing with and approach- haviour, the use of flares. ing each other. In other words, one learns Police and security are confronted with socially how to approach a stranger such images. Thus, away fans are always (Ahmed 2000:24). To my utter shock and escorted to stadiums, and the amount of confusion, I was dealt with appropriately police, fences, even dogs and horses, is by the norms established before. It would staggering. It might look as if the forces ae seem that once I marked myself with a prepared for a well-organized riot with piece of clothing, or by virtue of just being various weapons and vehicles included. there, I became a citizen of another cate- The contrast between singing and hugging gory. 136 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

Concluding Remarks that light it might be not that surprising This article investigates issues of gender that many supporters like displaying an together with other social markers in the abbreviation ACAB – “all cops are bas- football context. Being a female research- tards” (field notes 2015). er can become a valid category in some The category of a supporter in this situ- spaces, but it is still tightly connected to ation worked like other social markers – place, context, social capital and former gender, age, or class. It became available encounters. The football environment as a for creating intersections with different field of study does not become dangerous categories and overshadowing them. The for a female by default. The process of analysis points out that some social con- establishing “danger zones” is tuned with texts, like football, can result in creating establishing who is a stranger and who strong temporary identities that are prone should be disciplined. That evaluation to be evaluated by the outside. A “sup- also operates on assessment and reassess- porter” seems to become a set category, ment of cultural categories ascribed to whereas “gender” becomes more of a flex- every human being. As illustrated in an ible construct that can be overshadowed example above, this evaluation might col- by an evaluation of being a “supporter”. lide when the “stranger” does not realize The intersectional approach in this case when he/she has become one. reveals an interesting way of different cat- The most burning question that I had di- egories gaining strength and/or taken-for- rectly after the incident was, what was that granted character. To onlookers, a “sup- security guard protecting? He marked a porter” should be a bricolage made of space that was off limit for me, but since I other different markers, but in the field, it did not notice or interpret it that way, I be- became one of the recognizable and un- came a trespasser and I was treated ac- derstandable categories that make it poss- cordingly. Neither steel fences nor dra- ible to act and react. matic actions were needed. Boundaries Further, gender appeared to be a result were established on the spot and fixed by of intersectional interpretation. Rather omitting other categories than supporter/ than being just one marker, in football it non-supporter. Although I perceived my- seems to be a construct of evaluations, ex- self as a multi-layered individual with pectations, and influences from other complex identities, these were reduced markers. That could help to explain, in when the guard needed to perform an ac- turn, why discussing masculinity and tion and his assessment made me into a femininity in social spaces like football is dangerous stranger. In other words, en- a challenging task. The grey zones in gen- forcement of boundaries needs somebody der performance are a result of a complex who has already crossed the line (Ahmed structure of this category that undergoes 2000:22). It could be mentioned further different evaluations simultaneously. that the guard established another position After the match referred to in the empir- as he became dangerous for me. The pro- ical example, I needed several weeks to tection, law and order that he symbolized recover from the experience. Not that turned into a token of mistrust and fear. In much happened and it was not a high-risk Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl 137

situation in any way. Nevertheless, the cialized into being supporters. This pro- physical force, the unfamiliar and un- cess depends on the ideal, class, history, friendly touch, and the objectification that and gender as well, although gender is not happened in that case made me extremely a decisive category in those circum- aware of my naïve approach to that situa- stances. The title of this article suggests tion. However, I re-entered the scene prejudice and tough learning curves for fe- some time later, also with away sup- males in football, which are put in place porters, but this time much more “match- by broader social structure more than the smart”. Sara Ahmed (2000:34) have prob- football space itself. When attending a lematized the concept of street wisdom, meeting organized by supporters, and how to walk safely and where to go to be filled almost exclusively with men, I no- safe which applies to females as they are ticed one individual with an impressive required to know when and where they beard, actively greeting entering people can be safe, although men are definitely and shaking hands with the club’s offi- not excluded from the problem of street cials. Besides a football scarf, he was also crime. In a sense, I learned in a crash wearing a T-shirt with a text: This is what course how safety depends on mutual a modern feminist looks like (field notes evaluations. During the next match I was 2014). able to read the police much better, I was able to localize the police in disguise, and Katarzyna Herd I understood the flow of supporters much Ph.D. student Department of Art and Cultural Sciences better. To quote Skeggs, “experience in- Ethnology forms our take-up and production of posi- Box 192 tions but does not fix us either in time or SE- 223 62 LUND space” (1997:27). e-mail: [email protected] Far from being a simply-definable space, football can be used as an example References of male dominance, as sports tend to be Ahmed, Sara 2000: Strange Encounters. Em- bodied Others in Post-Coloniality. London: presented in general (Connell 1995:54) Routledge. but on the other hand it is an environment Alvesson, M. & Billing, Yvonne Due 1997: Un- that offers possibilities of variety and also derstanding Gender and Organizations. Lon- contesting existing categories. Moreover, don: SAGE Publications Ltd. Alvesson, M. & Billing, Yvonne Due 2002: Be- the very character of football and its histo- yond Body-Counting. A Discussion of the So- ry as a socially constructed space has cial Construction of Gender at Work. In Gen- traces of more than one hegemonic and der, Identity and the Culture of Organizations, victory-oriented evaluation. Discourses ed. I. Aaltio & J. A. Mills, pp. 72‒91. London & New York: Routledge. about love, devotion and compassion, nar- Andersson, Irene 2013: ”För några kvinnor tycks ratives of fan groups describing them- aldrig ha bott i Malmö”. Om synlighet, erkän- selves as a family question the established nande och genus i berättelser om Malmö. Mal- picture of the ideal masculinity focused on mö Högskola. Retrieved from https:// dspace.mah.se/bitstream/handle/2043/17068/ competition and conflict. MAPIUS14_Irene%20Andersson_e- Both men and women learn and are so- bok_low_def.pdf?sequence=2 (21 March 2016) 138 Katarzyna Herd, That Little Football Girl

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Negotiating Space for Encounters lives and how these experiences are af- If I tell first when I came to Finland, if I talk about fected by cultural encounters. the Myyrmäki area, it is my beloved area. I really We have chosen Myyrmäki as one of love it. At the time when I came, I didn’t know any our focus areas1 as it represents a part of foreigners, there were not that many in Myyrmäki. the city where cultural diversity is higher All my closest friends are Finnish, truly nice than the average in the city of Vantaa. All people (Female, September 27, 2017). in all, in Vantaa, 16.6 per cent of the in- The description of Myyrmäki as a beloved habitants have some other language than area is a fragment from the beginning of Finnish, Swedish or Sami as their mother an interview with a woman who came to tongue. This makes Vantaa the most di- the Finnish suburb of Myyrmäki for the verse city in Finland. The most frequently first time 23 years ago. As the discussion spoken foreign languages are Estonian, proceeds she reflects a couple more times Russian, Somali, Albanian and Arabic on her attachment for Myyrmäki and ex- (Vantaan väestö 2016/2017 2017:15–16). plains it very distinctly through the social Compared with the suburban neigh- relations which form the basis for her bourhood of Myyrmäki, the research deal- everyday life. These relations have given ing with the “cosmopolitan turn” has usu- her support and provided her with a feel- ally dealt with urban spaces with longer ing of security whenever she has needed and more diverse histories.2 In order to an- help or just a friend to talk to and spend swer our research question, we deliberate time with. She herself has a background in about some concepts that have evolved the Mediterranean and she analyses the within the cosmopolitan turn, namely cos- formation of her friendships on the axis of mopolitan canopy and conviviality, by ap- foreigner/Finnish. For her, the neighbour- plying them in the context of a somewhat hood has become a good place to live remote suburb in the larger metropolitan through encounters with her “Finnish” area. In other words, we are trying to see friends. how such concepts concerning large-scale The “cosmopolitan turn” in research global trends, both “on the ground” and has emphasized the way urban environ- within humanistic theories, can help to ex- ments can be spaces for – if not positive plain the practices of cultural encounters then neutral – encounters between people in everyday life. Furthermore, we want to from different kinds of backgrounds examine whether these concepts are ap- (Valentine 2008:324). Tolerance, con- plicable in a slightly different context viviality and intercultural civility are em- (from what they were invented for) and phasized as features of cosmopolitan how they can help in creating more in- spaces (see e.g. Gilroy 2004; Noble volving meeting places. Then not only the 2013; Valluvan 2016). In our article, we empirical evidence but also ideas for such focus on Myyrmäki, located in the Hel- meeting places as well as knowledge of sinki metropolitan area, more specifical- obstacles to their functioning would be of ly in the city of Vantaa. We ask how value. With such an approach we can people with a migrant background ex- strengthen the social impact of ethnologi- perience suburban spaces in their daily cal urban studies.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 140 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

The underlying idea of our article is that this he stresses the cultural dialogue to un- urban space affects the ways urbanites ex- derstand the processes as active ones, in perience their social environment also in contrast to understanding multicultural- relation to cultural differences. The ism either as cultural differences prevent- American sociologist Elijah Anderson has ing communication or as speculative cos- introduced the concept of cosmopolitan mopolitanism (Amin 2002:959–967). To canopy by which he refers to semi-public join the interculturality with the cosmo- urban spaces encouraging people to adopt politan canopy means to us that we look a positive attitude towards one another in for the many, sometimes banal, ways of a way that reflects civility and tolerance. interacting in urban spaces. This expressed civility is a key to a social The urban space we are discussing control that further emphasizes the specif- comprises the public or semi-public ic nature of the space. For Anderson, cos- spaces in the suburb, i.e. spaces which are mopolitan canopies are “settings that offer basically open to all city dwellers to ac- a respite from the lingering tensions of ur- cess in their everyday lives. This means ban life and an opportunity for diverse that we include in our research also pri- people to come together”. He states that vately owned spaces when their foremost “ethnic and racial identities are never ‘for- purpose is to be open to the general public gotten’”, but sometimes places where they (Tani 2015:131). Sara Ahmed (2000:7–9) do not define the encounters can be has defined the term encounter to “suggest formed. Even though Anderson focuses a meeting, but a meeting which involves on race and ethnicity in his study, he de- surprise and conflict”. She emphasizes fines the canopy-like space as something that encounters are not only about the that resonates with other kinds of differ- present but that they always also reopen ences as well, such as social differences previous encounters. In consequence, dif- (Anderson 2012:xiv, 10–11, 145; also An- ferences are not defined in a particular derson 2004). space or encounter but in a continuous his- Especially the emergence of the con- torical relation, and this layered nature of cept of super-diversity in academic and encounters is something that becomes policy discourses has foregrounded the very noticeable also in the interviews done idea that the previous ethnicity-based ap- in Myyrmäki. proach no longer provides an adequate The cosmopolitan canopy can be cate- analytical tool for understanding the com- gorized as one of the ideas linked to the plexity and dynamism of urban multicul- “cosmopolitan turn” in which the urban turalism. Along with the turn to diversity, potential for culturally hybrid environ- the focus has changed from entities to re- ments has been emphasized. However, lations (Berg & Sigona 2013:348). Differ- this view has also been criticized because ences are negotiated daily in everyday ur- the literature seldom analyses the actual ban spaces. Ash Amin has emphasized the processes where this kind of cosmopoli- role of “micropolitics of everyday social tanism can be realized. The geographer contact and encounter” but also the “inter- Gill Valentine (2008:324–325) has argued cultural” aspects of this negotiation. By that some of the research might even give Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 141

a romanticized picture of urban encoun- see also Ojanen 2018). We find it impor- ters where respect for others would auto- tant, however, to look for clues to under- matically evolve from contacts with the stand which factors create better opportu- “other”. We consider this criticism impor- nities for some spaces rather than others to tant while examining the fieldwork data become spaces for these kinds of cosmo- produced within the project. The very first politan canopies. This approach will hope- encounters with our interviewees have fully support the future urban planning clearly shown that in our focus areas ur- and urban renewal processes as well. In ban encounters can be very multisided and order to be able to find such connections problematic. we will now turn to the closer reading of Elijah Anderson, who in his work dis- Myyrmäki central area – not arguing it to cusses “the colour line” that becomes vis- be a cosmopolitan canopy but looking for ible also in the cosmopolitan canopies, has the factors that support it to become one or argued that “the gloss of the canopy pro- prevent it from becoming one. vides cover, allowing some people to mask their true feelings. Some good Joined and Differentiated Spaces for comes from this, for prejudiced people are Encounters practicing tolerance, which may eventual- The focus of our study has been on public ly take root.” So, at the same time as we spaces and encounters between people of are aware that we should not idealize the varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds. urban environment, we want to look at the Since the Myyrmäki area was not very fa- ethnographic material3 produced within miliar to us in advance, the fieldwork our project as a potential source for open- started with observation aiming at identi- ing up the mechanisms behind cultural en- fication of spatial practices which would counters in urban spaces. reflect the social characteristics of the We have previously discussed the diffi- area. The most obvious place to start with culties that have arisen from applying the the observation was the Myyrmanni shop- concept of “cosmopolitan canopy” in our ping mall which is situated in the very project and especially in the places we centre and gathers shops, supermarkets, have chosen as our research areas. When many coffee shops and restaurants under analysing our research sites in Vantaa in the same roof, making it a natural and easy general we have realized that the cosmo- meeting place for people in Myyrmäki. politan canopy there might be more of a Such public services as the health care state of mind than actually taking shape in centre, social services and the library as relation to a specific space. This would well as the railway station are also located also mean that the relationship between close to Myyrmanni. The impression after the planned city and the production of the various visits to the Myyrmanni shopping cosmopolitan canopy might be difficult to centre is that the range of customers re- establish. All in all, the canopy is not a flects the ethnic diversity of the popula- static feature of a particular space but can tion living in the Myyrmäki area. Actual- be created anew or shattered by the people ly, it may be that this is one factor that cre- within the space (Lappi & Olsson 2018; ates a feeling of hominess along with the 142 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

centre not being too large. Especially the no one group but is shared by different restaurants and the coffee shops on the groups. It is space for thrown-togetherness second floor encourage groups, from in which civility pervades at least momen- young schoolgirls to old men with differ- tarily. According to Anderson (2012:xvi, ent cultural backgrounds, to spend time 15, 26):this is also a possibility to develop with friends and acquaintances. Whether understanding with one another and to it is a multicultural space is another ques- share ideas and practices. At the same tion and depends greatly on how it is de- time these experiences of encounters also fined. create local knowledge. The Myyrmanni A shopping mall is literally a place for shopping centre might be even looked at shopping. However, in recent studies it as what Susanne Wessendorf (2014:393) has been analysed also as a place for other calls the parochial realm characterized by kinds of activities. It can actively be used more communal relations between users for social encounters, as many of the of that space than they would be in a clear- studies about youth and their culture of ly public space, where one meets mainly hanging out show (see e.g. Tani 2015; strangers. For the younger people espe- Lampela & Tani 2015; see also Anderson cially, Myyrmanni may even be at times 2011:31–71). Shopping malls can also be too familiar, not providing enough privacy described as spaces where the attributes of or freedom from otherwise appreciated “loose” and “tight” space4 become visible social networks: in different kinds of actions and where Guess why we don’t want to spend time in cafes they sometimes also become subjects of and restaurants here? Suddenly your uncle is sit- negotiation (Tani 2015:142). In the con- ting next to you, so you have to leave. There aren’t text of “cosmopolitan canopy”, we have our people anymore [outside Myyrmäki] and you looked at the shopping malls as a space for want to have your own time. I don’t want to see cultural and social encounters that people my neighbours, my aunts, I want to have my own experience just by coming there (see An- time, that’s why we go out of Myyrmäki (Female, November 17, 2017). derson 2011). By this we mean that they do not need to actively and knowingly en- Conviviality increasingly appears in the gage in some premeditated encounter in context of normative concerns with how the surroundings but that the mall as a to make spaces more positively interac- semi-public space5 in itself creates a spe- tive, or conversely how spaces might be- cific space for potential encounters. come more convivial through everyday As later became clear, the shopping practices and routines of people inhabiting mall is not exclusively a place for positive them (Nowicka & Vertovec 2014:350). experiences. However, during the inter- Positive encounters cannot be forced but it views none of the interviewees brought up is possible to think about obstacles and negative incidents or experiences con- barriers preventing people from varied cerning the cultural or ethnic encounters and unexpected encounters, and work to- in the shopping centre.6 This could be seen wards dealing with these hindrances. It is as an allusion to an urban sociability exactly these hindrances that Sophie Wat- where the sharing of space is claimed by son has focused her study on city publics Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 143

and urban encounters. Her main interest edgements and hostilities, all of which are lies in exploring different aspects and differently embodied (Watson 2006:20). forms of constraint operating in the public Especially research on young people has arena which limit the “coming together of emphasized the meaning of places where strangers”, the “living with difference”, encounters with others are typical. Famil- the “enchanted encounters”, the pleasures iar places and memories connected to and displeasures of association and con- them can be seen as strengthening both nection. She argues that “it is only when young people’s friendships and their these constraints and limitations, and the self-image. Even brief unwanted encoun- fragile, interstitial and partial forms of ters in the public space create insecurity connection across difference are under- and sometimes an experience of outside- stood that we can begin to think about how ness (Ponto 2017:85–86). These different to support or construct the kinds of public kinds of experiences affecting the space spaces which may enhance these very relation are visible in the following ex- connections” (Watson 2006:19). tract, as the interviewee describes the In the canopy like space people can feel change in her familiar neighbourhood: more relaxed and secure than in other This area, you know why it is nice, everyone is places of the city. One of the basic prem- close to me. My best sisters live here, my Finnish ises for this to happen is that people visit- sisters. Whenever I need them, they are there and ing the space understand it to be open, or they have supported us very much. They are the belong, as Anderson puts it, to all. There is same as friends, but I call them sisters, we have a very deep connection. Every time I needed some- no priority to the space for any one group thing, whatever happened to me, even at twelve (Anderson 2012:3, 5, 36). In any case, as o’clock at night, I call and they come. They are all Suzanne Hall (2017:1569) points out, the Finnish. I trust this environment, but it’s not the relationship between an individual and a same as before. When I came to Finland in 1995, public space is more about “being public” if I was out at night, I wasn’t afraid of anything, than being “in” the public space. The ways but today I can’t feel trust (Female, September 27, we experience the city – either through 2017). positive or negative encounters – give di- Having lived over twenty years in Finland rections to our ways of being public. the informant we quoted also at the begin- Encounters in general have an effect on ning of the article had a long time perspec- how people experience either insideness tive on how attitudes towards migrants, or outsideness and subjectivities are pro- even in a very familiar and otherwise ap- duced symbolically, discursively and ma- preciated environment, along with the terially through networks of power rela- general atmosphere in society, have tions and practices articulated in space in changed especially over the past ten years. complex and shifting ways. Urban en- Even though she has Finnish women as counters are woven across a multiplicity her best friends, she has used a lot of time of spaces that are visible and invisible, and energy to help all migrants, especially performed, experienced and conducted women, as much as possible in order to through words and silences, glances and enhance all kinds of cultural and social en- gazes, regard and disregard, acknowl- counters in Myyrmäki. During the inter- 144 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

view, she stressed many times how impor- mäki is an important meeting place, espe- tant it is to get out of the home and take cially for the Muslim men, where mi- part in all kinds of activities to meet other grants with a variety of backgrounds come people and exchange ideas with them, as together to pray but also to meet each she brings out also in this quotation. This other for discussions and coffee. is what could be interpreted in Anderson’s Women don’t necessarily go to the mosque. But if words as “folk ethnography” or “people there is an Eid festival, you can go if you want to. watching”, which leads people to gradual- Different people go to the mosque, for example ly learn about other people in the sur- Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians, Chechens, Al- roundings. Through this process they banians, Somalis, and yes, they have a very good learn to read different kinds of signs and connection. It is not just a mosque but at the same time also a cultural meeting place (Female, Sep- symbols from other people’s appearances tember 27, 2017). and behaviour and also to put these in per- spective. This people watching happens One interviewee mentioned that in her all the time in our everyday routines in the opinion especially different kinds of activ- city (Anderson 2012:125). However, the ities preferably taking place in public interviewee emphasized active doing in space would bring people together and mixed groups and was perhaps a little dis- while doing something together it would appointed as people were mostly active in be easier to start talking to someone and their own social environment and mixing get to know people with culturally and so- with others in an active way was more un- cially varying backgrounds. In her words: usual. A place where Finnish people and migrants, all in I have invited many times, come, come little bit the same place, not just migrants. If there are just away from your daily routines, come and try to in- migrants, problems may arise later on or someone tegrate with Finnish people, come to talk, come to wants to attack or wants to do something bad. But change ideas, but they are not active. I have been a place for both, that kind of place, there isn’t such really jealous, especially when the Somalis, if they a place in Myyrmäki. When you don’t know other want to organize something, it’s the whole group, people, strangers, you may be afraid of them, but not just one. I say that not many foreign women if you know at least a little bit, they do not scare are really active and I can say straight that when you anymore. This is very important (Female, No- the Somalis came, they are very active (Female, vember 2, 2017). September 27, 2017). She also talked about how more attention This leads to another related topic coming should be paid to integration in housing up in the research data, namely, that many based on her own experiences of feeling activities as well as spaces used for these safer in her current neighbourhood where activities are quite separated, focused ei- the majority of inhabitants are not mi- ther mainly on migrants or on people in grants. She felt that having more non-mi- general in Myyrmäki, but not attended by grants people living close by in a way pro- migrants. In a similar vein, there are tects her and her family from potential at- places and activities which are attended tacks and other possible hate-related inci- and organized by the migrants but not fa- dents. In most interviews the question of miliar or inviting to the majority popula- how to become acquainted with majority tion. For example, the mosque in Myyr- people comes across somehow: Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 145

Earlier [the Finns] they just asked, what do you Q: Are there any unpleasant places [in Myyrmäki] want and didn’t talk, but now [after many years in where you don’t want to go? Finland] they are friends. They talk a lot and if A: One thing are the bars, it’s not safe there [close there is a meeting in the housing cooperative, they to where the bars are situated] and walking later in elect migrants as members of the board. Now I the evening, that might be scary. It’s best to go in have friends, earlier it was just work [for meeting the daytime. I have felt uncomfortable and have Finnish people]. When you know a Finn in your not wanted to walk around that much after what spare time, they talk a lot. A neighbour of mine happened in Turku, that man, I have become more moved to Helsinki, we meet once in a while and scared. Another thing is when there was a bomb we talk a lot, we go to the market place and have attack in Myyrmanni shopping centre. It was real- coffee. Things have changed but there isn’t any ly frightening and I didn’t want go even near that meeting place in this area (Male, May 9, 2017). shopping centre. I was in Sweden when it hap- pened, but the next day I came back and was afraid When saying that there isn’t any meeting to go home, so I stayed with friends for the night. place in Myyrmäki, the informant above It was really bad. And now my best place is a cof- means especially a place where every- fee shop on the second floor [in Myyrmanni], one, regardless of their cultural or reli- where I spend time with my friends. Yes, we go gious background, can meet for different there with friends quite a lot. But sometimes, activities or just to meet other people for when I go with my children, I wonder if some- a chat, for example. He mentions that thing like that could happen again (Female, No- vember 11, 2017). things have changed since he first came to Finland, referring especially to shops For the interviewee, the shopping mall etc. being open for longer hours and at was ambiguous by nature. On the one weekends, which gives more freedom to hand it was a place for social encounters arrange one’s leisure time and daily life where she spent a lot of her time but on outside of work. In addition he brings up the other hand it aroused difficult memo- the wider variety of food supplies avail- ries and even fear that something bad able for diversified demand, both in spe- might happen. She was not the only one cialty shops and in local supermarkets. talking about the bomb attack in Myyr- Despite these changes in society in gen- manni in 2002. A young man brought a eral, having made urban lifestyles more bomb to Myyrmanni in his backpack and internationally oriented and culturally di- its explosion killed seven people and in- verse also “at home”, the fact remains jured 59, which made it the most serious that it is still hard to find places and ac- civilian incident to have happened in the tivities for social engagements crossing metropolitan area since the Second cultural boundaries. World War. Some of the informants who have lived in Myyrmäki for a long time Practices of Avoidances said that they still remember the incident Even though Myyrmanni was described quite often when spending time in Myyr- by many as a comfortable place for doing manni. their shopping or spending time other- In recent years, however, it has be- wise, another, more tragic, aspect was also come almost self-evident to suspect im- brought up by some informants who have mediately a probable terrorist connection lived in Myyrmäki for a longer time: in any kinds of unexpected incidents 146 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

aimed at injuring innocent people. These any way to defend themselves as individ- incidents have had a clear effect on uals. It is quite often that these changes in people with a migrant background, espe- attitudes towards migrants are experi- cially on those recognizable as Muslims, enced particularly while present with as is the case with many informants inter- others in urban public spaces. viewed in the study. This is visible in the The fragment also shows how encoun- previous extract as the interviewee ters are affected by very subtle actions, moves from the incident in Turku to the such as gazes. Sara Ahmed (2000:38–39) Myyrmanni bombing.7 In many conver- calls these kinds of encounters “eye-to- sations after what happened in Turku eye” or “skin-to-skin” encounters. Words people brought up the change in the at- are not used but the distrust is expressed mosphere towards migrants, which they through the body, with emotion. Although felt was very unfair, as described by a sometimes difficult to put into words, young Somali woman: “facetime” with other people or fixing one I remember, I was working the next day [in cus- another’s eyes can be used both to create tomer service], people were looking at me like we conviviality and aggression, but can also were traitors. [Laughing.] Sorry, I’m not laughing reflect interest (Anderson 2012:60; Isota- because it’s funny, but because I’m just so con- lo 2016:12–13; see also Ahmed 2000). fused about how people think. People were look- ing at me like, that it was doing of your people, Anderson (2012:113) uses the term “eye that I’m to blame for what happened. And I hear work” for those short moments when that it’s my fault that these things are done, that blacks and whites encounter each other, one person is responsible for everything happen- their eyes briefly meeting. This is a time ing in the whole world. Like it was up to me to go when both parties assess the nature of and fix everything that’s happening in the world, their encounter. Here the meaning of an in Syria and everywhere, also in Somalia. I can’t do anything about it, it’s not my fault. Just because eye-to-eye encounter is clear, however: I’m dark, just because I wear a scarf, just because the recognition of a stranger (Ahmed I look like a Muslim, then it’s suddenly my fault, 2000:25). I’m to blame for what is going on in the world (Fe- Some other examples of the more pub- male, November 17, 2017). lic open spaces in the centre of Myyrmäki This relates to the idea that minorities are were discussed by many informants and often the visible expression of the pro- referred to as sites where it is good to cesses inherent in globalization and while spend time at least with some caution, es- their growth is often seen as the cause of pecially in the evenings. Most of the inter- changing social and cultural patterns, they viewees were women, which has an effect are simply the consequence of that change on how urban spaces are used and experi- making them highly vulnerable to ten- enced (see e.g. Beebeejaun 2017). Even in sions and conflict (Cantle 2012:6). The the public spaces that are most cosmopol- quotation above shows how people with a itan, tensions occur. For people coming migrant background may become subjects from minorities, certain spaces can be of ethnic or religious prejudices and hard- confusing when not knowing what to ex- ened attitudes caused by something that pect from the potential encounters. These happened somewhere else, without having environments can be tolerant but still re- Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 147

mind them of their marginal position. character of Myyrmäki. While the train is These reminders can be sudden and sur- appreciated for its convenience, it also prising and tell about the social dynamics came up as a site for concrete racist en- of inequality (Anderson 2012:41–44, 151, counters which take place on the train, 154, 157). The spaces the interviewees such as this one: from Myyrmäki discussed as spaces for One time I was on the train with an African friend, everyday racism (Essed 1991:52) were, we were sitting there and young Finnish people however, foreseeable for them. came to sit opposite us. They had had something The experiences of the interviewees to drink and even if it says on the train that drink- are in line with the report published by ing is forbidden, they had a bottle of wine. Then they spat straight at the face of that African. Many the Finnish Ministry of Justice. This ar- older Finnish people say, please, please, go away gues that harassment targeted at people from here. There is a lot of racism these days (Fe- with a migrant background is very com- male, September 27, 2017). mon in public spaces. For example, in the The train is a very limited space and often group that responded to the inquiry, those quite crowded, which means that people speaking a foreign language, having for- are physically close to each other, having eign nationality or a migrant background, hardly any chance to avoid these kinds of 44 per cent of them had experienced har- situations. That may be the reason why assment 2–5 times within the last 12 most actual racist incidents and confronta- months and 11 per cent experienced it a tions people talked about have happened couple of times a month (Oikeusminis- on the train, which can be looked upon as teriö 2016:34–35). Everyday racism in a kind of a “no mans land”. It is a very dif- the public spaces can have many forms. It ferent environment from the familiar can be experienced from looks, it can be neighbourhood where one is likely to in the form of verbal harassment or it can know people and places better in order to become visible in the situations of inter- feel safe when potential conflicts can be action as people’s behaviour manifested avoided more easily. in deeds, words, gestures, and other ex- Other sites mentioned as a potential pressions (Isotalo 2016:7). place for unwanted encounters are the lo- When describing Myyrmäki, the major- cal bars and their surroundings, especially ity of the interviewees mentioned the rail- at later hours even if in the company of a way station, which is located right in the Finnish person, as explained by this in- centre of Myyrmäki. The station as such formant: may not be that important, but what is If you go to a bar together and your friend is Finn- brought up is the easy access to Helsinki ish, then there are different kinds of Finns, those and to the airport in the opposite direction who don’t like migrants or they are racists or they as well. It was often stated that people are prejudiced against foreigners. And then they mostly have access to what they need in may come and tell you off and especially if it is a Myyrmäki, which is one reason why it is a young person it may be difficult to resist saying something back and you can’t keep on fighting all popular place to live. But if you need to go the time. Then it becomes a problem if you just anywhere else, it is quite easy and this is can’t let it go. This is a problem that affects many something that in a way even defines the encounters, if you go there and someone comes to 148 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

tell you off, you just have to keep out of the way, especially in the form of divergent place- it is the only option (Male, May 9, 2017). based discourses with Finnish informants, The interview continued with this topic have produced research data in which and especially with the question of how more weight has been actually ascribed to these “practices of silent avoidance” also the material and aesthetic aspects of the prevent many potentially positive encoun- built environment. In addition nature, ters from becoming realized. This is re- even in the city, is something people bring lated to what troubles many public spaces, up along with thinking about their person- namely, that they are lacking in certain do- al life histories in relation to the sites of mestic qualities. That is, they fail to pro- their habitation or the city at large (see e.g. vide a sense of trust, comfort or amenity Lappi 2004; 2007; 2013). There seem to that might invite multiple publics to in- be particular ways of observing urban en- habit them (Koch & Latham 2013:9). vironments and constructing narratives Suzanne Hall (2017:1568–1570) re- about them. However, when interviewing minds us that city spaces can simultan- migrants living in Myyrmäki, their focus eously be spaces for cross-cultural partici- is clearly on the social environment in- pation and growing inequality. The way stead of physical structures, aesthetics or we learn and experience the city affects functional aspects. Time and time again the way we are “being public” in our during the interviews one aim was to find everyday life. The different experiences out what the informants thought about define how and where we engage or resist Myyrmäki as a concrete physical place, the city. She suggests that we should have but somehow the discussions always a more mobile conception of being public turned to social relations and practices. as it is through these movements from Based on our study, we propose that place to place and in-betweens that we this difference has something to do with keep learning the city. For people with a the fact that for many migrants their rela- migrant background this learning the city, tions with other people form the basis for however, raises the risk of everyday stability and safety in their everyday lives, racism. The interviewees also highlight whether they have a strong social network how the relationship with the environment in order to belong and feel accepted by is not just built between the person experi- others or they are aware of potential nega- encing the city and the specific urban tive encounters. While it has proven to be spaces experienced but, as Hall argues, quite difficult for many urban dwellers there are many other factors working as with a migrant background to integrate well. In the case of Myyrmäki, the mean- themselves socially in a larger society ing of both the personal history and the even in the close neighbourhood, it be- history of the place is visible when people comes quite obvious that in order to feel at narrate their place experiences. home or find a place in the community one turns to where a network of trust and mu- Conclusions tual support can be found. Not feeling ac- Our earlier research engagements with ur- cepted or safe in particular spaces or situ- ban dwellers’ reflections on urban spaces, ations makes people avoid such places, Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 149

and potentially unwanted encounters easi- one site, but less in another” (Amin 2012: ly lead to more separated spatial practices 65). and social encounters. While doing fieldwork in Myyrmäki, Regan Koch and Alan Latham question the initial aim at the beginning was to find the division of urban space into public and and observe places where people would private and instead aim at better under- gather together and “share the urban standing of the publicness of a space by space”. After a number of interviews and focusing on the relationship between the observing spatial practices it became ob- two. They argue that much of what hap- vious that such places were actually hard pens in the public space is actually pri- to find, even if not totally non-existent at vately directed, when people go from one least for an outsider to detect. This led to place to another, shop, eat, relax, meet the idea of introverted urban spaces, friends etc. The public quality of such ac- which may be quite common in suburban tivities is connected to the ways in which settings, such as Myyrmäki. they involve some kind of orientation to- For the interviewees in Myyrmäki the wards others with whom one collectively public and semi-public spaces were divid- inhabits the space. In public spaces, which ed into three kinds of spaces: (1) Spaces work well, these relationships and prac- that could be identified as high risk spaces tices are inclusive, convivial and demo- for everyday racism, such as spaces close cratic. In short, they are shared (Koch & to bars and closed spaces like public trans- Latham 2013:14). portation; (2) spaces for casual intercul- According to Ash Amin, “every public tural encounters such as the shopping mall space comes with its distinctive rules or that could be argued to have at least some orientation enshrined in principles and of the features connected to cosmopolitan acts of public organization and order that, canopies; and (3) differentiated spaces in signalling clear cartographies of per- that were shared, safe and familiar spaces missibility and possibility, fix the terms of but which did not enhance multiple inter- engagement between subjects in the pub- cultural encounters. Not undermining the lic arena.” The chances of different social meaning of shopping centres as spaces for groups and their position in the social urban encounters, there are also limita- hierarchy are usually decided and directed tions in them in the creation of a culturally by those having political and economic diverse urban landscape. They are – at power along with the urban planners least in Myyrmanni – mainly spaces for through the specifics of land use alloca- consumption, which also limits the use of tion, social and cultural policy, economic space. And in the end, it is a very limited strategy, housing distribution, governance space considering the Myyrmäki area in of public space, access to collective ser- general. vices, and symbolic projection of the city. While emphasizing the meaning of Ash further argues that “the multiplicities micropublics and microcultures of place of urban flow and excess are regulated by Ash Amin (2002:967) wants to make vis- these silent fixes or urban order, allowing ible the importance of everyday enact- more breathing space to the stranger in ment for people’s identity and attitude for- 150 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

mation. This emphasis does not overlook and developed further based on ethno- the general influences but highlights the graphic knowledge of spatial experiences. layered nature of the process. In the Myyr- Based on our analysis, we argue that spa- mäki interviews these micropublics tial equality should be created through seemed to be culturally differentiated. For possibilities to express more freely differ- Anderson (2012:29, 34), who in his eth- ences, social particularities, or cultural nography focuses especially on Philadel- multiplicities in urban spaces. Further- phia, the city is formed by a “patchwork of more, such diversity can be understood as racially distinct neighbourhoods” where a way to move towards more involving “taking keen notice of strangers is the first and accepting urban societies. line of defense”. In Myyrmäki, this kind of clearly defined distinction between Tiina-Riitta Lappi Adjunct Professor neighbourhoods was not to be made. Department of Cultures However, the social spaces sometimes re- University of Helsinki, flected a patchwork rather than mixed, di- P.O. Box 33 (Yliopistonkatu 4) verse urban spaces. The importance of FI-00014 Helsinki email: [email protected] these cultural patches is understandable, but to work against the high-risk spaces Pia Olsson that limit people’s use of space we need Adjunct Professor, University Lecturer more such spaces where casual, everyday Department of Cultures University of Helsinki, encounters are possible. Deeper under- P.O. Box 33 (Yliopistonkatu 4) standing of spatial as well as social as- FI-00014 Helsinki pects of place-making is crucial for the de- email: [email protected] construction of these cultural differentia- tions and divisions within urban space. Notes Following Amin’s thinking about 1 This article is a part of a larger project called “Shared City”, which is funded by the Helsin- spaces having distinctive rules calls for ki Metropolitan Region Urban Research Pro- better understanding particularly of space- gramme. In the project, we analyse the ways related experiences, not just spatial prac- urban space is connected with interethnic en- counters, focusing on six specific areas in tices: listening to what people say instead Helsinki and Vantaa. In addition we aim at of just looking at what they do. Especially developing methods for integrating ethno- the practices of avoidance are something graphic knowledge into city planning. that influences the uses of space, people’s 2 At the same time as there is an ongoing pro- cess of Finnish cities becoming more and behaviour in particular places as well as more hyperdiverse through immigration the formation of the entire social land- (about hyperdiversity, see Noble 2011), it is scape in the suburb. All these “silent important not to over-emphasize this. Finnish culture has for long misleadingly been la- fixes”, to use Amin’s term (2012:65), af- belled as homogeneous (see e.g. Tervonen fect how inclusive or exclusive public 2014), and this also affects to the ways people spaces are understood. Physical spaces experience the changes within their environ- can be fixed material constructions, but ment. 3 The actual fieldwork in Myyrmäki was done how they function as social and cultural by Tiina-Riitta Lappi and the direct impres- spaces can be more easily reconstructed sions from the field are hers. The research Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces 151

data in Myyrmäki was gathered between May Space and the Right to Everyday Life. Journal and November in 2017 by observing spatial of Urban Affairs 37(3):323–334. practices and different social activities in pub- Berg, Mette Louise & Nando Sigona 2013: Eth- lic places and pursuing 13 interviews (two nography, Diversity and Urban Space. Identi- group interviews with four informants in one ties 20(4):347–360. and five in another) with people with migrant Cantle, Ted 2012: Interculturalism. The New Era background currently living in Myyrmäki. In of Cohesion and Diversity. Basingstoke: Pal- addition Tiina-Riitta visited a number of grave Macmillan. times two local associations offering services Essed, Philomena 1991: Understanding Everyday and a place to meet for migrants and had Racism. An Interdisciplinary Theory. Sage Se- many informal discussions with both migrants ries on Race and Ethnic Relations 2. Newbury and people working closely with them both in Park, London & New Delhi: Sage. these associations and in municipal public Franck, Karen A. & Quentin Stevens 2007: Tying services. Interviews were mainly done in Down Loose Space. In Loose Space. Possibility Finnish, which meant that most informants and Diversity in Urban Life, ed Karen A. had already lived in Finland for a longer time Franck & Quentin Stevens, pp. 1–33. London: and that way they also had a temporal per- Routledge. spective on changes related to the topics dis- Gilroy, Paul 2004: After Empire. Melancholia or cussed during the interviews. Convivial Culture? Oxford: Routledge. 4 The concepts of loose and tight space are Hall, Suzanne 2017: Mooring “Super-diversity” from K. A. Franck and Q. Stevens (2007). to a Brutal Migration Milieu. Ethnic and Racial 5 Sometimes to define a shopping mall as pub- Studies 40(9):1562‒1573. lic or semi-public space can be ambiguous, as Isotalo, Anu 2016: Rasismi kaupunkitilassa. Sirpa Tani (2015) has shown in her article Tilallinen valkoisuusnormi ja somalitaustaisten dealing with shopping malls as places for naisten vastarinta. Sukupuolentutkimus – Ge- hanging out. nusforskning 29(4):7–21. 6 This was not particularly elicited or addressed Koch, Regan & Alan Latham 2013: On the Hard in the interviews. Work of Domesticating a Public Space. Urban 7 In Turku, a young man stabbed two people to Studies 50(1):6–21. death and injured eight in August 2017. At the Lampela, Pauliina & Tani, Sirpa 2015: Ulossulke- time of writing, the man was on trial, charged misesta tilan jakamiseen. Nuorten ja kontrollin for murders comitted with terrorist intent. kohtaamisia kauppakeskuksessa. Yhdyskun- tasuunnittelu 53(3). References Lappi, Tiina-Riitta 2004: Nature in the City. In Ahmed, Sara 2000: Strange Encounters. Em- Memories of My Town. The Identities of Town bodied Others in Post-Coloniality. London & Dwellers and Their Places in Three Finnish New York: Routledge. Towns, ed. Anna-Maria Åström, Pirjo Korkia- Amin, Ash 2002: Ethnicity and the Multicultural kangas & Pia Olsson, pp. 235–249. Studia Fen- City. Living with Diversity. Environment and nica Ethnologica 8. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Planning A 34:959–980. Society. Amin, Ash 2012: Land of Strangers. Cambridge: Lappi, Tiina-Riitta 2007: Neuvottelu tilan tulkin- Polity Press. noista. Etnologinen tutkimus sosiaalisen ja ma- Anderson, Elijah 2004: The Cosmopolitan Cano- teriaalisen ympäristön vuorovaikutuksesta py. In Being Here and Being There. Fieldwork jyväskyläläisissä kaupunkipuhunnoissa. Jyväs- Encounters and Ethnographic Discoveries, ed kylä Studies in Humanities 80. Jyväskylä: Elijah Anderson, Scott N. Brooks, Raymond Jyväskylän yliopisto. Gunn & Nikki Jones. The Annals of the Ameri- Lappi, Tiina-Riitta 2013: Kuinka mennyt merki- can Academy of Political and Social Sciences tyksellistyy kaupunkipuhunnoissa? Narratiivi- 595:14–31. sia tulkintoja kaupunkiympäristöstä. In Ur- Anderson, Elijah 2012: The Cosmopolitan Cano- baani muisti. Tulkintoja kaupungista kokemuk- py. Race and Civility in Everyday Life. New sellisena tilana, ed. Katja Lento & Pia Olsson, York & London: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 324–347. Helsinki: Finnish Literature So- Beebeejaun, Yasminah 2017: Gender, Urban ciety. 152 Tiina-Riitta Lappi & Pia Olsson, Encounters and Avoidances in Suburban Spaces

Lappi, Tiina-Riitta & Pia Olsson 2018 (forthcom- in the City. Living and Experiencing Daily ing): Constructing the Field through Concepts. Places. Helsinki: Department of Geosciences In Creating the City – Identity, Memory and and Geography. Participation. Conference proceedings. Malmö Tani, Sirpa 2015: Loosening/Tightening Spaces in University Publications in Urban Studies the Geographies of Hanging Out. Social and (MAPIUS). Malmö: Malmö University. Cultural Geography 16(2):125–145. Noble, Greg 2011: “Bumping into Alterity”. Tervonen, Miikka 2014: Historiankirjoitus ja Transacting Cultural Complexities. Continuum. myytti yhden kulttuurin Suomesta. In Miten Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 25(6): suomalaista historiaa on rakennettu, ed. Pirjo 827–840. Markkola, Hanna Snellman & Ann-Catrin Öst- Noble, Greg 2013: Cosmopolitan Habits. The Ca- man, pp. 137–162. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kir- pacities and Habitus of Intercultural Convivial- jallisuuden Seura. ity. Body & Society 19(2&3):162–185. Valentine, Gill 2008: Living with Difference. Re- Nowicka, Magdalena & Steven Vertovec 2014: flections on Geographies of Encounter. Pro- Comparing Convivialities. Dreams and Reali- gress in Human Geography 32 (3), 323–337. ties of Living-with-difference. European Jour- Valluvan, Sivamohan 2016: Conviviality and nal of Cultural Studies 17(4):341–356. Multiculture. A Post-integration Sociology of Oikeusministeriö 2016: “Usein joutuu miet- Multi-ethnic Interaction. YOUNG 24(3):1–18. timään, miten pitäisi olla ja minne olla mene- Vantaan väestö 2016/2017 2017: Tietopalvelu mättä.” Selvitys vihapuheesta ja häirinnästä ja B7:2017. Vantaa: Vantaan kaupunki, tieto- niiden vaikutuksista eri vähemmistöryhmiin. palveluyksikkö. Selvityksiä ja ohjeita 7/2016. Helsinki: Oikeus- Watson, Sophie 2006: City Publics. The (Dis)en- ministeriö. chantments of Urban Encounters. London & Ojanen, Karoliina 2018 (forthcoming): Yh- New York: Routledge. dentekevät erot ja jokapäiväinen luokittelu. Wessendorf, Susanne 2014: ‘Being Open, but Monikulttuurisia kohtaamisia Helsingin Sometimes Closed’. Conviviality in a Super-di- lähiössä. Alue ja ympäristö 47, 1/2018. verse London Neighbourhood. European Jour- Ponto, Heli 2017: Young People’s Everyday Lives nal of Cultural Studies 17(4):392–405. The End of the World Apocalyptic Narratives in Children’s Fears By Helena Hörnfeldt

I may be a little afraid that there won’t be anyone, article aims to examine the relation be- or not many, that will make people realize that the tween how visual and textual narratives earth’s resources are not enough. How can I ex- that signal “catastrophe”, “apocalypse” plain … that we people are too many? There are too many animals dying and nature is going bank- and “collapse” create special conditions rupt. That man is destroying the earth. (Girl, 14 for emotions such as fear. My overarching years)1 aim in this article is to examine fears as cultural and embodied experiences, and The idea that man is about to eradicate how emotions (e.g. fears) are socially and himself and destroy the globe, as the 14- culturally conditioned. I understand fear year-old girl is describing above, is not a as a cultural phenomenon and embodied new thought. Stories about the devastation experience, which means: first, to have a of the world seem nevertheless to be of basic understanding of fears as changing great importance at the beginning of the present century, in politics, social life and and situational; second, a cultural perspec- in popular culture (cf. Määttä 2015). Since tive will draw attention to the fears that are the late 1900s, several scholars have conceivable within different eras and how claimed that we live in a time of fear, or narratives of fears and bodily experiences even in a culture of fear (see e.g. Furedi are culturally determined. 2005; Pain & Smith 2008; Svendsen Central questions to be discussed are: 2008). Whether it is the fear of environ- What cultural narratives concerning fear mental catastrophes or the fear of terrorist are articulated in the children’s and the attacks, many people currently live in a adults’ accounts? What narratives of fear state of constant anxiety about the dangers are available in different social and cul- that is presented daily in the media, in tural settings and how do these narratives popular culture, the internet, emails and in affect individuals’ self-perceived fears? many other ways (Bauman 2007; Pain What does it mean to grow up in times & Smith 2008).2 “Some scholars go so far when the future is characterized as par- as to state that ‘public policy and private ticularly dystopic? In what ways are the life have become fear-bound; fear has be- narratives of fear and the apocalyptic nar- come the emotion through which public ratives intertextual, and how are they uti- life is administered’” (Pain 2009:468; cf. lized? Bourke 2005). The dangers and threats to By combining a broad contemporary mankind presented and circulated in dif- analysis of textual narratives and visual ferent media have become increasingly culture with stories from folklore archives dystopic over the past decade. It is, in any it becomes possible to say something case, often so described.3 about the intertextuality and the contexts Whether, this widespread and global- from which fear narratives derive their ized fear is a reality for individuals or not, power and authority. I use intertextuality many children and teenagers at the begin- as an approach to analyse how the narra- ning of the twenty-first century seem to tives and the informants’ statements about fear the present as well as the future. By fear of, for example, the end of the world focusing on children’s narratives and cannot be understood in isolation from ei- adult memories of fears in childhood, this ther the past or contemporary cultural

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 154 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

manuscripts of fear and ideas of dooms- Strängnäs, a small city south of Stock- day (Allen 2011). Sayings and stories holm and short interviews with a class of should rather be interpreted as a network 14-year-olds. I also had the opportunity to of associations and past experiences that take part in fifteen focus group interviews are both created and constantly create our and two single interviews with children understanding of different narratives of aged 9‒13 carried out by a theatre compa- fears. Furthermore, I attempt to under- ny in Malmö. These interviews focused on stand the cultural meanings and impact of the children’s thoughts about the future. images that signal catastrophe and apoca- Besides this, I have conducted three inter- lypse. views with adults about their childhood fears and read about fifty ethnological Method and Data questionnaires about fears and childhood In this article, the emphasis lies on what fears stemming from the Swedish Folk- the fear narratives actually communicate lore Collections in the Folklife Archive in about the fears, although the way of pre- Lund (Luf 172). In addition to interviews, senting them is also of interest here. To be other categories of textual material have comprehensible, individuals describing been relevant such as magazines, movies their fears need to conform to certain nar- and literature for children. I also have read rative structures such as genre, form and a handful of surveys about fear of climate vocabulary. Besides, the act of speaking change conducted by different organiza- one’s fear also changes the sensation of tions in Sweden and in other countries and fear (Bourke 2005:287). Nevertheless, newspapers articles about children’s fears. and similar to other ethnologists, I primar- This method, basing my analysis on ily see the narratives as empirical sources small-scale in-depth interviews, does not that shed light on complex discourses that result in findings about children’s fear that both create and describe fear and objects can be understood in any respect as gener- of fear (cf. Farahani 2007:44). alized or able to serve as a benchmark for The specific but heterogeneous group the validation of the experiences or under- that I am studying in particular is children standings of other children. Rather, I have and teenagers between 7 and 16 years old interpreted the interview data as articula- with different social and ethnic back- tions of discursive fears employed by chil- grounds. This article is primarily based on dren, which tell us something about the two focus group interviews with one times we live in and the conditions of chil- group consisting of three children (one dren’s everyday life. boy and two girls) of different ages Few researchers have studied Swedish (11‒14) and one group consisting of four, child and adolescent fears from a cultural 14-year-old girls. In addition, I have inter- perspective. The field has rather been viewed one boy aged 9 and one girl aged dominated by psychological and edu- 14. These interviews were conducted in cational studies. The psychological re- Stockholm. In addition, the material con- search on children’s fears implies a kind tains about twenty individual interviews of individualization and privatization of with children aged 7‒16 conducted in fears and feelings, which is why it needs Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 155

to be improved with social, cultural and society and a world that is moving to- structural perspectives. My study intends wards its doom. The sociologist Frank to capture the cultural and social character Furedi writes that many of our fears today of fears but also, more generally, the cul- are provoked by the testimonials and pre- tural-analytical potential of emotions. The dictions of scientific experts that warn the risk of reducing emotions to a mere psy- public of dangers far (or near) that cannot chological phenomenon is that, as the be distinguished by ordinary people Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen (Furedi 2009). These kinds of apocalyptic describes, the psychological perspectives narratives are also something which fail to understand emotions as a testimony seems to attract the kind of young person about society and the world (Svendsen “who […] just naturally wants to see the 2005:135). adult world go up in flames and build it again, better” (Walton 2005:38). Besides, Fear as Emotion the themes in apocalyptic narratives, such Since fears, as Joanna Burke has put it, are as adult dishonesty, hostile environments, “the most pervasive emotion of modern strong emotional content (love, loss, fear society” (Bourke 2005:x) there is an ur- and hatred), friendship, loyalty and cho- gent need for further research on how fear senness touch on something central to works as a cultural phenomenon. Fear- young people (Määttä 2015:427). inducing discourses about the world’s Besides the fact that, like other emo- devastation are circulating all around the tions, they have an impact on how we un- world, especially, as it seems, in the west- derstand the world, fears are largely a ern part of the world. The question is how- physical experience, manifesting them- ever, how do these fearful discourses selves in the form of palpitations, sweat- worm their way into people’s everyday ing, nausea, dizziness and tremors.4 Thus, life? Do they at all? And if they do, in the body has its own agents in the actual what ways do they have impact on how experience of fear. However, palpitations both children and adults experience and and nausea occur in situations that we comprehends their own fears? have learned to interpret as dangerous and Despite the resolutions reached at the threatening. Therefore, fears form the Paris Climate Change summit (in 2015) body in a kind of learned behaviour (cf. and studies showing that people’s living Ahmed 2004). The child’s fear of spiders, conditions in Western countries have im- darkness, and scary beings under the bed proved significantly, surveys show that is thus something that is created in relation people have become more afraid of being to certain narratives of fear available to subjected to various phenomena such as the child. climate change, crimes, acts of terror, nat- Based on the above reasoning, this ural disasters etc. (cf. www.futurion.se; study may be placed within a theoretical Svendsen 2008:14). Moreover, experts, tradition of emotional and affective re- the media, political discourse and people search (Ahmed 2004).5 In the last few dec- in routine informal discussions continue ades, research about emotions has grown to propagate a picture of a very dangerous into a special field within the humanities 156 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

and social sciences. This new interest is Fear is therefore, according to Scruton, a partly seen as a reaction to how psycholo- cultural experience that people share and gy has made emotions into something pri- in that way fear is a social act, which takes vate/individual and thus disregarded their place within a cultural setting. In that social and cultural aspects. Over the years, sense, fear (like other emotions) is crucial ethnologists have written a great deal to the forming of collectives. Moreover, about emotions such as pain, nostalgia, in- fear as an emotion interlinks individuals timacy, violence, love, fear and desire, al- and groups with the surrounding society though these studies always have had an and its materiality. ambivalent relationship to the field of In addition, the discussion in this article emotions (Frykman & Löfgren 2005: touches upon an ongoing and important 11ff.). The risk of reducing feelings and discussion on the contemporary focus on emotions to a psychological understand- the threat to personal well-being as well as ing and to something that is separated the safety of society at large and what this from awareness is always present when it preoccupation with risk and safety means comes to understanding emotions. Ad- for children’s self-image, living condi- dressing emotions however, can help us tions and their images of the future (see expand the ethnological debate about the Furedi 2009; Guldberg 2009). interaction between action and reflection, body and intellect, movement and touch, Apocalyptic Narratives of the Atomic essence and construction. The ethnolo- Bomb gists Jonas Frykman and Orvar Löfgren People’s fears vary both over time and in write that emotions can “act as indicators context. Panic-inducing incidents in the of something that is happening, a change, media disappear just as quickly as they innovation, degradation or reinforcement” come. Who in 2018 is afraid of mad cow (Frykman & Löfgren 2005:15). Accord- disease or fairies, clouds or meteors that ing to this reasoning, in this article, fear is were some of the most frequent children’s analysed as something that can tell us fears in the nineteenth century (Gullone something about changing mental land- 2000)? Some fears, however, have con- scapes and how the well-known, the world tinuity; darkness, certain animals, fear of we are used to, becomes something differ- nature’s power over humanity in the form ent and new. The anthropologist David of earthquakes, lightning and thunder- Scruton writes, in his initial delineation of storms (Bourke 2005; Gullone 2000; Stat- fear, that: tin 1990). It is impossible to understand fully what human I have examined what kind of fears, fearing is, how fears happen in the individual, how threats and apocalyptic narratives differ- they are expressed both to self and to others, how ent generations have grown up with. In the they are received and reacted to by others in the older records I have studied, people re- community, and what their function in our lives is membering their childhood fears recall unless we treat fearing as a function of cultural ex- perience, which people participate in because they feelings of discomfort in regard to some are members of specific societies at particular animals and strangers with a different ex- times (Scruton 1986:9). terior such as the chimneysweep and Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 157

tramps (Luf 172). There are also several world at the same time. Hans, born in people that bring up fictional beings like 1954, remembers that the only thing he the evil spirit of the water and “brunns- feared during his childhood, in a safe en- gubben” (a scary old man living in the vironment, full of future possibilities, was well that threatened to pull one in (the the atomic bomb. well) if one came too close) (see e.g. Luf I grew up in a safe environment, and I don’t 172 M 20045:75, M 20227:1). In compari- mean, not just where we lived but also the whole son with the beginning of the twenty-first society in which you felt there were no problems. century, the children in pre-industrial so- Talking about fears, there was always a safety ciety had relatively large freedom of net for everything. You weren’t afraid, the only thing you were a little afraid of was your parents, movement, which was partly a conse- and you felt that there was something going on quence of a lack of childcare facilities. there. But otherwise you felt it was an incredible, The hazards were found in the vicinity of yes, it is my memory, very safe childhood in re- the well, the hot fire, the brook, etc. The lation to society. Extremely safe! If you’re going made-up scary beings were something to get into fears, the only thing I was afraid of that the adults could use to get the children was the terror balance, the atomic bomb, […], it to avoid these dangerous places as far as was very clear. possible. The adults thus invented scary Maria, born in 1964, also remembers the beings, or they invoked the existing fic- feeling of living in a secure world but tional beings that served as educational then, when she got older, understood that tools for parents (cf. Kuusela 2017; Stattin in fact it was a world full of contradic- 1990:71). The fears of the past were large- tions. ly about nurture through educational So, we were lulled into… On the one hand, we had threats and some kind of external social grotesque images from a reality that nobody could control through designed objects for fear. handle. On the other hand, we had ehh, a social The objects of fear were thus clear and democratic time there, yes, that’s all everyone distinct, albeit fictional. The older records looked forward to and just saw that everything also reveal other more realistic fears, such would be better. Everything would be better, and then I think, I thought it was painful when I real- as fear of strict parents and teachers as ized it was not. well as fear of suffering from diseases such as lung disease and child paralysis The grotesque images that Maria refers to (Luf 172). are photographs and popular cultural rep- If children in contemporary society to resentations of the Holocaust and televi- some extent fear the future of the earth be- sion news showing burning children and cause of climate change, the generation I napalm from the ongoing Vietnam War. belong to – the 60s – also feared the ex- Then this TV series came, I don’t know if you saw tinction of the world for an altogether dif- it too – The Holocaust – and it completely under- ferent reason, the atomic bomb. In the in- mined my world-view, because then, it was really terviews with people born in the 1950s, like this. You lie, it’s not at all as good as it looks and then I was 13, 14 years old when it played and 1960s and 1970s they all stress the fact then I started looking out on the world properly they felt very safe and secure despite the and see: Was this the way it was? Why had no- wars and conflicts taking place around the body told me before, this is more damaging than 158 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

you could ever imagine and then you started, just some common features such as discom- like with all the stories that you try to understand forts on hearing “Hoarse Fredrik” (the their existence, put together one by one and then it alarm alert warning of danger), identity was, it was at that time, it was like Brezhnev and yes, you could name the names of these great badges in the form of neck tags that guys. I remember (laughing), I don’t know if it would be worn in case of war, shelters, was due to my mother, but she was never interest- gas masks and the idea that someone ed in Finland, but that was never something she would press the wrong button or a loss of commented at all. But you saw Uri Kekkonen control over the technology. All those standing and shaking hands with Brezhnev as materialities constantly reminded every- well, and you realized that if the balances were be- ing disturbed here, it would be crazy. Eh, and then, one that the sense of security in fact was now, let’s see, now I have to go back in history, fragile and temporary. An apocalyptic Nixon and yes, that gang that the world consisted narrative about the bomb and the devas- of, completely brutal men with power who really tation that it had already caused nour- just waited for bombing. And the rest of the world ished the fear of the atomic bomb that was burning, the children burned and everything burned and they dragged the corpses into the piles unites the informants. Several genera- in those horror movies you saw. tions were raised with the perception that a new world war could start at any time; The informants also remember that it was it would be enough for someone to acci- quite clear that the threat to this safe so- dentally hit the wrong button and thus in- ciety came from the east. Niklas, born in voluntarily send missiles to either the 1967, recalls a clear division in his (and, in Soviet Union or the United States. Para- the west, many others’) perception of the doxically, the constant presence of the world of who were the good and who were threat of a third and final world war that the bad ones. created fear and concern both for individ- N: When I was a child, World War II was not too uals and for the nation as a whole, existed distant and so it was very much on television, a lot of such American propaganda films from the for- at the same time as the threat emerged as ties, which in some ways glorified this black and a kind of normalized present. Sweden, as white with allies and an evil Hitler and so on. That shown in the accounts of the informants, was what you grew up with and hated. It was very was experienced as a largely safe country black and white as a child, it was, of course, that, for the vast majority in the 1960s and where the evil was and where the good was in the 1970s, and in addition, the belief in the world. Interviewer: And the evil then was? future was strong. Side by side, the Cold N: The evil was Hitler then. But it was history so War generation (in the West) lived with that the evil was the Russians, that’s where the two stories, one that conveyed an un- threat came from. So, that’s how you experienced precedented confidence in the future and it as a child. dreams of prosperity in the culture of The presence of the Cold War and the consumption, while the second conveyed threat of nuclear bombs were found in total destruction. In other words, there both the mental and physical landscape. was not much to fear if it had not been for The informants’ memories of the atomic the ever-imminent threat of total destruc- bomb threat and the Cold War show tion (see Hörnfeldt 2015:296). Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 159

Apocalyptic Narratives of Climate Girl B: The people will die out. Change Boy B: The end of the world. In my interviews with children and ado- The children imagine scenarios in which lescents about fears, the same pattern ap- there is no more oxygen, no more trees pears to some extent. The vast majority and all the animals are dead or have disap- begin by explaining which animals are un- peared. In the aftermath of the cata- pleasant and scary and then talk about strophe, humans no longer reign since ro- what I perceive as other distinct items of bots have taken the power over the world. fear, such as thunder, illness and acci- The children in the interviews address dents. In this way, the stories testify to their fear of the future and especially how quite traditional and to some extent con- they fear the future in regard to climate stant fears. changes, artificial intelligence and up- In one of the group interviews with five coming political conflicts. 12‒13-year-olds in a suburb of Malmö (in The children’s discussion about the the south of Sweden) they talk about how end of the world above is not unique. they imagine the future.6 In these passages Both in the interviews in general and in and in the interviews in general the chil- surveys addressed to children and ado- dren mix different popular-culture-in- lescents they seem to be occupied with fused apocalyptic narratives about an ex- future catastrophes and apocalyptic nar- pected dystopian future. ratives. In the USA, Britain and in Swe- Girl A: In the future, I believe the Third World den several opinion polls concerning the War will come. climate threat have been conducted in Girl B: I think so too. recent years. A British study conducted Boy A: I think the Fifth World War will come. in 2009, for example, says that half of all Girl C: It has already arrived. 11-year- olds often lie awake at night Girl A: Well, I think it will happen because there are so many wars now, all the time and there are worrying about climate change (Jones more and more countries getting involved so I be- 2007). In a survey conducted by the lieve it will come. WWF with a thousand young Swedish Interviewer: Tell me more about this war. people aged 15‒25 in 2013, 35 per cent Girl A: Well, about the war, what will happen? of the respondents believed that climate Interviewer: Yes. changes will not be solved but will result Girl A: Well, I believe. in a total global catastrophe within the Girl B: This country may not exist any more. Girl A: I think many countries will disappear, well next 90 years (www.wwf.se). Compar- become smaller…there will be more water. able surveys among preteens and teens Girl C: No more football players. in the USA show similar patterns, saying Girl A: Well, I think that many people will die, for example that one out of three chil- well, extremely many people will die I believe. dren aged 6‒11 fears that Mother Earth Interviewer: By what? will not exist when they grow up, while Girl A: Of being, either from different kind of tox- more than half (56%) worry that the ins or being shot or something. Interviewer: What will happen then? What will planet will be a blasted heath (or at least the consequences be? a very unpleasant place to live. On a slid- Girl B: Buildings destroyed. ing scale of fear, minority kids, urban 160 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

kids and girls are worst off (Roy Britt situation more dangerous than it was a 2009). year ago – and as dangerous as it has been The children’s imagining of the future since World War II” (Bulletin of the Atom- and their fears in relation to this is obvi- ic Scientists 2018). ously characterized by fictional images of The Doomsday Clock as a visual sym- a dystopian futuristic landscape described bol of the potential extinction of human- in many Anglophone apocalyptic narra- kind may not reach all that many children tives since the 1950s.7 In their imagination but the political and medial rhetoric that it the future will bring melting glaciers, signals probably does. The world has slavery, war, typhoons, leaking nuclear never been so close to a global catastrophe power plants etc. The Spanish philosopher since the Second World War. The rhetoric Ana Marta González identifies these kinds of the Doomsday Clock and other similar of emotions as fictional that have colo- symbols of now existing and future threats nized the public sphere. “Indeed, media are affecting both political and social life. culture has become a powerful agent of In Sweden, for example, after years of emotional socialization, fostering a new military disarmament and pre-alignment kind of emotional self whose relationship of social protection, the political and me- with real life seems mediated by narra- dial discourse about safety and protection tives and fictional characters to a greater of both the society and its citizens has fun- degree” (González 2012:7). damentally changed in recent years. The One powerful symbol of fear related to Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, for apocalyptic narratives of the atomic bomb example, has only just updated the old in- and today’s climate change is the formation brochure “If war (or crisis) “Doomsday Clock” that has served as a comes” for distribution to every house- globally recognized arbiter of the planet’s hold in Sweden during the spring of 2018. health and safety since 1947. The Clock is The last time this was done was in 1961. updated every year by the board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the Apocalyptic Visual Narratives University of Chicago. In its two most re- As shown in the previous sections, fears cent annual announcements on the Clock, are often expressed in reference to visual the Science and Security Board warned: narratives. In two of the group interviews, “The probability of global catastrophe is I displayed pictures of different stereo- very high, and the actions needed to re- typed fear objects such as snakes, dark- duce the risks of disaster must be taken ness and monsters but also pictures of very soon” (Bulletin of the Atomic Scien- more existential fears such as bullying, tists 2017). At the beginning of 2018, the loneliness, illness, violence, disasters and clock was updated again, and it is now two other forms of vulnerable experiences that minutes to twelve. In the announcement children and young people often have to from the bulletin it says: “In 2017, World confront. I used these pictures at the end leaders failed to respond effectively to the of the interviews to elicit their reactions looming threats of nuclear war and cli- and reflections but likewise to explore the mate change, making the world security method as such. Since one girl in one of Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 161

Hiroshima, November 1945. Photo: LTJG Charles E. Ahl Jr. Wikimedia Commons. the interviews, as she said, learned that dering in a burnt-down, deserted and de- walking alone in a dark alley could be stroyed landscape. These mental images frightening, I decided to end this proce- are clearly linked to visual narratives of dure, as it seemed problematic from an both catastrophes that have actually hap- ethical point of view. Nevertheless, most pened and of fictional ones. of the objects of fear displayed in the pic- The pictures showing the aftermath of tures were familiar to the children, and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear their recognition of the fears displayed bombs in 1945 have become iconic sym- and identification with the portrayed indi- bols of total destruction. Researchers who viduals were generally high. In that sense, have studied historical doomsday stories the connection between visual narratives claim that images of the devastation of the of fear and the physical emotions of fear is atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and of the strong. Holocaust gave birth to the modern ver- So how do images and visual culture sions of apocalyptic narratives (Shapiro that signal “catastrophe”, “extinction” and 2002). The bomb itself as a real tangible “collapse” create special conditions for thing, with all those atomic bomb films emotions? In the interviews when children that followed the Hiroshima and Nagasaki imagine the catastrophe and the life after events “has worked its way into the histo- it, they seem to picture themselves wan- ry of human consciousness as an emblem 162 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

On the Internet there are several pages where you can create your own apocalyptic scenery. The de- struction GIF above was retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/destruction-J3AXZDYerNB28. of the apocalyptic imagination” (Shapiro seems, do imagine the future of the world 2002:307). as a disastrous and deserted landscape, an The apocalyptic visual narratives about uninhabited place after the big catastrophe the atomic bomb and climate change share – as, for example, shown in the visual nar- some similarities. They are both often in a ratives and in the surveys above. greyscale and show ruined buildings, col- These images and narratives mediated lapsed cities and lonesome humans walk- by experts, media and popular culture that ing in a devastated landscape. Further, signal “catastrophe”, “extinction” and they also depict scorched or parched land- “collapse” seem to have an impact and af- scapes where neither people nor animals fect people in very concrete ways. In the can survive. interviews when children talk about their Although (scientific) knowledge and fear of the threats to the climate it is obvi- evidence about the effects of the atomic ous that these visual narratives are pres- bomb and climate change differs in a num- ent. The situation of the polar bears is ber of ways, the visual narratives are sur- something that children have in mind prisingly similar. Climate change will not when they reflect on the future of earth. end the world with a bang and the effects The solitary polar bear on the vanishing will vary at different places on earth. Some ice floe depicts in a dramatic way the fra- parts will become drier and some will prob- gility of both the climate and our own ex- ably sink under water. Yet many people, istence. One boy in sixth grade says that, especially children and young people as it even if humans will be all right in the fu- Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 163

The solitary polar bear on the vanishing ice floe. Photo: Andreas Weith ‒ Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons. wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid= 52745369. ture, the polar bears will not. He also 24-hour news updates have made us sig- states that there are only two (wild) polar nificantly more defenceless against terri- bears left in the world. Likewise, in gen- fying incidents and events that threaten eral the children are often preoccupied our very own existence and our trust in so- with what man has done to nature, espe- ciety’s capability to protect us. This is true cially animals, and with what climate especially in the prosperous western change will do to children living in the world where many have become accus- most affected countries where drought tomed to security and a sense of being in and hurricanes devastate societies and control of their environment. In addition, make life difficult for children living there empirical studies show that those who live (cf. Lagerblad 2010). Their empathy is di- in the safest parts of the world feel most rected primarily towards other children threatened, insecure and afraid (Bauman and animals. It is not easy to foresee the 2007:150; RSA 2010). However, the im- consequences of these kinds of narratives. ages that show the now existing effects of These images clash with the idea of liv- the climate changes and the fictional ones ing in a secure and predictable world. narrating an imagined future after the cli- Bauman writes that modernity’s promise mate has collapsed do create anxiety and – to get away from the ever-present fear fear and they also do this intentionally – to and the constant darkness, seems to have get people to react as well as start acting.8 caught up with humanity in the form of a Furthermore, the visual narratives of greater uncertainty about the present and the devastation after an atomic bomb the future (Bauman 2007:8). Perhaps the show similarities to how the children seem fear has increased from the first post-war to visualize the future in relation to the decades onwards, since social media and threat of climate changes. It is the same 164 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

“Elk Bath” – A wildfire in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, United States. Photo: John Mc- Colgan, employed as a fire behaviour analyst at the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wikimedia Commons. meta-narratives of a dead landscape, a who believe in and care for nature. Yet an- place without any signs of life, as the anti- other child thinks it will be those who be- landscape of a nuclear war. lieve in God that will survive the climate In the previously quoted dialogue the catastrophe. The idea that only those who children discussed how wars, pollution believe in God or in other ways have done and climate change would end the world. good to earth and humankind will survive The quotation below is the continuation of the apocalypse has the same ideological that discussion. background as biblical apocalyptic narra- Interviewer: What happens to people and nature tives in several ways, even though words then? with explicitly religious origins have been Girl A: Everything is on fire. disengaged from their etymological and Girl B: I think it will be, then worse, the air gets historical contexts and applied to more worse and worse, then /no/ oxygen. Yes, and then I think that plants and things will get harder to general global disasters (cf. Cowan 2011). grow and eventually it will all die out. In the Christian context, the doom is un- Interviewer: Which plants? derstood as a punishment on humankind Girl B: All plants. Animals and humans too, be- for treating the earth in an irresponsible cause you can’t cope no matter what. and selfish way and only those who be- The children then express their thoughts lieve in God will survive the apocalypse.9 about human survival after climate change In the interviews, the children not only has made the world uninhabitable. Ac- imagine themselves in a dystopic future, cording to one of them, the humans who several of them also visualize a future in will survive the doom will be the ones which everything has turned to the better who have built themselves a bunker. An- and humankind has an opportunity to start other interviewee believes it will be those all over again. One girl in sixth grade de- Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 165

scribes how the only things that will man- fers a vision of a better future – a new age to live on earth in 50 years from now golden age that can be assured through hu- are the robots, since the pollution has first man intervention (cf. Salvador & Norton extinguished the animals and then man- 2011:58). kind. She then goes on to explain how the The threat of climate change is complex world will be saved. in that it involves a real threat to mankind, Girl: It’s more like this, there will be, probably, I flora and fauna and at the same time it also hope, some people actually that will find out, carries the distinct features of apocalyptic actually wake up. Okay, we are destroying our narratives. Looking at the post-world-war world. So, either we get to escape to another narratives, where the nuclear war and cli- planet or maybe some people have found out […] mate threats appear to be the big down- In school, they try to get children to understand that we are destroying the earth in the way we are turns, they are both related to a real threat carrying on. And I think more people will under- to some extent. In that sense, one could stand it so that we invent more environmentally say that these apocalyptic narratives are friendly solutions. So, in that way we will be able based on science and realistic political to save the earth even though it is almost com- outcomes. But this is not the only explana- pletely destroyed. tion; the apocalyptic narratives appear to Interviewer: So, you think that knowledge can stop such a development? be closely linked to crises and renegotia- Girl: Yes, and although it takes time, we will be tions of previous orders (cf. Määttä 2015) able to rebuild the earth in the way it was from the when the old arrangements are replaced beginning. Yes…(giggles). by something new. After World War II, Etymologically “apocalypse” denotes an for example, the future appeared very uncovering or revelation. In the children’s bright and it was definitely time for some- accounts, they express hope for the future thing new. In connection with that, the of the earth and they pin their hopes on an story of the nuclear war arose. At the be- awakening of humankind and technologi- ginning of the twenty-first century, when cal development and as the girl expresses both the ecological and political landscape it above, the earth will go back to the way are under (major) transformation, the it was in the beginning. The apocalyptic apocalyptic narratives serve as a kind of narratives often include these kinds of pressure valves and as mental preparation stories of recovery and reconstruction or tools for a different world from what even a future utopia (Määttä 2015:428). many, especially in the western parts of Furthermore, the children imagine, for ex- the world, are used to. ample, that everyday life in the future will Bauman writes that the people of twenty- take place in big city-like cupolas where first century, facing the unpredictability of there will be clean air and nature will the future, probably feel the same way flourish. The interviewed children simul- people did when they were overwhelmed taneously imagine a dystopic and hopeful by endless oceans and giant mountains future in the sense that humans can solve (2006:109). In these globalized and the climate crisis through collective ac- medialized times, children and adoles- tion. In that sense their beliefs correspond cents are exceptionally aware of events to a secular apocalyptic discourse that of- taking place all over the world. In a simi- 166 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

lar way, as people in the past were as- future, which they at the same time im- tounded by the magnitude of nature and agined as both very uncertain and hopeful. afraid of unprecedented extremes of In their visions of the future, society had weather, people today – and particularly either turned worse with a state of (nu- as it seems children – fear widespread clear) war or a total environmental dis- droughts and melting ice caps even though aster including a dead landscape without these environmental changes does not af- living creatures, or things will eventually, fect the children interviewed for this study partly as a result of the collapse, have in any concrete sense (cf. Hulme 2008). turned to the better. It also seems that they The children seem preoccupied with the feel confident that technology itself will purposeless impoverishment of the earth’s be able to solve many of the challenges resources and all the evil humankind has faced by the earth and humankind. Hence, inflicted upon the earth, nature and each paradoxically, they simultaneously be- other. Apocalyptic narratives are often lieved that the world, as we know it, is about finding meaning in our lives and heading towards its doom and that the fu- function as a response to cultural uncer- ture (after the doom) would be bright and tainty and fear when traditional cultural bring more equality and better conditions assumptions are destabilized by present- for all living beings. It is obvious that few day events (cf. Brummett 1984). The of them imagined a future in which the power available in these stories affects world and our societies would stay the people in a very concrete way. All threats same. Their images of the future were of disaster and discourses of the End of the clearly related to medially spread images World circulating in the media and in pol- of the earth’s demise. One striking ex- itics have effects on people in the sense ample is the starving lonely polar bear on that they understand themselves and their an ice floe, which has become a kind of future in certain ways. key symbol of climate change and func- tions as a representation of the collapse of Concluding Remarks nature and the extinction of the species. In In this article, I have examined how fears that sense the children utilized the apoca- are socially and culturally conditioned. lyptic narratives in some way to prepare The objects of fear vary with time and themselves for a future world different space. The Swedish generations born in from what they are used to. the 1950s and 60s were raised in an excep- The earlier fear of nature and all the in- tional period when safety nets and eco- explicability that it harboured, as shown, nomic welfare characterized society and for example, in the questionnaire Luf 172, people’s everyday life. At the same time, has in many ways been transformed into a life was permeated by a great fear that it fear of and concern for nature (cf. Stattin all could end at any time when nuclear war 1990:140). Today, fears related to nature eventually broke out. in the children’s accounts are oriented to- In the interviewed children’s accounts wards all the depraved things mankind has from the beginning of the twenty-first cen- done to the earth more than what nature it- tury, they most of all seemed to fear the self cause humans. In that sense, there has Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 167

been a shift in the question of responsibil- tions as a testimony about society and the ity. The nature itself is no longer respons- world, since it embodies values (cf. Fryk- ible for its actions since most of the man & Löfgren 2005). The embodiment changes in the climate are caused by hu- of values is furthermore expected to fol- mans. However, this shift has been going low certain emotional rules, which in turn on for a long time. Even in the 1970s, the vary from society to society and from time fear of environmental degradation was to time. The analysis of fear as an emotion high, especially among children and can therefore provide us with relevant young people. cues, not only about fear manuscripts but As we have seen, the apocalyptic visual also about the eventual emotional instabil- narratives of future wars and conflicts and ity that can follow social and cultural the threat of climate change, particularly change (cf. González 2012:2). In today’s in relation to children, create fear. Addi- fear narratives, there is an inherent postu- tionally , the object of fear itself being so late about how we are expected to fear the vague and obscure enhances the fear. Not destruction of the world. These embodied even climate researchers are able to pre- fear narratives are intertextual. The chil- dict what the changes will mean for the fu- dren’s statements about their fears and ture of earth. Bauman writes that fear is their imaginings of an apocalyptic future most horrific when it is diffuse, scattered, cannot be understood as independent of liquid and without a clear address or rea- either earlier or contemporary fear narra- son (2007:110). The fear of climate tives. change is an example of such a fear. No In a time characterized by rapid trans- one knows with certainty what the earth is formations and major upheavals, many of heading towards; the only thing we know the old routines and traditions of life can for sure is that no one will be able to es- no longer be taken for granted (Furedi cape the climate changes even though 2005:67). Besides traditional fears, such some children imagine a future where hu- as fear of thunder, darkness and certain mans have relocated themselves to other animals, the children’s fears at the begin- planets. Regardless of hopes like this, ning of the twenty-first century concern there will be no borders, fences or walls to more diffuse objects such as a general un- stop the climate changes, which in turn certainty about the future. The new states makes the fear even more daunting. of emotional regimes are thus dominated To be afraid or to feel fear is an ambigu- by uncertainty regarding the future, and ous state of mind, not only through nature that uncertainty seems to have induced the but also in the meaning of the emotion. children’s self-perceived fears. The chil- This ambiguity, however, is partially dren’s accounts of their fears are closely overcome through the contextualization connected with widespread fear narratives of fears in “emotional regimes”, which in society. It is thus the pictures and regulate their expression and create social causes of fear, mediated through stories, expectations that determine the range of fairy tales, films and pictures, that become meaningful emotions for any given situa- means through which the children can un- tion (cf. González 2012:2). Fear also func- derstand their own fears. In that way, our 168 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

emotional perception always passes broader concept than the psychological one through history (cf. Ahmed 2004). and therefore includes emotions such as worry and anxiety. Whether something feels threatening or 5 Research about emotions and affects often dangerous it always involves some kind of draws a dividing line between feelings, emo- process of interpretation. The children’s tions and affects. Affects refer to the body and accounts are filled with emotions of fear physiology, indicating a more unintended in- that are closely linked to discursive fears tensity beyond the linguistic denominations. Emotions are understood as names of more or meta-narratives of fear, but also filled complex and constant qualities that we com- with hope in regard to the future. municate in social life, that is, qualities we call love, sorrow and shame. Feelings, on the Helena Hörnfeldt other hand, stand for the personal physiologi- Ph.D. in ethnology cal and psychological experience (Bränström, Stockholm University Jönsson & Svensson 2011). In this article, I Dept. of Ethnology, History of Religions and primarily use emotion as a notion, and I view Gender Studies emotions primarily as social, historical and Universitetsvägen 10 B cultural practices. SE-106 91 Stockholm 6 The producer of a theatre company in the city email: [email protected] of Malmö did this interview in 2015. Since I have collaborated with the theatre company they allowed me to use these interviews for Notes my research. The children have given me per- 1 All the quotations from the empirical material mission to publish excerpts from the inter- have been translated into English by the au- views. thor. 7 The literary scholar Jerry Määttä points out 2 This idea that the western world is facing a four (five) distinct periods or high points for particular “culture of fear” is not the whole Anglophone apocalyptic and post-apocalyp- truth. Apparently, there have been other times tic narratives. There are the early 1800s with when fear has dominated both politics and novels such as the The Last Man (Mary Shel- everyday life. The period preceding World ley); the inter-war period especially the years War II was also, for example, evidently sub- after the depression in 1929; the post-war era ject to a culture of fear (Moïsi 2009:94; cf. 1950–1975; the second Cold War of the early Bourke 2005). 1980s. Finally, a rise of apocalyptic narratives 3 Historians have argued that humans always is seen after 9/11. There was, however a de- experience their own time as the most danger- cline of these kind of apocalyptic narratives ous and uncertain (see e.g. Shapiro 2002). during the two world wars and during the 4 According to psychological research, fear oc- 1990s (Määttä 2015:427). curs when threat is certain, proximate and im- minent, while anxiety may take place without 8 In recent years, climate researchers have dis- the presence of actual danger. The function of cussed which strategy is the most effective to fear is that the body and the organism must be get people to act against climate change. Is it alert and quickly prepared for immediate ac- by scaring people by showing the worst sce- tion, either fight or flight (Muris 2007/2014: narios of climate change or is it by empower- 2). Anxiety is however directed towards the ing the public to overcome barriers to individ- uncertainty and it moves between different ual and collective agency (see e.g. Foust & objects. This movement also works as an in- Murphy 2009)? tensification of the sense of anxiety (cf. 9 There are both Christian and secular versions Ahmed 2004:66). Even though fear and anx- of the apocalyptic narratives, with the former, iety as analytical concepts are differentiated Armageddon, preceding the return of God and in psychological research I intend to use them the latter left open for human intervention to interchangeably here as examples of fear. In avoid the looming catastrophe (Salvador & that sense fear is understood in this article as a Norton 2011:47). Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World 169

References RSA 2010: Global Risk Index 2010, 28 Septem- Unpublished ber 2014. http://www.rsagroup.com.cn/en/  Interviews with 28 children aged 7–15 carried out media/news_2010-10-18.html. between 2013 and 2017 in Stockholm and WWF 2013: Undersökning gällande ungas syn på Strängnäs. 17 interviews with children aged 9– och beteende kring klimatfrågan, 28 February 13 in Malmö (done by a theatre company in 2018. Available at:  2015). All transcripts and recordings are ar- http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1524734/  chived at Stockholm university, Department of Unders%F6kning_unga_Earth%20Hour.pdf. Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies, except for 17 interviews made in Literature Malmö by Theatre company 23. Ahmed, Sara 2004: The Cultural Politics of Emo- Interviews with 3 adults (born in the 1950s and tion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 60s) carried out in 2013 in Stockholm. Allen, Graham 2011: Intertextuality. Abingdon: Archive Routledge. The Folklife Archives in Lund Bauman, Zygmunt 2007: Den flytande rädslan. Answers to questionnaire Luf 172 “Ängslig och Göteborg: Daidalos. rädd” (Anxious and afraid). Bourke, Joanna 2005: Fear. A Cultural History. New York: Shoemaker & Hoard. Internet sources and references Bränström Öhman, A., Maria Jönsson & Ingeborg Bulletin of the Atomic Science 2018: Doomsday Svensson (eds.) 2011: Att känna sig fram. Clock Statement, 28 February 2018. Available Känslor i humanistisk genusforskning. Umeå: at: https://thebulletin.org/2018-doomsday-clock- Hström förlag. statement. Brummett, Barry 1984: Premillennial Apocalyp- Furedi, Frank 2009: What Swine Flu Reveals tic as a Rhetorical Genre. Central States Speech about the Culture of Fear. A Guide to Today’s Journal 35(2):84‒93. Various Species of Scaremonger, 28 February Farahani, Fataneh 2007: Diasporic Narratives of 2018. Available at:  Sexuality. Identity Formation among Iranian- http://www.frankfuredi.com/site/article/what_ Swedish Women. Diss. Stockholm: Stockholm swine_flu_reveals_about_the_culture_of_fear/. University. Futurion 2017: Oro och rädsla – en rapport om Foust, Christina R. & William Murphy O’Shan- svensk arbetsmarknadsopinion, 28 February non 2009: Revealing and Reframing Apocalyp- 2018. Available at: http://futurion.se/wp-  tic Tragedy in Global Warming Discourse. En- content/uploads/2017/11/Futurion_Rapport_ vironmental Communication 3(2):151–167. 4_2017_FINAL-1.pdf. Frykman, Jonas & Orvar Löfgren 2005: Kultur González, Ana Marta 2012: The Emotions and och känsla. Sosiologi i dag 35(1):7‒34. Cultural Analysis. Taylor and Francis, Pro- Furedi, Frank 2005: Culture of Fear. Risk-taking Quest Ebook Central. Available at:  and the Morality of Low Expectation. London: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sub/  Continuum. detail.action?docID=1048846. Guldberg, Helene 2009: Reclaiming Childhood. Jones, Lee 2007: Turning Children Green with Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear. New Fear, 28 February 2018. Available at:  York: Routledge. http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/ Gullone, Eleonora 2000: The Development of 2950#.Wpa9bBLhA6g. Normal Fear: A Century of Research. Clinical Kuusela, Tommy 2017: Skrämselväsen i äldre tid, Psychology Review 20(4):429–451. 28 February 2018. Available at: Hulme, Mike 2008: The Conquering of Climate. http://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/om-oss/ Discourses of Fear and Their Dissolution. The vara-bloggar/folkminnesarkiven-berattar/ Geographical Journal 174(1):5‒16. arkivberattelser/2017-11-23-skramselvasen-i- Hörnfeldt, Helena 2015: Spår från ett krig som aldre-tid.html. aldrig blev av. In I utkanter och marginaler. 31 Roy Britt, Robert 2009: Is Modern Society Ruin- texter om kulturhistoria, ed. M. Larsson, A. ing Childhood? 28 February 2018. Available at: Palmsköld, H. Hörnfeldt, L.-E. Jönsson. Stock- https://www.livescience.com/7713-modern- holm: Nordiska museets förlag. society-ruining-childhood.html. Lagerblad, Anna 2010: Ibland tänker jag att jor- 170 Helena Hörnfeldt, The End of the World

den ska gå under. Svenska Dagbladet, 6 Decem- Flood Myth in the Age of Global Climate ber 2010. Change. Environmental Communication 5(1): Moïsi, Dominique 2009: The Geopolitics of Emo- 45‒61. tion. How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation and Shapiro, Jerome F. 2002: Atomic Bomb Cinema. Hope are Reshaping the World. London: The The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. New Bodley Head. York: Routledge. Määttä, Jerry 2015: Keeping Count of the End of Scruton, David L. 1986: “The Anthropology of an the World. A Statistical Analysis of the Histor- Emotion”. In Sociophobics. The Anthropology iography, Canonisation, and Historical Fluctua- of Fear, ed. D. Scruton, pp. 7‒49. Boulder, tions of Anglophone Apocalyptic and Post- Colo: Westview. Apocalyptic Disaster Narratives. Culture Un- Stattin, Jochum 1990: Från gastkramning till bound. Journal of Current Cultural Research 7: gatuvåld. Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag. 411‒432. Svendsen, Lars F. H. 2005: Långtråkighetens filo- Pain, Rachel & Susan J. Smith 2008: Fear. Criti- sofi. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur. cal Geopolitics and Everyday Life. Hampshire: Svendsen, Lars F. H. 2008: A Philosophy of Fear. Ashgate. London: Reaktion Books. Pain, Rachel 2009: Globalized Fear? Towards an Walton, Jo 2005: Who Survives the Cosy Cata- Emotional Geopolitics. Progress in Human strophe? Foundation. The International Review Geography 33(4):466–486. of Science Fiction 93, 34:1, pp. 34‒39. Salvador, Michael & Norton Todd 2011: The Social Distinctions and Political Rights The Debates over the Right to Vote in Norway, 1814‒1913 By Hans-Jakob Ågotnes

Introduction gian parliament, constitutes the material Recently, voices have been raised in Nor- for the article. way and elsewhere arguing for limiting In the historical literature on the estab- the right to vote. Part of the reason is con- lishment of the constitution of 1814, some cern about “populist” tendencies in the weight has been put on property as a crite- electorates. We may think of the election rion. Historians agree that voters were of Donald Trump or the “Brexit” referen- supposed to be free and autonomous, but dum, but also in Norway ideas have been “A guarantee for autonomy was seen in heard that we must defend the state ownership of property.”2 I do not find that against the decisions of “ignorant, irre- this interpretation is supported by the tex- sponsible and irrational voters”.1 This tual source material; it is rather a result of phenomenon reminds us that universal an interpretation of what social categories suffrage is not necessarily an unquestion- were implied. Historians have further able principle. Historically the question been interested in the question of the pro- has been a battlefield. The right of all portion of the population who were al- adult citizens to vote has been gained in lowed to vote. The strategic considera- political struggles against forces that tions of the actors tend to be prioritized in fought to restrict the right to certain cate- explanations rather than principled rea- gories of inhabitants. In Norway, univer- sons: Would the consequences be that the sal suffrage was established in 1913, after constitution gave the power over the state a century with a constitutional system to the farmers? where only a part of the citizens could My concern here is not, however, to vote for parliamentary representatives. In discuss how widely voting rights were this article, I want to investigate the rea- distributed. Instead I want to analyse the soning that justified this division of the argumentation for the particular distinc- citizens. tions that the article on suffrage drew Although Norwegians proudly claim through the population. In order to isolate that Norway is one of the most egalitarian the reasons for giving the vote to some states in the world, the right to vote was and not to others, I take inspiration from not a universal civil right in the first hun- Reinhard Koselleck’s division between dred years as a constitutional monarchy. social history and conceptual history Why were some granted voting rights and (Koselleck 2013). In Koselleck’s reason- others not, and what were the main prin- ing, it is not possible to understand ciples and justifications for including – or events in the world (which he labels “so- not including – certain groups in the elec- cial history”) without grasping how the torate? During that period, debates on the actors understood their actions (and also principles of suffrage have shown remark- how the actions were formed by their able changes in opinion. The written words). But methodologically, it is ne- documentation of these debates, as they cessary to keep the analyses of the two took place in the constitutional assembly dimensions distinct from each other. The in 1814 and later in sessions in the Norwe- relation between language and events is

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 172 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

complex; the meaning of concepts in ac- choice of conceptual history as a frame- tion is formed by the situations in which work therefore also reflects a theory of they are used. Therefore, it is a necessary political events: They should not be ex- task to first analyse the meaning of con- plained simply as outcomes of the strate- cepts, before combining the two dimen- gic acts of influential actors, but be seen sions and thereby making an overall in- as embedded in and subjectively under- terpretation of historical processes. In my stood in the context of the norm systems case, the methodological point can be the participants were part of. I will argue formulated as a question of procedure. that the way the voting right was regulat- We must take the way the voting regula- ed was meaningful partly in the light of tions are formulated at face value, and political concepts that became central in analyse the meaning of the formulations the process, partly in the context of the themselves, in their cultural context at structure of social relations at the time, a the time, without jumping to conclusions structure that was part of ongoing life about the actors’ strategic considera- and therefore self-evident for the actors tions. What they anticipated about the involved. In Koselleck’s words, one political consequences of their actions could say that it had an important basis for the social reality of the future should in their space of experience. Their space not be confused with what they in fact in- of experience was different from ours. stituted and what it meant at the time. The modern concept of the citizen of the The first task must be to undertake a pre- state based on the individual that we take cise analysis of the formulations used. as self-evident is not appropriate for un- The research questions are, therefore, derstanding its meaning at the beginning first, what distinctions did the voting regu- of the nineteenth century. It is necessary lations in the constitution of 1814 institute to analyse its content then in its histori- in the country’s population, what social cal context. The gradual changes in the outlook did they imply, and how did the conceptualization of the citizen who distinctions correspond to existing social ought to have suffrage will shed light on relations? Second, what changes took the nature of the social distinctions in place during the rest of the century? I will question. sketch how the regulations – and the so- cial outlook implicit in them – changed Source Material and Method during the period, until the establishment The main material used is what was re- of universal suffrage. My main effort is to ported from the discussions at the consti- demonstrate changes at the conceptual tutional assembly in 1814 and in parlia- level, as a thorough analysis of the social mentary sessions during the second half processes during the whole century would of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, be too big a task. the sources for the first part of the pro- This way of formulating the questions cess are not the best. The 1814 material is motivated by an interest in how social leaves much of what happened in the life was structured normatively. The dark. The protocol of the proceedings of Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 173

the assembly was printed in 1814 to- thingsforhandlinger). Stortinget, the Nor- gether with most of the written speeches. wegian parliament, discussed proposals But no minutes were taken, only pro- to extend the voting right in 1851, and posals and main points were noted (Den then again in 1869 and several years in Norske Rigsforamlings Forhandlinger the 1870s, 80s and 90s. No changes were paa Eidsvold i Aaret 1814). In 1874 an actually made before 1885. In 1898 so- expanded text was published where the called universal suffrage for men was de- proceedings were reconstructed on the cided, and in 1913 it was extended to all basis of diaries and letters (Birkeland & adult citizens, provided that their right Munk 1874). Thereby we get a glimpse was not suspended. of what happened in the assembly hall. I will read the documents in order to This is strengthened by Fure and analyse what conceptions of social cate- Mykland (2013), who give a thorough gories and distinctions are implicit in for- overview of the sources and their con- mulations of proposals and in arguments tent. Of the important work that took used.3 What was said must be understood place in the Constitution Committee we in the context of how the debates pro- know almost nothing; in some instances, ceeded and proposals changed. Not only diaries may supplement our knowledge. what is recorded of what they proposed, The analysis must proceed by comparing but also what the discussions reveal formulations at different stages of the about the reasons for their standpoints discussions. will be noted. Using debates as sources During the negotiations, the members for conceptions and categories makes it of the assembly were intensely preoccu- possible to discern what was accepted as pied with the struggle between those who self-evident and what was contested, and wanted to accept a union with Sweden, also what appeared to the participants as and those who followed the strategy to re- effective modes of arguing (cf. Koselleck ject this union. The opposition between 2006a:437f.). Thereafter, I will discuss the two parties seem to have over- the connections between the conceptual shadowed other differences of opinion level and the social, and look at the (and this has also been a main theme in meaning the categories had in contem- later history writing). This inclination may porary social life. The initiatives to account for the fact that very little is noted change the regulation of suffrage towards in the diaries about the voting right ques- the end of the century give indications of tion. At any rate, in this question the divi- how social evaluations gradually sion in the assembly seems to have fol- changed, until universal suffrage was de- lowed different lines. cided. The last part of the article will For the discussions over changes in sketch this process more briefly. suffrage during the second half of the century the source situation is better. The The International Background later parliamentary discussions have left The preconditions for the 1814 constitu- minutes, found in the proceedings (Stor- tion originated not in Norway, but in the 174 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

international affairs and the intellectual American and the French, based on the climate after the French Revolution and idea that the legitimate political power the Napoleonic Wars. As an outcome of emanates from the people. One element the military campaigns of 1813, the win- in such a constitution must be a parlia- ning powers decided to break up the abso- ment elected by “the people”. The pro- lutist state of Denmark-Norway and give ceedings of the constitutional assembly the new Swedish ruler, later known as of 1814 show us participants sharing an Karl Johan, control over Norway. The ideological world where such concepts Danish prince, Christian Frederik, who were basic. The representatives, most of was the king’s representative in Norway, them civil servants with their profession- decided to resist, planning to make him- al experience in the administration of the self king of Norway, on the basis of his absolutist state, used a language that re- hereditary right. He sought support for ferred to a different reality, one yet to be this plan among the leading men in state established. Through concepts such as administration and business in Norway, citizen, the sovereignty of the people, di- which gave them the opportunity to set a vision of power, the rights of man, which decisive precondition. To attain the con- they used as a matter of course during the sent of the elite, the prince had to accept assembly, they shared a vision of the fu- the idea that the right to rule did not reside ture. As Koselleck would have said, they in a royal family, but emanated from the shared a horizon of expectations. But people. The leading men demanded that they also shared assumptions about exist- the new sovereign state be a constitutional ing social relations, assumptions under- monarchy. The established agreement be- lying the debates over the voting right. tween the prince and the elite to this effect We may understand such assumptions as was the basis for the following events: part of their space of experience, which The summoning of a constitutional assem- means that they may not have been ex- bly at Eidsvoll and, through the making of plicitly reflected by the actors them- the constitution, the establishment of a selves. In the following I will use Kosel- new state with its authority built on the leck’s idea that the conceptions may be principle of the sovereignty of the people more or less based on either experience – though before the year ended, it became or expectations. clear that it was to be under the rule of the Swedish king. The Debates over Suffrage at the  The intellectual background was Constitutional Assembly equally foreign to developments in Nor- The constitutional assembly which way, but very much in tune with interna- gathered at Eidsvoll in April 1814 based tional political currents. In many coun- its negotiations on some bearing prin- tries, the principles of division of power ciples: division of power between parlia- and the sovereignty of the people had a ment, king and courts, the sovereignty of strong following, and members of the the people, and the rights of man (to fair Norwegian elite had studied constitu- trial, security of property etc.). The result- tions of other countries, not only the ing constitution, passed on 17 May, stated Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 175

that the country was to be a monarchy ers. If the men at Eidsvoll introduced a with independent courts and an elected political interpretation of the concept legislative parliament. The act established with important implications for the fu- a new regime, based on programmatic ture, the existing social conditions also concepts that marked a break with the old put its imprint on it. Borger would hence- absolutist order. Of central importance forth be an ambiguous concept, both con- was the sovereignty of the people, repre- noting the new masters of the state, and sented by the elected parliament. the privileged urban layers of the old or- The concept of Norwegian citizen der. It carried a heavy load of experience [norsk borger] was the starting point for for ordinary people. On the other hand, defining who was qualified to elect rep- its content of expectations had a key le- resentatives to the parliament. Tine gitimating function and would be the ba- Damsholt has shown that the concept of sis for claims to extend suffrage in the fu- borger played an important role in the ture. Danish-Norwegian absolutist state be- The assembly’s work was organized as fore 1814. The concept expressed the follows: Text for the various articles was idea that every citizen had rights and du- prepared in the Constitutional Com- ties in relation to the state, which implied mittee. Thereafter, it was discussed and the ethical imperative to further the com- voted on in the full assembly. In the case mon good (Damsholt 2000:80ff.). The of article 50, which specified those who leading men at Eidsvoll were well aware were qualified to vote, the article was on of this. They had spent years in Copenha- the agenda twice both in the committee gen as students and often as civil serv- and in the assembly. Given the sparse ants, and they were well acquainted with material, I have to discuss the different the common public sphere of the double formulations in some detail. The first for- monarchy where these ideas were ex- mulation from the constitution commit- pressed. This meaning of borger must tee is as follows: have been an important part of their Suffrage is granted only to those Norwegian citi- self-understanding. At Eidsvoll the con- zens [borgere] who have reached 25 years of age. cept was activated in a specific context: From these are excepted: 1) those who get support in the task of defining the source of the from the poor relief; 2) Servants and those who people’s sovereignty. It was thus directed solely live from day labour; 3) Artisan journey- towards the future, as a central element in men and apprentices; 4) Factory workers and the projected new state. But the old so- crofters [husmenn] who do not own the plots they live on; 5) Sailors and soldiers without real estate. ciety put its mark on the new one. The word borger had a different meaning in The use of the term borgere signalled that everyday Norwegian, namely a person the whole project belonged in the future- who had certain juridical rights in a city oriented political outlook of constitutional (to trade, to produce handicraft products thinking. This was the common starting or command a ship (Aasen 1873: bor- point in all proposals for article 50. At first ger ). The assembly consisted of repre- glance, it might look as if the criterion for sentatives of both the elite and the farm- voting was based on ownership of real 176 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

estate, as stipulated in 4) and 5). If we con- that in the countryside only the following Nor- sider what is common for the excluded wegian citizens [borgere] should have the right to categories, however, another interpreta- vote: 1) The civil servants of the state, of all three estates; 2) Everyone who possesses registered tion emerges: It is the subordinate, those land, either as property or as leasehold. Regarding who are dependent on others for their live- the towns I also hold that only civil servants and lihood who are not qualified. More gener- those who have acquired burgher rights [borger- ally, people who are under the authority of skab ] and paid taxes and public burdens, should be others are excluded. As we shall see, this entitled to vote. principle was to be basic to the negotia- Bendeke justified his proposal by stress- tions. ing the principle that only useful citizens The Constitutional Committee had 15 should vote. He especially pointed to the members, all of them belonging to the fact that his proposal would include elite. Its work was dominated by its farmers, but exclude fathers and sons of chairman, the civil servant Christian farmers; that is, only those in charge of Magnus Falsen, who together with a running a farm should have the right. A friend had drafted a constitution in the father who had passed on the farm to the weeks before the assembly. He circulated next generation should lose his right to the text to influential friends, and even to vote. He further noted that artisans work- the prince, and it functioned as a draft in ing in the countryside were not real mas- the discussions. In this document, the ter artisans, and they should consequent- right to vote was based on ownership of ly be excluded too. His arguments were landed property/real estate, a conception of a moral nature; the right to vote is for altogether different from what the com- those who deserve it (cf. Fure & Mykland mittee proposed. The committee’s pro- 2013:207). posal must therefore have been put for- What emerges from Bendeke’s argu- ward by other members. We can only ments is that the social type that was speculate over how the text came into be- worthy of the right to vote, in addition to ing. One member, Nicolai Wergeland, the civil servants, was one who was mas- wanted a much broader formulation (“all ter of his own business. In the country- tax-payers and everyone who bears arms side, that principally included farmers for the country” – Wergeland 1830:85). running a farm, i.e. a unit registered in Probably the committee’s proposal was a the land register. In the towns, it includ- compromise. ed those registered as borgere [burghers] When the committee’s proposal of the towns (who also had to be tax- reached the assembly, it met with strong payers). rejection, resulting in a lengthy debate. The other counter-proposal, from the We have no detailed knowledge of the dis- assembly’s secretary, Wilhelm Christie, cussion; only two of the alternative pro- was obviously written during the discus- posals and their motivations are known. sion and shaped on the basis of Bendeke’s. One of them, set forth by the higher civil Christie wanted to extend the suffrage to servant [amtmann] Claus Bendeke, reads people who owned houses in towns, and as follows: people who had a regular income of a cer- Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 177

tain value. The basic principle is however but the proposal to include income as a the same in the two: the use of landed criterion was rejected by a large majori- property, i.e. being in charge of a farm, or ty. The social distinction that the mem- in the town, acquired burgher right, i.e. the bers of the constitutional assembly saw registered right to run a merchant’s shop as important enough to base the right to or an artisan’s shop (in addition, com- vote upon was consequently not the dif- manding a ship presupposed the same ference between rich and poor, but the registration, so skippers were included difference between autonomous and de- too). Owning property or having a high in- pendent citizens. come must be considered secondary to The social type that was excluded by this basic principle. the voting article was people dependent on The article was sent back to the com- those who were masters of their busi- mittee for editing, and when it came back nesses. Therefore, the distinction made in to the plenary assembly, it was modified article 50, coincided with the distinction on the pattern of the two counter-pro- between the head of a household and the posals, but with some important differ- rest of the household members. Artisan ences: most important, burgher right was households often comprised journeymen not mentioned as a criterion. Again, the and apprentices, who were categorized as assembly showed its principled standpoint servants; servants also formed part of and included it again. The result was the farmer and merchant households. By us- following formulation of article 50: ing this principle of distinction, all mem- Suffrage is granted only to those Norwegian citi- bers of households other than heads were zens who have reached 25 years of age, have been excluded as unworthy of the voting right, living in the country for 5 years, and either including women and children. Underly- a. are, or have been, civil servants, b. in the countryside own or for more than 5 years ing the idea of the household was precise- have leased registered land, ly that its head had extensive authority c. are burghers in a town [Kjøbstad], or in town over the other members, wife, children [Kjøbstad or Ladested] own a house or plot of and servants. more than 300 Rigsbankdaler silver value. The following article of the constitution This formulation of article 50 remained (§ 51) regulated the criteria for losing the essentially the same until 1885.4 If we right to vote: It included those who had re- except the right of civil servants (which ceived poor relief or had committed nobody disputed), the principles qualify- crimes. These criteria underline the moral ing for the right to vote thereby came to character of the right to vote: It was not rest on being in charge of a farm or of a only necessary to be autonomous, to have business (commanding a workshop, the authority to act on one’s own behalf. trade or ship). The majority in the assem- One also had to be respectable and thereby bly showed itself consistent in support- trustworthy. The right to vote rested on the ing these principles and repeatedly re- person’s status as independent and moral- jected alternative proposals. The idea ly above criticism. that people who owned a house or plot in In other European countries, the regula- towns also qualified was accepted too, tions of voting rights in the same period 178 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

seem to have been undertaken in the light those excluded, the pattern is not that of other considerations. In France, Eng- clear: Not all household fathers were land and many German states the census economically independent. system was used to restrict the right to The election of the representatives to vote (Koselleck 2006a:436–461). In so- the assembly at Eidsvoll is illuminating cieties where the nobility monopolized here. The prince had instructed his important political rights, the rising bishops very carefully how the election “middle layers” demanding the same should be arranged. First each congrega- rights did not want to share them with the tion was to meet in the church to elect poor. According to Koselleck, the use of delegates, who would then meet to elect income as a criterion was a solution to the representatives for each region [amt] and problem of subscribing to the principle of each major town. Representatives were people’s sovereignty and at the same time to be elected among the region’s “most excluding a large share of the citizens. enlightened men”. The delegates had to This does not mean that the autonomous- be either civil servants, or (in the coun- subordinate dimension was unimportant tryside) manufacturers, landowners or in these countries, but it indicates that the farmers, or (in the towns) registered Norwegian solution was not copied from borgere. But who the intended partici- other countries. The Norwegian solution pants in the primary elections in the must not be considered a result primarily churches were is a more open question, of strategic considerations but rested on because the household fathers were convictions about what was right. obliged to be present and to swear an oath. “The Norwegian people”, “the The Social Background people” and “the congregation” were If it is correct that the basic principle in used to refer to those supposed to be pres- the regulation of the right to vote was the ent. Were they also supposed to vote? distinction between autonomous and de- The confusion resulted in very different pendent, we must investigate this pair of practices from place to place. In the re- concepts further. My hypothesis is that gion of Akershus, the bishop ordered the people at the beginning of the nineteenth parish priests to summon the household century understood this pair of concepts fathers, who thereby came to make up the on the basis of two logically unrelated congregations’ electorate. In other in- principles: On the one hand, autonomy/ stances, only the twelve men who were dependence referred to economic posi- supposed to sign the election document tion (being one’s own master vs. being participated. In some places the interpre- dependent on a master), on the other tation was that all grown-up men should hand, it referred to position in the house- elect. But “The general interpretation in hold (as head or subordinate member of March 1814 seems to have been that the the household). In the case of the two male household fathers comprised the main categories gaining the vote in 1814, primary election assembly” (Solli 2014: burghers and farmers, the two interpreta- 113). tions generally overlapped. In the case of In contrast to the discussions in the con- Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 179

stitutional assembly, at the local level the distinctions pervades them. They also all authority was often supposed to reside in put explicit emphasis on the inclusion of the married men who had their own the farmers. The prince ruled that at least households. This way of thinking was also one representative from each region represented at Eidsvoll, where the repre- [amt] must be a farmer. And in the as- sentative Wergeland wanted to make all sembly, a very consistent majority insist- indigenous household fathers over 25 ed that all farmers, both the owners of years electable; another representative their farms and those in stable leasehold wanted to make the fathers electable. But of farms, were worthy of full political the main line of thought there was tied to rights. The valuation is understandable in the other dimension of autonomy/depend- the light of the typical relationships be- ence – the person’s relation to his material tween people in the countryside in the pe- livelihood. The confusion in local elec- riod. They were not different in farmer tions points to the double meaning of the households where the household head concept of autonomous borger. In addi- was owner and those where he was lease- tion, the idea of the citizen of the state holder. could also be appealed to, as in the case of The households of the nineteenth centu- Stavanger, where a large group of inhabit- ry in both town and country were close so- ants declared that “we consider everyone cial collectives characterized by relations in the state a citizen, as long as his moral of superiority and subordination. Heads of conduct does not preclude it” (Jæger households, i.e. married men and usually 1916:475, Solli 2014). fathers, had almost absolute authority over The distinction between the autono- the other members. Their wives were next mous and the dependent was an integral in command, and could make decisions in part of the social outlook of representa- the husband’s absence. They could be- tives in Norwegian rural municipalities in come heads if they were widowed. But the 1840s and 1850s, as shown by the his- generally women were subordinate, like torian Knut Dørum. He cites opinions to all other members, children and servants the effect that people who are not in an in- alike. They all had the duty to obey – to dependent position ought not to have po- show loyalty and execute the father’s or- litical influence, and the dependence con- ders. The household father had the right to cerns both economic and household status punish them all “on the body”, for ex- (Dørum 2013:102f.). ample, in the event of subversive be- haviour. The paternalistic principle im- Social Conditions Reflected in Suf- plied that the subordinate must show their frage: Crofters, Women, Servants deference by signalling unconditional loy- If we look at the different formulations of alty. The master-subordinate dimension is the right to vote at Eidsvoll together with especially distinct in the relationship be- the prince’s voting principles, we see that tween head and servant. A treatise on law even though they differed, there is a com- from 1900 concerning servants defines the mon ground underlying them. The same household servants [tyende] as “that class conception of what was “natural” social of servants who against provision of food 180 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

and lodging from the household head do relations in law, the practice of the laws the lower manual work on the farm or in and political debates on the rights of the house”. Their characteristically de- landowners, farmers and servants (Jacob- pendent position is one of the criteria that sen 2008, 2007). The position of servants define them, according to this juridical ex- in households was similar in the two position (Tyenderetten efter norsk og countries, and the codification of rights fremmed lovgivning 1900:5). and duties is similar in the Danish and The crofter who leased a small plot of Norwegian law-books of the seventeenth land from a farmer was also seen as hav- century. In Norway, big estates were not ing a relation of dependency to the farmer. common as in Denmark, and the farmers In parts of the country he was typically were therefore not usually subordinate to obliged to work on the farmer’s land. On an estate owner. But the relationship be- the other hand, the crofter had his own tween farmer (in charge of a registered family, and was thereby himself a house- farming unit) and husmann or crofter hold father. While nobody disputed his (holding his small plot on a farm’s land) belonging to the subordinates in 1814, this was similar. The paternalistic relation- ambiguity seems to have made him more ship of the household was extended to re- acceptable as a voter later in the century, lations between heads of estates, or as we shall see. farms, and their dependent farmers and The implications of this household crofters. This model of household rela- structure in the wider society included tions was not exclusively Scandinavian; both the individual’s civil status and his or Otto Brunner has coined the apt expres- her relation to the state. In relation to the sion “das ganze Haus” as a term for this outside world, the head represented the model, which he holds was common for subordinate members vis-à-vis other European peasant communities for cen- people, the state, or other institutions. In turies (Brunner 1980:107). the absolutist state, the state bureaucracy In Prussia, the power structure of the controlled its subjects through the house- household changed during the nineteenth hold head, the family father, who thereby century, as changed laws restricted the functioned as a support for the social or- power of housefathers. But the häuslich der. On the other hand, the subordinate power order did not disappear, because members had only indirect formal rela- the state needed the housefathers’ author- tions to the world outside the household; ity to reach and control the dependent the master represented them if they came household members, in questions of both into conflict with outside persons. They punishment and taxpaying (Koselleck had no autonomous juridical status that 1967:62‒70, 2006b:480‒485). Jacobsen allowed them to voice their own interests argues that it was a juridical culture, built (cf. Sogner 1990:68). on traditional practice, that regulated the This social structure was in principle relations in the household and gave the the same in Denmark, as the historian household head the legitimate power to Anette Faye Jacobsen shows. She has decide over, convict and punish the analysed the codification of household members of his household. She holds that Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 181

the state had abdicated from this sphere the distinction between autonomous and of justice. Gradually, the state extended dependent individuals is not its long tra- its control over this sphere. But the real dition, nor is it its codification in law. relations between people were intact What must have made this distinction longer than is apparent in the juridical self-evident for the generation of 1814 is material; according to her, jurists who its incorporation in their space of experi- theorized the area after 1750 tended to ence. Most people then lived in circum- write about e.g. relations between serv- stances where their subordination was a ants and masters in terms of contract law, given condition for their existence. The thereby hiding the asymmetrical charac- arbitrary power of the household head ter of the relations by representing them was experienced as a social reality, and in a language of voluntary agreements its practising must have shaped both the between equal individuals. In reality, the individual’s status and his or her self-un- male head of a household was a specially derstanding, be it as autonomous or sub- privileged juridical subject who had au- ordinate. The household head became thority to judge and punish (Jacobsen subjectively autonomous by the role he 2008:245). filled; the rest became subordinate by be- In Jacobsen’s analysis, the law appears ing treated as children. The practice of as the most important source producing everyday life and the way it was experi- these asymmetric relations. Another enced and conceived is the immediate strand of reasoning can be found in the fact in my perspective. This is not to deny discussion about “republican freedom”. that the basis for the household head’s There is an alternative tradition for think- power in law was an important element ing freedom, different from the now in the power structure, nor that there is a dominant liberalist thinking. In this tradi- continuity in the conception of freedom tion, to be free is the same as to be inde- in the European history of ideas. pendent of the arbitrary power of others, To sum up, I have argued that in order that is, free from the necessity of subject- to understand the way the representatives ing oneself to the will of another. The at the constitutional assembly in 1814 distinction has its roots in Roman law, made their distinction between the part of stemming from the individual’s juridical the population that were worthy of polit- status in the Roman slave society, where ical rights and the rest, we must acknowl- one could either be free or unfree. This edge the fundamental difference between concept of freedom has been passed on people who had the authority to decide since, and played a dominant role until and speak both for themselves and the nineteenth century (Nilsen 2014: others, and those who had not. House- 15ff.). This understanding of unfreedom hold heads had a voice in the public touches upon the relations of the house- space; the others had not. The head was hold. It is not necessary, however, to dis- even regarded as representing all his cuss freedom in the long history of ideas household members, a fact that added to here. In my view, what is important for his authority. This is of course a very dif- understanding the compelling weight of ferent concept of representation from the 182 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

case where a member of parliament today tween the conceptual changes and the re- represents his or her voters (cf. Jacobsen lations of daily life. 2008:212). To be worthy of voting, one First, the material shows a striking con- had to be independent of other persons’ tinuity in the negative evaluation of will. people in subordinate positions. The pro- It has been argued that the rationale of posal of 1851 would give the vote in mu- being economically independent when nicipal elections to “all grown-up citizens, voting in elections or in parliament was who are not in service relationships, are to hinder voters or representatives from not on poor relief and have not by legal of- promoting the political standpoints of fences shown themselves unworthy of other people. I see this as a secondary public trust”. A man who “stands in ser- consideration (though an important argu- vice relationship, where he must be con- ment, much used during subsequent dec- sidered as a member of the household of ades). It does not pinpoint the basic rela- another”, was thereby excluded (St.forh. tions producing images of inequality in 1851 S5 Indstillinger:477ff.). The same contemporary society. Instead of seeing formulations are standard in almost all the inequalities as effects of the practical proposals put forward in the following interaction among people in daily life, years, as in 1884: the vote was proposed this line of reasoning makes the inequal- for certain categories, provided they were ity – and thereby also the distinction be- not “as servants belonging to the house- tween legitimate and illegitimate rights – hold of another” (Stort.forh. 1884. Forh. i a question of moral habitus: Who is in a Stortinget:787). None of the proposals in- position to speak from an independent cluded servants; the resistance against this position, independent, i.e. of the will of was as strong as in 1814. Even in 1908 other men? several proposals to include more women excluded servants (Stort.forh. 1908. 7. The Debates over Extension of  Forh. i Stortinget:508). Suffrage 1851–1913 Although the opinion that people in ser- Though no major changes were made in vice relationships should not be allowed to the right to vote until 1885, the extension vote was almost unanimous among parlia- of the electorate was debated in the par- mentary representatives in the period, the liament on several occasions until uni- evaluation of those who were included in versal suffrage was established in 1913. this category was changing. In 1814, In the following I will use the proceed- crofters [husmenn] were excluded on the ings to analyse changes at the conceptual basis of their dependence on the farmer level in this period. In what way did the who controlled their plot of land. Now concepts or the argumentation used to members of this group were gradually characterize and evaluate the social cate- viewed as more acceptable. In 1854 a pro- gories in question change? I do not intend posal to give the vote to crofters was for- to explain the developments in the con- warded (Stort.forh. 1854 7 D: Indstill. S. texts of social or political history, but I No. 106:561). While the original proposal will briefly discuss the connection be- included all crofters, in the discussions the Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 183

adherents of a wider vote were more cau- who already had the vote and the new tious; it was “the more autonomous mem- parts of the population who would get it bers” of the crofter class who deserved the was at stake, according to the conserva- right. Later too, crofters were mentioned tives. Therefore, it no longer concerned as more acceptable than other categories the norm-based arguments about who de- (St.forh. 1869:34‒42). The principle of served full citizen rights, but the conse- being an autonomous man was not as cen- quences for the balance of forces between tral in evaluating the crofter’s social status population groups. Those representatives as it had been. who were in favour of extending the vote But now the concepts for the groups in had a higher opinion of the groups in ques- question had shifted more substantially. In tion, but they did not dispute the categori- the 1869 and 1873 debates, the way they zation. were categorized had changed. The main The conceptualization of the suffrage spokesman for the stance against any problem had thereby changed in several changes, Th. Aschehoug, categorized the ways. First, the new category of “worker” people who were proposed for the vote as cut across earlier categories and gave follows: He distinguished between simple them new connotations. An emerging alli- workers, crofters, and occupations which ance in the countryside between crofters required some education, such as lower and small farmers had become visible public functionaries, schoolteachers, around 1850 (Pryser 1977). The overall non-commissioned military officers etc. tendency is that while the crofter had pre- Aschehoug could accept the last category, viously been categorized as dependent on those who were to some degree enlight- the farmer in a service-like relationship, ened, but he was against the proposals, be- he was now seen more as member of an cause they would include “the simple emerging working class. The historian workers” (St.forh. 1869:34–42). But the Knut Dørum has shown that while the dis- distinctions dissolved when he warned tinction between crofters and farmers was against the prospect that the lower classes important to rural people in the decades would be able to gain the majority in the after 1814, the relations were gradually municipalities. Even if the crofter was changing. The idea that all inhabitants seen as more acceptable than ”the simplest were citizens gained force as members of class of workers” because he had a stable the crofter class claimed the right to polit- position, tied to a small plot of land, he ical influence, resulting in representatives also became associated with the danger- of the crofters increasingly taking part in ous new class. The distinction between local political institutions, despite their crofter and farmer also dissolved in the ar- formal exclusion (Dørum 2013:107ff., guments: In certain areas a large share of 122). the farmers (who were mostly small farm- Second, arguments about men’s degree ers) were “working people”, and would of enlightenment were now more common probably support “the workers’ party” in than arguments about their autonomy. The the event of conflict (St.forh. 1869:32). proponents of broadening the right point- This meant that the balance between those ed to the fact that education had become 184 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

better because of better schooling (St.forh. tained the right, depending on their eco- 1898: Forh. i Stortinget:495). They used nomic situation. In 1913 universal suf- the argument that a man’s ability to act frage was decided unanimously in politically was not dependent on his in- Stortinget, giving the vote also to all adult come, but on his enlightenment, which women by making explicit in the article had other sources. that the Norwegian citizens who had the It is characteristic of the mode of argu- right to vote included both “men and ing that even when the principle of suf- women”. frage for all men was debated in the The evaluation of women as depend- 1890s, it was presented as a right that be- ent household members continued to longed to men of “economic ability”, or to dominate longer than for other catego- “all independent [selvhjulpne] men” ries, servants excepted. Women gradual- (St.forh. 1898: Forh. i Stortinget:496, also ly acquired more individual civil rights 1884:77ff.). The prime minister declared through the second half of the nineteenth in 1884 that “it is my personal conviction century, and practical rights to work in that the development will lead in the di- new occupations were also about to open rection of a steady extension of the voting up. An interesting question, concerning right, until the circle of all autonomous both women and servants, is the relation [myndige] men is included in the number between changes in formal rights (such of people entitled to vote” St.forh. 1884: as voting) and in popular considerations Forh. i Stortinget:783). But now “autono- of their status: To what extent, and for mous” referred to economic self-suffi- how long, did families expect that wives ciency more than to personal independ- would vote the same way as their hus- ence. bands? And what about other household Women were not even mentioned as members? The lived relations between potential voters in most of these debates. household members did not change Giving women the vote was first proposed abruptly because of changing laws, nor in 1886. It is noteworthy that three of the did the experience of the relations. On five proposals to include women would the other hand, relations did change, and exclude “servants belonging to the house- the categorization of people changed hold of another”. But from now on the correspondingly. The model of house- question of women’s suffrage became an hold relations was challenged by new issue. In the following years it was debat- forms of working relations. For example, ed on several occasions. Arguments in- in the course of time it became increas- cluded whether female characteristics and ingly difficult to categorize workers in abilities made them different from men – railway construction or industrial pro- conservative representatives argued that duction as servants. And when women women were best suited to their traditional started to occupy roles that had previous- roles, while others held that they deserved ly been reserved for men, for example, as equal rights with men as a question of jus- business leaders, the concept of women tice (St.forh. 1890: Forh. i Stortinget: as subordinate had to erode. But it was a 1267). Following 1901 some women ob- process lagging behind the changes in Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 185

formal rights. There are many examples ized social value. And the internalization showing that the attitude that the wife was based on practice: The conviction fol- should vote the same as her husband lin- lowed from lived life. gered on for decades into the twentieth I do not hold that these debates tell us century. everything about the perceived social hierarchy. The civil servants who domi- Conclusion nated the debates were no doubt thinking By the act of 1913 the concept of citizen that as an educated elite they were best of the state with full political rights was suited to manage the state. And the differ- made to coincide with the individual ences between rich and poor was of course adult inhabitant. As I have shown, the in- a major dividing line in people’s percep- dividualized content of the concept that tion. But the constitution makers also we today take as a matter of fact has a wanted to include “the people”, which conceptual history which reveals im- principally meant the farmers. That they portant changes in conceptions of social made the distinction between autonomous hierarchy. and dependent, and not any other criteria, The common opinion in the 1814 as- the foundation of the voting right is in my sembly seems to have been that only au- opinion a strong argument for its basic im- tonomous persons were qualified to be portance for the way they imagined the masters of the state. Those who were de- citizen. If the political aspect of the citizen pendent on them – crofters, servants, concept was a future-oriented idea, the so- women and children – were not seen as cial type that was imagined as the citizen capable of independent political action was determined by the actors’ space of ex- precisely because they were under domi- perience. nation: they had no public voice. I have ar- In the second half of the century, other gued that the importance of the dimension arguments became important. If we focus autonomous‒dependent must be under- on the normative evaluations that the par- stood with reference not only to political liamentary representatives shared, the concepts like citizen, but to the space of development up till 1913 can be read as a experience of the contemporaries – as an history of changing evaluations of the effect of experienced dominance and sub- different categories of potential voters. ordination in the social relations they lived The view of the dependent as unworthy within. All evidence from the debates was relatively stable during the period, points in the direction that these cultural but the evaluation of the categories of de- frames of conception represented a com- pendent people shifted. All the same, al- pelling normative reality for the actors of most all proposals until 1898 excluded the time. Therefore, we ought not to inter- servants and women, who were still seen pret the regulation of the voting right as a as unworthy. From around 1870 the class result of strategic thinking, but as an ex- dimension came to the fore in the evalu- pression of what the representatives ation of other categories; the concept of thought was right. They differentiated this “workers” became the focus of debate. way because it was based on an internal- Again, there was no disagreement in 186 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

Stortinget that the distinction between Notes workers and others was important, only 1 “Uvitende, uansvarlige og irrasjonelle borgere over whether the workers were danger- har en moralsk plikt til å avstå fra å stemme”, article by Kristian Skagen Ekeli, professor of ous or not. And towards the end of the philosophy at the University of Stavanger and century the education dimension re- Espen Gamlund, associate professor of phil- ceived more attention. These develop- osophy at the University of Bergen in Aften- ments in the lines of argumentation point posten 17 July 2017. The American philoso- pher Jason Brennan in his book The Ethics of to fundamental changes in the conceptu- Voting (2011) warns against the consequences alization of political inequality. of the decisions of “misinformed” voters. The struggle over the right to vote has Later he declares that he has “become more probably itself contributed to the change sympathetic to the idea that some voters should be formally excluded from voting”.  in evaluations by furthering individualiza- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/ tion. When all adults are acknowledged as the-daily-need/are-bad-voters-like-drunk- being of equal worth by having the same drivers-new-book-says-they-are-and-that- rights (suffrage, women’s right to inherit), they-should-stay-home-on-election-day/ 8609/. Cf. Klassekampen 24 October 17. the conceptions about that which divides 2 Fure & Mykland 2013:207. I cannot go into are weakened. In everyday life distinc- detail on the literature here. Let me just quote tions lived on, however, and contributed Kaartvedt 1964:53f.: “The voter was sup- to differences in voting behaviour, for posed to be a free and autonomous person with insight, who was able to exercise the vot- example, when it came to servants and ing right unrestrained and with reason. And women. such a combination of autonomy and political The difference between those who were insight was thought to be found only among “educated” enough and the rest received civil servants or property men” (my transla- tion). The importance of property is especially more attention towards the end of the cen- explicit in more popular accounts, e.g. Stub- tury. All agreed that a certain level of haug 2014. education was necessary for a person to 3 All quotations from the source material and make reasoned decisions. When this literature are my translations. 4 In 1821, the article was changed to include standpoint is put forward today, it comes people in Finnmark in agricultural business in another light, after the right to vote as a (e.g. owners of herds of reindeer), on the universal citizen right has been acknowl- grounds that the use of registered land was not edged for more than a hundred years. The applicable there. The inclusion did not affect changes in the general conceptions underlying idea that some people are not educated § 50. enough to have full citizen rights chal- lenges a fundamental value underlying References our political system. Aasen, Ivar 1873: Norsk Ordbog med dansk For- klaring. Kristiania. Hans-Jakob Ågotnes Birkeland, M. & Hans Munk 1874: Rigsforsam- Associate professor lingen og det overordentlige Storthing 1814 Dept. of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies samt de to første ordentlige Storthing 1815‒16 and Religion og 1818 / bearbeidede af H. Munk og M. Birke- University of Bergen land. In Storthings-efterretninger 1814‒1833: PB 7805 udgivne efter offentlig Foranstaltning Bind 1. NO-5020 Bergen http://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/1dfbe712fb8a1ee email: [email protected] 7fb7ebeb2bd0a7e57.nbdigital?lang=no. Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights 187

Brunner, Otto 1980: Neue Wege der Verfassungs- Koselleck, Reinhart 2006a: Drei bürgerliche und Sozialgeschichte. 3., unveränderte Aufl. Welten? Zur vergleichenden Semantik der Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. bürgerlichen Gesellschaft in Deutschland, Christie, Wilhelm F. K. 1860: W. F. K. Christies England und Frankreich. In Begriffsgeschich- Dagbog under Rigsforsamlingen paa Eidsvold ten. Studien zur Semantik und Pragmatik der fra 10 April til 11 Mai 1814 (Meddelt af Carl politischen und sozialen Sprache, pp. Stoud Platou). In: Norske Samlinger. Efter of- 402‒461. Frankfurt a.M: Suhrkamp Taschen- fentlig Foranstaltning udgivne af Christian C.A. buch Verlag. Lange. 2. Bind. Christiania. Koselleck, Reinhart 2006b: Die Auflösung des Damsholt, Tine 2000: Fædrelandskærlighed og Hauses als ständischer Herrschaftseinheit. An- borgerdyd. Patriotisk diskurs og militære merkungen zum Rechtswandel von Haus, reformer i Danmark i sidste del af 1700- Familie und Gesinde in Preussen zwischen der tallet. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Französischen Revolution und 1848. In Be- Forlag. griffsgeschichten. Studien zur Semantik und Den Norske Rigs-Forsamlings Forhandlinger paa Pragmatik der politischen und sozialen Eidsvold i Aaret 1814: udgivne efter Hoved- Sprache, pp. 465‒485. Frankfurt a.M: Suhr- Protocollen / ved undertegnede af Rigs-For- kamp Taschenbuch Verlag. samlingen udnævnte Redacteurer G. Sverdrup, Nilsen, Håvard Friis 2014: Den politiske frihetens L. Stoud Platou, Omsen. Bind 1. Christiania glemte historie. In Politisk frihet, ed. Håvard 1814. J. Lehman og E. Grøndahl. http:// Friis Nilsen & Helge Jordheim. Oslo: Res Pub- www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/ lica. 8bc67a4c121950c09b79ebbf79e184d3.nbdigi- Nilsen, Håvard Friis & Helge Jordheim (eds.) tal?lang=no. 2014: Politisk frihet. Oslo: Res publica. Dørum, Knut 2013: Et oppgjør med eneveldet og Pryser, Tore 1977: Klassebevegelse eller folke- standssamfunnet – dannelsen av en folkelig of- bevegelse? En sosialhistorisk undersøkelse av fentlighet i norske bygder 1814–1850. Historisk thranittene i Ullensaker. Oslo: Universitetsfor- Tidsskrift (Oslo) 92(01):91‒123. laget. Fure, Eli & Knut Mykland (eds.) 2013: Eidsvoll Riksforsamlingens Forhandlinger. 1ste Del. Pro- 1814. Hvordan Grunnloven ble til. Oslo: Drey- tokoller med Bilag og Tillæg. Utgit efter offent- ers Forlag. lig Foranstaltning ved Sorenskriver Arnet Olaf- Jacobsen: Anette Faye 2007: Parallelle retsorde- sen . Kristiania 1914. Grøndahl & Søns Bok- ner. En retspluralistisk tolkning af jura og rets- trykkeri. kultur i Danmark fra slutningen af det 17. til Sogner, Sølvi 1990: Far sjøl i stua og familien begyndelsen af det 20. Århundrede. Historisk hans. Trekk fra norsk familiehistorie før og nå. tidsskrift (Copenhagen) 107(1):71‒101. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Jacobsen, Anette Faye 2008: Husbondmagt. Ret- Solli, Arne 2014: Ein fullstendig umoden ak- tighedskulturer i Danmark 1750‒1920. Copen- sjon? Valprotesten i Stavanger 1814. In Fol- hagen: Museum Tusculanum Forlag. kestyre? Kritisk lys på 1814-demokratiet, ed. Jæger, Tycho 1916: Valgene til Riksforsam- Anne Hilde Nagel & Ståle Dyrvik. Bergen: lingen. Historisk Tidsskrift Rekke V, bind 3. Bodoni Forlag. Kaartvedt, Alf 1964: Det Norske Storting gjen- Storthingsforhandlinger. Various years. nom 150 år. Bind I. Fra Riksforsamlingen til Stubhaug, Arild 2014: Jacob Aall i sin tid. Oslo: 1869. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Aschehoug. Koselleck, Reinhart 1967: Preussen zwischen Re- Tyenderetten efter norsk og fremmed lovgivning. form und Revolution. Allgemeines Landrecht, Utarbeidet after foranstaltning af en af justisde- Verwaltung und soziale Bewegung von 1791 partementet nedsat komite. 1900. Kristiania: J. bis 1848. Industrielle Welt 7. Stuttgart: Ernst Chr. Gundersens bog- og nodetrykkeri. Klett. Vogt, Carl Emil 2014: Herman Wedel Jarlsberg. Koselleck, Reinhart 2013 [1979]: Begriffs- Den aristokratiske opprøreren. Oslo: Cappelen geschichte und Sozialgeschichte. In Vergange- Damm. ne Zukunft. Zur Semantik geschhichtlicher Zei- [Wergeland, Nicolai] 1830: Fortrolige Breve til ten. Frankfurt a.M: Suhrkamp Taschenbuch en Ven, Skrevne fra Eidsvold i Aaret 1814 af Et Verlag p. 107–129. Medlem af Rigsforsamlingen. Udgivne som Et 188 Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Social Distinctions and Political Rights

lidet Bidrag til Historien om den Eidsvoldske “Vi Arbeidere er ingen faatallig Hær”. Om Rigsforsamling, som grundlagde Norges con- husmannsvesenet i Noreg. Fagrapport som stitutionelle Forfatning. Christiania: H.T. Win- bakgrunn for eit nasjonalt dokumentasjonssen- ther. ter. Luster: Luster Sogelag. https://bora.uib.no/ York, Eyvind Urkedal, Arne Solli & Ståle Dyrvik: handle/1956/7646. Biographical Notes

Åke Daun, 1936–2017 under the leadership of Granlund and Hanssen. Several of the essays resulting from that were published in 1971 under the title En svensk by. This was edited by Åke Daun who also wrote the most important piece, about naming practices in Laknäs. In 1965 Åke decided to spend a year of study in Bergen in Norway with the international- ly famous anthropologist Fredrik Barth. When he returned to Stockholm a year later he suggested that we form a working group for local ethnologi- cal studies. Besides Åke, the group included Or- var Löfgren, Tom G. Svensson (who had been with Åke that year in Bergen), and myself. The idea was that we would all write our licentiate and doctoral dissertations about little communi- ties, with the focus on people’s behaviour and networks. Åke went to Båtskärsnäs in Norrbotten, where the state forestry company ASSI had de- cided to close the sawmill; this led to vehement Photo: Lars Kaijser. protests from the local people. Åke’s aim with the study, which became his licentiate thesis, was to Åke Daun, professor emeritus of ethnology at understand and explain the reason for the wide- Stockholm University, passed away on 24 July spread refusal to move away from the locality. In 2017. He was born in Stockholm but grew up in his study he applied Fredrik Barth’s generative Södertälje, where his father ran a well-known model, which he had learned during his year in coffee store. He left school in Södertälje after tak- Bergen. Today this study, Upp till kamp i Båt- ing his lower school certificate. He spent a few skärsnäs, published in 1969, is a minor classic in years at the University College of Arts, Crafts Swedish ethnology. and Design in Stockholm and worked for a time Åke Daun then began immediately to work on as a commercial artist. But he tired of this and re- his doctoral dissertation, that too a local study, of turned to Södertälje grammar school, where he the suburb of Vårberg in south-west Stockholm. graduated in 1957. After studies in art history he Here he aimed the searchlight at a type of com- began at the Department of Folklife Studies in munity that was seriously questioned at this time, Stockholm in autumn 1961. There he soon be- a suburb of the kind that was produced rapidly came an independent and influential participant and with little imagination during the “record in Professor John Granlund’s seminars. At this years” of development at the end of he 1960s and time Börje Hanssen was docent at the Depart- in the 1970s. Both of Åke’s dissertations were ment. Hanssen had gained his doctorate with a based on interviews and participant observation, much-debated dissertation in sociology in 1952, a methodological innovation in the subject. Both but had left that discipline because he felt that his aimed to shed light on controversial problems in form of historically oriented sociological research society. Both gave important insight into local aroused no great interest there. Åke Daun, along people’s values and preferences. One conse- with several of his fellow students, was fascin- quence was that Åke Daun was offered a research ated by Börje Hanssen’s ability to apply socio- post in the architecture section of the Institute of logical and anthropological perspectives to archi- Technology, financed by the Council for Build- val material and to pre-industrial Swedish peasant ing Research. He would work there for the rest of society. He began to see a future in the sociologi- the 1970s, also getting ethnologists like Sören cally oriented ethnology that Hanssen advocated. Jansson, Karla Werner, and Billy Ehn to do In summer 1962 students at the Department periods of research there. One result of this was did fieldwork in the Leksand village of Laknäs the study Boende och livsform from 1980. During

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 190 Biographical Notes

these years Åke often wrote for Dagens Nyheter, logical explanations for cultural behaviour. In the both reviews and observations about urban plan- book Det allmänmänskliga och det kulturbundna ning and housing construction. These articles from 1999 he provoked many ethnologists and were read and noted by many, helping to make social scientists with his plea to look for funda- Åke himself and the new ethnology familiar in mental biological needs underlying cultures and academic circles. societies. In 1981 Åke Daun was appointed to the Åke Daun was an original researcher and an Hallwyl chair of ethnology at the Nordic Museum original human being. He was curious, with a ca- and Stockholm University, with its seat in Villa pacity to register and reflect. One can get close to Lusthusporten in Djurgården. He would occupy him in the memoir-like books he published in his that position for twenty years. One could say that later years, such as Vägar till det förflutna from he changed the course of his research during 1996 and Ungdomen är de vilda förhoppningar- these years. He began to take an interest in what nas tid: En kulturhistoria för brådmogna och ef- was formerly a taboo subject, namely, the ques- terkloka from 2009. The former is about his fami- tion of Swedish mentality, how this could be de- scribed and explained. This led to a book with ly, his kin, and the coffee store in Södertälje, the that title, Svensk mentalitet. This is undoubtedly latter about an idealistic youth club that Åke the book that made Åke Daun most famous out- founded together with like-minded schoolmates side the discipline; it was translated into several in Södertälje in the 1950s. As an ethnological re- languages, and if anything it has become more searcher Åke Daun was something of a lone wolf relevant in recent decades with globalization and who followed his own mind; he never really large-scale immigration. Åke returned to the sub- made any effort to acquire pupils or found a ject in several books and articles, e.g. En stuga på school. Yet he, more than anyone else, led sjätte våningen, published in 2005. Swedish ethnology on to new paths at the end of Yet another topic engaged Åke Daun before the twentieth century. his strength declined. This was the issue of bio- Mats Hellspong, Stockholm Biographical Notes 191

Birgitta Skarin Frykman 1941–2017

bakers in Gothenburg. Her supervisor would be Sven B. Ek, who was appointed to the newly established chair in 1980 and directed ethnology in Gothenburg towards working-class culture. Birgitta took her doctor’s degree in 1985 with the dissertation Från yrkesfamilj till klassgemenskap: Om bagare i Göteborg 1800‒1919, which fo- cused on “the effects of industrialization on the old craftsmen class’s unity of masters-journey- men-apprentices and how this was split into workers and employers”. Birgitta Skarin Frykman succeeded Sven B. Ek as professor of ethnology in 1996. By then she had established herself as a well-informed re- searcher in the field of working-class culture. In the monograph Arbetarkultur – Göteborg 1890 she drew attention to how the seemingly weak working class in a short time could become a Photo: Carina Frykman. powerful factor in society, and highlighted the contribution of working-class women in everyday Birgitta Skarin Frykman, professor emerita of life as an indirect and significant aspect of this ethnology, Gothenburg University, passed away process. Birgitta deepened our understanding of in December 2017. She was born in Uppsala in the workers’ material conditions, social relations, 1941 and grew up in a family with no academic and patterns of thought. Her book Larsmässe- traditions, yet it was taken for granted that she marknaden aimed the searchlight at a forgotten would graduate from high school and continue folk carnival in nineteenth-century Gothenburg. studying. From an early age Birgitta longed to ex- She also supervised several PhD students and ini- plore the past. In the volume Etnologiska visio- tiated research projects on working-class culture ner, under the heading “In Pursuit of the Un- in Gothenburg. The last of these was “Everyday known” she tells how she decided in her teens to Life during the Second World War”, based on become an archaeologist. Her working life did in- many informants’ experiences and pictures. The deed start with archaeological assignments; for project resulted in the incorporation of a large example, Birgitta was employed as assistant at amount of archival material in the collections of the then Archaeological Museum in Gothenburg the Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore. after she and her husband Professor Erik Fryk- For her studies and research achievements on man had settled in the city in the 1960s. Later her work and life in Gothenburg, Birgitta was award- interest shifted to ethnology, and the university in ed the city’s merit badge in 2008. Gothenburg became her alma mater. Birgitta was Birgitta Skarin Frykman’s work also reflected part of the group of young women who pursued interdisciplinary study and contacts with other the work of establishing ethnology as a separate universities, both nationally and internationally. department with a chair at Gothenburg Universi- For many years, for example, she was one of the ty. Parallel to her work as study and career coun- leaders of the interdisciplinary Oral History sellor in ethnology she continued to study. Her movement. Her work also comprised several as- C-essay was based on a large number of inter- signments in leadership and administration. Bir- views about “Food and meals among blue-collar gitta believed that it is important to make one’s and white-collar workers in Jonsered in the twen- competence available and that women should be tieth century”. represented. She demonstrated her knowledge as Food was also the basis for Birgitta Skarin an expert assessor, a lecturer, a writer of articles, Frykman’s choice of dissertation topic and analy- and a member of boards and committees. She was sis of archival material about the working life of deputy vice-chancellor of Gothenburg University 192 Biographical Notes

1998‒2003 and vice-chairman of the Royal Gus- edge about themselves. Everyone has the right to tavus Adolphus Academy for Swedish Folk Cul- that knowledge and thereby to their own lives, as ture in Uppsala 2005‒2016. Her commitments knowledge for themselves but also for others.” comprised a number of organizations, such as the Birgitta Skarin Frykman’s work and long acade- Museum of Work in Norrköping, the Centre for mic career was thus imbued not just with a great Workers’ Culture, the Ethnological Association interest in scholarship itself; she was also driven in Western Sweden, Folkuniversitetet, Jonsered by a broader commitment to the accumulation of Academy, the Torgny Segerstedt Memorial knowledge, to democracy and adult education. Foundation, and the Royal Society of Science and We who have had the privilege of working along- Letters in Gothenburg. side her remember her as a seasoned debater, a For Birgitta the aim of ethnology was the same critical reader, and an elegant writer. She pro- as the motto of the Nordic Museum, “Know your- moted the exchange of knowledge and encounters self”, about which she wrote: “It puts the human between people in academic contexts. We will being at the centre through its direct appeal to the always remember her commitment, which will be individual, yet the exhortation is not individualis- badly missed. tic. It is aimed at each and every person, and thus Kerstin Gunnemark and Annika Nordström, to all. All people have the right to seek knowl- Gothenburg Biographical Notes 193

Barbro Klein, 1938–2018 from all over the world and all kinds of material and ritual modes of artful performances. At the beginning of the 1980s, Barbro Klein returned to the Nordic academic scene and found her base at the Department of Ethnology at Stockholm Uni- versity where she had once been a young student. She started from the position of research assistant and advanced to full professor in little more than a decade. She established herself as an impressive and influential teacher and colleague, with high professional standards and a never-ending capaci- ty to bring impulses from a larger world to the local intellectual community. In 1996, she took up a position as one of three directors of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) in Uppsala. Her colleagues in Stockholm ex- pected this to be a temporary engagement but Photo: Private. turned out to be wrong. Barbro Klein continued to be an active participant at the collegium far Barbro Klein (Arklind, Sklute), was born on 14 beyond the age of formal retirement and literally March 1938 in Stockholm. Her parents had until the very last days of her life. moved from the south of Sweden and she de- Barbro Klein’s research interests comprised scribed her background as working-class. She folklore as expressive communication in a broad earned her BA (in history of religions, Scandina- sense. She insisted that the study of folklore vian languages and Nordic and comparative folk should not be restricted to established genres or life research) at Stockholm University in 1961. frozen excerpts. On the contrary, it should open Later the same year, provided with a scholarship up for the study of expressive forms of all kinds from the Swedish-America Foundation, she left of behaviour, in contemporary settings as well as for Indiana University. Her intention was to study in the past. Methodologically, she explained why anthropology. But after discovering folklore those expressive or “marked” forms had to be studies, she changed her plan. She defended her recorded with the utmost care, in order to grasp thesis Legends and Folk Beliefs in a Swedish- and render their aesthetic qualities, and how they American Community: A Study in Folklore and served as important and mighty resources in hu- Acculturation, in 1970. The study was based on man communication. Barbro Klein showed how fieldwork in the small town of New Sweden, this perspective made a difference in studies of Maine, and explored how folklore about super- tradition, heritage, and migration and why it natural beings had been kept alive, altered and ought to be a source of inspiration not only for relocated in a North-American setting. those who identified as folklorists, but for the Barbro Klein stayed abroad for more than two whole discipline of Ethnology. For her own part, decades, most of the time in the US and some she used it to explore, among other things, gar- years in France. In an autobiographical essay, she dening, ritual behaviour in public places, handi- described teaching at University of California, craft, autobiographical writing in the archives, Berkeley, in the late 1960s and being part of a and last but not least, storytelling and verbal art in group of folklorists doing fieldwork in New York her own family of origin. To the latter project, she in the 1970s as two particularly formative ex- kept returning for more than four decades. In the periences. The first exposed her to the civil rights 1980s, she contributed substantially to the intro- movement, students’ protests and the necessity to duction of the phenomenon of reflexivity in the take a moral stand. The second expanded the Swedish academic setting. She published a steady scope of her interest in folklore as expressive flow of critical and reflective studies of the histo- communication to include urban scenes, migrants ry of Ethnology as a discipline. And throughout 194 Biographical Notes

her career, her international network continued to a strong impression also on those who did not expand, spanning several continents and includ- belong to her closest circle. She was a multi- ing scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. faceted and passionate colleague, and she will be Many have testified to Barbro Klein’s intel- remembered for her gentleness as well as for her lectual acuity, authority, moral drive, and great strength. capacity for friendship. She was a huge source of Barbro Blehr, Stockholm inspiration for her students and friends but made Reviews

New Dissertations explore the field, that is to say, the memories, to- gether with her informants. The research partici- pants, as Adjam chooses to call them, are highly Traces of Memory present in the dissertation. She devotes generous Maryam Adjam, Minnesspår. Hågkomstens rum och amounts of space not just to their voices, but also to rörelse i skuggan av flykt. Brutus Östlings bokförlag their silence and reflection in conversations that Symposion, Höör 2017. 304 pp. Ill. English summa- were obviously allowed to take time. In several ry. Diss. ISBN 978-91-87483-28-8. cases there have been repeated meetings, conversa- tions, and journeys together on the track of the  In our society there are many people whose lives memories. have been affected in different ways by memories of What is a memory? This question could perhaps escape. Some have been forced to flee and carry be described as the core of Adjam’s dissertation. memories of this, while others have heard their par- Admittedly, the question is not explicitly uttered in ents and older relatives or friends recounting mem- the text – and to formulate it like this would prob- ories of having at some time been refugees. The ably convey an over-simplified picture of what hap- memories thus live on in different ways long after pens when we remember. In Adjam’s view, memory the actual escape is over. The subject of Maryam is something mobile, searching, and ambivalent, Adjam’s dissertation is therefore highly topical and something that is lived, something living and con- relevant, and the way she tackles the subject raises stantly changing, rather than something that just is. aspects that could be called timeless. Despite this, the unspoken question “what is a mem- Maryam Adjam’s dissertation does not consider ory?” follows me throughout the reading, while I the escape itself, but looks for the memories of it. simultaneously understand better, the more I read, The starting point is an escape that took place over that the answer to such a question, if it can even be 70 years ago; it is about memories associated with answered, is not simple. people who fled from Estonia to Sweden during the Let us take a closer look at an example, one of Second World War. There is special focus on mem- many that reflects the serious matters involved in ories linked to “the Great Escape” across the Baltic the memories discussed in this thesis. Here we meet Sea in autumn 1944. Although the events are far Henrik, who tells his memory of a visit to an aunt in back in time, the dissertation clearly shows that the the Estonian countryside when he was nine years memories are still alive, not just for those who expe- old. Flies were buzzing in the kitchen. His aunt’s rienced the escape, but also for those who heard and husband had just been killed, and she told Henrik still remember, for instance, their parent’s mem- about this. “She said that he had been executed and ories. that they did not get the body back. But I remember What emerges is not an assembled, well-ordered, the flies in the kitchen.” The author pauses at this chronological story of the escape from Estonia, but recollection and reflects: rather a multivocal, fragmentary, and constantly “The memory quietly encapsulates the gap, an or- changing account where seemingly trivial details are dinary day on the way to disaster. The person who interwoven with memories that we recognize from stands still and leaves everything behind. In the established historiography, and where memories re- kitchen the smell is still sweet, the flies are still cur but simultaneously also change. It reflects what buzzing, and the nine-year-old observes it all. The happens when you remember: suddenly a small de- image is ambiguous. An ordinary day and its anti- tail pops up, arousing a new association in an other- thesis in one. The stillness at the centre of the hurri- wise familiar memory. cane. In the space between them, the memory comes The dissertation builds on a combination of eth- to life.” nographical methods: interviews and conversations, In this way the text moves back and forth be- observations and “go-alongs” together with inform- tween past and present, between what happened and ants at different places in Estonia and in Sweden. “I how it is recalled, in a winding search for the memo- have accompanied the research participants in their ries, as they take shape and bounce off other memo- memory walks”, Adjam writes, thereby wishing to ries, and off the landscapes to which they relate. Ad- emphasize that she has regarded it as important to jam’s interpretations likewise wind their way, con-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 196 Reviews

necting different theoretical angles with observa- on three main areas, which can be summed up in the tions from the fieldwork, all conveyed in a style that concepts of memory, space, and history: (1) memory reflects the searching method. as a process of being, which articulates itself both in The memories in the study are in many cases dif- concrete material and in representations and narra- ficult ones, associated with war, departure, escape, tives; (2) how lived memory occupies space, how it and loss. Gaining access to such memories is far relates to the spatial and creates spatiality; and (3) from easy, especially for someone who does not be- how history is articulated in the resonance between long to the affected group. By being a good and re- the individual memory and collective expressions of spectful listener, Adjam has evidently won the trust memory. These aspects are explored in greater depth of the Estonian-Swedish research participants. The in the three parts of the dissertation entitled “Paths history of the Estonian-Swedes was not her history, of Memory”, “Movements of Memory”, and and at first it was unknown to her. Slowly, over a “Echoes of Memory”. long time, she has listened and got to know their As regards theory, the dissertation is chiefly in- lives, narratives, and places by following their mem- spired by phenomenological perspectives, with the ories. Through literature, exhibitions, and other aid of which memory is understood here as “ongo- sources, she has also studied different accounts of ing being that searches both forwards and back- Estonia and memories of escape during the Second wards in time”. There are many theoretical sources World War. of inspiration, however, and phenomenology, with At the same time, Adjam entered into the study Merleau-Ponty and others, is combined with, with her own experiences which united her with among other things, Walter Benjamin’s perspec- the descendants of the refugees from Estonia. She tives on memory and history. As for the multifacet- mentions, albeit in passing, that she herself has no ed relations of memory to spatiality, Henri Le- personal memories of escape, but she does have febvre’s spatial trialectic is combined with the phe- “experiences of the consequences of escape, of nomenologist Edward Casey’s outlook on places of everyday life carrying on in the shadow of a war memory. and … the serious consequences this can have for Adjam’s dissertation is an important contribution the individual’s life”. This was evidently an impor- to the ethnological conversation about how we re- tant foundation for the trust that was developed late to our past. The interest in cultural heritage, his- during the conversations. The interviewees under- tory, and further aspects of people’s relation to the stood that they were talking to someone who could past is strong and constantly finding new expres- understand things that are not easy to explain to sions, in ethnology as in neighbouring disciplines. someone with no personal experiences connected Likewise, in fields such as heritage studies, conser- with memories of escape. “I understood the illogi- vation and museology, much attention is devoted to cal logic of war”, Adjam observes. Memories that memory practices and various kinds of institutions arose in the conversations could thus arouse asso- of memory, but rarely with a focus on memory as ciations in both parties, in a reciprocal change such. Here Adjam’s perspective can be a valuable where the researcher was both an insider and an supplement. As she says: outsider. ”Our being leaves traces. Tales, images, artefacts, An important starting point for Adjam is that she and places. With the clouded gaze of the present, wants to understand memory as an ongoing experi- memory searches for these traces… It tries to find ence and not as a rendering of the past. As she remains of a past, the flotsam and jetsam of memory phrases it, she wants to “follow the return journeys in which it instils life by picking it up again and in- and walk in the paths of variations in memory”. The cluding it in the ongoing flow of the present. Memo- aim of the dissertation is “to investigate how the in- ry gives them a voice and simultaneously borrows dividual lived memory relates to and articulates its theirs to speak through.” experience and its history”. Particular interest is de- As an ethnologist one may need to be reminded voted to the spatial dimensions of memory, includ- that memories are not the same as narratives of ing “the landscape conjured up by the experience of memories. Ethnologists often study narratives, but memory” and “the spatiality that arises in the recol- in this ethnological dissertation it is not narratives lections”. From this it follows that the study focuses about memory, but memory as experience and being Reviews 197

that the researcher wants to get at. In the collection German Belonging in Finland of material, of course, she often encountered memo- Dorothea Breier, A Vague Feeling of Belonging of ries packaged in words, narratives, and descriptions, a Transcultural Generation. An Ethnographic Study but she endeavoured to penetrate behind these, part- on Germans and their Descendants in Contemporary ly by combining different ethnographical methods Helsinki, Finland. Faculty of Arts, Department of and by letting fieldwork observations and conversa- Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies. Eu- tions extend over a long time and include many re- ropean Ethnology. University of Helsinki 2017. visits. From the premise that a memory is not a Diss. 250 pp. ISBN 978-951-51-3811-8 (paper- secondary rendering but “ongoing experiencing, back), ISBN 978-951-3812-5 (pdf). with its own space, its own time and continuity”, Adjam believes that a memory is not primarily a  Dorothea Breier’s dissertation, A Vague Feeling product of narrative, reflection, and construction af- of Belonging of a Transcultural Generation, is a ter the event. From her perspective, the prereflective welcome contemporary addition to studies of memory, “the not-yet-told”, should also be regarded European migrant groups in Northern Europe. The as a memory. dissertation is a contribution to research on well in- With Adjam’s way of approaching the move- tegrated and highly educated migrants, not visibly ments and echoes of memory, she occasionally dissimilar to the majority populations and not mar- makes the memories almost seem like living beings; ginalized to the same extent as many other minori- they move, walk, talk, and tell about their life. As a ty groups. Breier asks how the German migrants reader I can feel somewhat dubious about formula- and descendants understand their belonging in a tions such as that “the memories thought for a transnational perspective, how they cultivate their while”, that “the memories … shared their mus- relations to Germany and German traits; what it ings”, or that the memories “are aware of the role means to relate to at least two countries while liv- assigned to them”. How much subject status can rea- ing their lives in Finland, and what their identifica- sonably be ascribed to a memory? tions are. Her aim is to scrutinize their feelings of At the same time, I appreciate Adjam’s way of belonging, and to find out whether they regard using language to follow the paths of memory and themselves as Finns, Germans, both, or in some capture the experience of remembering, even though completely different way. The focus is on the ex- metaphors are sometimes used too generously. The tent to which they construct or deconstruct bound- language is personal and often close to poetic, a aries between associated aspects of their lives. The good reflection of the methodological and theoreti- research questions concern aspects involved in the cal approach to the research task. She tells her story process of self-identification, and personal conse- slowly, allowing the memories to emerge and giving quences that may result from having such a back- the reader scope for reflection. As the text turns the ground. memories over, it requires that the reader is not in The study is built on 32 semi-structured inter- too much of a hurry. views with three chosen categories of informants. To sum up, Maryam Adjam has presented an in- Breier aims to investigate complex identification teresting and well-wrought dissertation. It is an processes by asking the informants of the first-gen- important contribution to discussions both in eth- eration migrants from Germany the same questions nology and beyond subject boundaries, about how as their descendants born in Germany and the de- we can understand the composite processes by scendants born in Finland. Among the 35 informants which people relate to the past and how memories there is a wide range of personalities, lifestyles, life take shape, move, and find expression. At the trajectories and approaches to national identities and same time, the dissertation is highly relevant in re- belonging. They represent an abundant mix of em- lation to topical – and simultaneously timeless – pirical material that is as contradictory and multifa- social issues concerning what happens when ceted as needed for detecting general patterns as people are forced to flee and the traces that such well as the impact of different preferences, life ex- events leave for future memories to interact with periences and individuality. The dissertation is and react to. well-structured, guiding the reader step by step. Katarina Saltzman, Göteborg Breier cumulatively increases the complexity, deep- 198 Reviews

ening the analysis from the simplicity and narrow ships. In these latter parts of the dissertation Breier interpretations of the first chapters to the later chap- distances herself and reveals how the informants’ ters with greater scope for variation and detailed stories are expressions of positioning themselves. analyses. Here the discussion captures a multitude of experi- In the second chapter Breier gives a brief de- ences and attitudes that create an extraordinarily scription of German-Finnish history and the Ger- complex weave in the end. man presence in Finland over a long time, thus The analysis is at its best when Breier discusses placing her field in a historical context. She does how the interviewees in their self-presentations not bring up this historical frame in her subsequent have to relate to, or put up resistance to, the domi- discussions in the thesis. As a reader I miss the nating cultural discourse. My impression is that analyses of how the interviewees’ identifications they oscillate between using common understand- are historically constituted. But Breier does show ings of cultural belonging and cultural heritage on how certain occurrences in contemporary history the one hand, and opposing the discourse’s dictate have affected some of the interviewees a great deal of the necessity of belonging to one people, culture concerning their identification with their German and place, on the other hand. In the end the analy- heritage and how they relate to national identity. sis becomes convincing when Breier shows how They marked a distance to their origin, played it the interviewees’ transnationally characterized down, pointing out how that cultural heritage is identifications vary to a great extent because of in- still associated with the Nazis and what happened dividuality and different life experiences. These during World War II. In that sense they could not kinds of experiences affected the informants’ atti- be associated with or feel proud of their national tudes and imaginations about feelings of belonging belonging. But it was also common among other to Germany. Some had gone back to Germany to interviewees to play down their Germanness for discover that work or everyday life was not at all other reasons, such as lifestyle choices, thus reject- what they had expected. In such encounters they ing what they did not like about German society. realized how their personalities and preferences But these distanced relationships to Germany oc- had changed because of their life in Finland, their curred in connection with reflections about belong- views of hierarchies, personal integrity or gender ing in binary terms, the German versus the Finnish. relations, for example. The interviewees’ identifi- It did not imply that they could not have strong cations also changed over time because of their feelings of German belonging in other situations in growing older, changing life perspectives. These their daily lives. changes could appear when becoming parents and As indicated above, Breier’s analytical ability suddenly finding themselves transmitting ingredi- grows step by step in the dissertation. In the first ents from German traits and occurrences to their half the concepts are literally presented and under- children; it could be the importance of learning the stood. The interviewees’ answers are mostly inter- German language, German cultural elements in preted as facts. Breier’s perspective is mixed with everyday life and to some extent expressive forms the informants’ emic categories, their ways of un- and traditions. The younger generation also real- derstanding national culture and cultural heritage. ized how the older people were not aware of how The demarcation line between herself and the in- much they themselves cherished their relationship formants gets blurred. She talks along with the inter- to Germany and German traits. In other words, in viewees and draws the same scientific conclusions the end Breier finds what she is seeking: “identifi- as they do. That way the concept of culture glides in cation with Germany, Finland, both, or in com- the dissertation, from boxes of national cultures with pletely different ways”. She achieves her aim as established content, to culture as something unfixed formulated in the beginning. This achievement is and porous, as a result of people’s interactions and fulfilled because of her comprehensive empirical practices. When using the first definition the analy- foundation and her ways of using this, making lo- ses become a little rigid, but they are still interest- gically consistent and transparent analyses. ing. When using the latter, the thesis starts to rise to In the last chapter, when answering the research other analytical altitudes, where identification is re- questions, one of Breier’s discussions concerns the lated to various social circumstances and relation- personal consequences of a feeling of belonging. Reviews 199

She finds what she calls a “mobile mindset”, a Sound Spaces in Istanbul self-reflexive state of mind among the descendants. Karin Eriksson-Aras, Ljudrum. En studie av ljud The mindset was achieved because of their mobile och lyssnande som kulturell praktik. Etnolore 37. experiences, their own moving of positions and be- Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi, ing brought up in a transnational space. This state Uppsala universitet 2017. 180 pp. Ill. English sum- of mind was characterized by “an open mind to- mary. Diss. ISBN 978-91-506-2670-4. wards physical mobility, […] an overall openness of mind toward other people, in general and also in  The dissertation Ljudrum (“Sound Spaces”) is particular towards people of different ethnic back- based on a study conducted in Istanbul, Turkey. Ka- ground” (230). She associates this with the “idea of rin Eriksson-Aras has walked around in a number of cosmopolitanism as openness to diversity”. The sound spaces and has, above all, listened but also descendants’ open mindset also included their looked at and experienced these sonic environments. awareness of being in privileged positions to move Her “aim is to investigate how sound forms distinct freely to where they wanted to be. They were also and spatial entities, sound spaces, how sound spaces aware of the differences in comparison with people constitute forms of human interaction, and to con- of other ethnic background. But in my opinion ceptualize the study of sound spaces and contribute people who move and travel are not more open- to a Swedish terminology for describing and analys- minded and less discriminating than others, as a ing sounds and sound spaces.” rule. And this self-reflexive capability is just as A recurrent idea for Eriksson-Aras is to go from widespread among the second generation of mar- sound to listening and study how sound spaces are ginalized and hierarchized groups that develop a made, how they are established and maintained. She double consciousness, aware of the ample stigma- also touches on our ability and need to filter out tizing discourse about them, seeing themselves in sound in order to ignore it. An important and inter- the eyes of others. esting question arising from this is: what is silence Nevertheless, Breier has a point when referring to and where can it be found? the descendants’ self-reflexive capabilities and that The author’s method is what she calls case their identity constructions take place from privi- studies in the form of phenomenography, with refer- leged positions. But now and then she declares how ence to Ference Marton (professor emeritus of edu- this study is not compatible with studies of minori- cation), a form of “descriptive phenomenological ties in more marginalized positions, and that the de- analysis”. The difficulty of transcribing sound, of scendants’ experiences could hardly be compared to making inter-semiotic translations between sounds those of the second generation of these groups. In and the written word, is also highlighted in this con- my opinion it is important that researchers discuss text. To get away from the predominant descriptions the differences as well as what traits are shared of sound, Eriksson-Aras avoids visual words like among different groups of migrants and their de- “high” and “low” in her descriptions of Istanbul’s scendants. The risk is otherwise that the researchers sound spaces. Based on my own studies of dance, I construct hierarchical, binary and separate research can easily agree about the difficulties that arise fields built on the emic categorization of migrants when something non-linguistic has to be made writ- among authorities, politicians and media. The risk is ten and readable. Sounds, music, and movements also that the researcher serves the discourses of re- such as dance are constantly ongoing processes that flexive and apprehensive categories of western mi- are difficult to capture in stagnant written language. grants in comparison to racialized, more narrow- Phenomenography is operationalized as a number minded groups. These discussions are not the sub- of “sound walks” in six public places swarming with ject of Breier’s dissertation, they are just thoughts people in the centre of the multimillion city of Istan- about this kind of research in a wider field of migra- bul and on three trips to other places outside the tion and minority issues. Dorothea Breier’s thesis is centre. The author visits and moves between these doubtless good research that fills a gap with valu- settings, listens to their sounds, talks to people, and able knowledge and invites these kinds of cutting also makes quite a few visual observations. edge discussions. Together with Eriksson-Aras, then, we visit a Oscar Pripp, Uppsala number of different sound spaces. First we go 200 Reviews

through the tunnel under the railway tracks in Eriksson-Aras’s conclusion is that sound spaces Karaköy. Here we can hear the sounds of different are distinct, empirically demarcatable entities with shoes and gaits, along with the buzz of conversation discernable boundaries and with clear transitions be- and singing. When the tunnel ends we emerge on tween the different spaces. She demonstrates and the Galata Bridge. The traffic takes over and the describes this well. It is also plausible that these sound of cars and buses dominates the sound space. sound spaces, as she writes, are cognitive entities The third sound environment is what the author calls that separate mental processes, emotions, wills, the play tunnel. Here the sounds of noisy toys are thinking, and the information found there, but it re- blended with the calls of street traders, and the mains a claim that is left hanging in the air. The link sound space is more intensive than before. We pause to the empirical descriptions is lacking. in sound environment number four, the in-between The dissertation is what could be called “non- space, which is a small square with trees and media studies”, which is nice in these times when benches. Here the sounds are not as intensive; it is media, above all digital ones, and how they are used possible to carry on a conversation and rest one’s often becomes an important and sometimes wholly dominant part in studies of culture. ears. After a little rest we continue to sound space Finally, despite some criticism of a dissertation number five, where the calls and chanted advertising that gives a fragmentary feeling, partly because cer- slogans of street traders dominate. Finally we enter tain interesting ideas are not followed up, I must the Spice Bazaar, where we walk around indoors, praise Karin Eriksson-Aras for making us aware that listening to the muffled hum of vendors and custom- sounds in places are important, sometimes at least as ers. important as visual impressions. Or in her own Thus far it is no problem to keep up. The places words, she has helped to clarify what can be gained and their sounds emerge from the text. The analysis by ascribing greater significance to sounds and lis- of these sound spaces is done on the basis of the re- tening in research in cultural studies. For me sounds, corded material, the sound diary where Eriksson- like smells and movements, are important aspects of Aras has recorded both ambient sounds and her own all spaces. comments the whole time. It is these recordings, not Mats Nilsson, Göteborg the walks themselves, that constitute her material. The comparisons between the different sound spaces are made with the aid of graphs showing the Materializing Democratic Ideals in a perceived sound intensity and range of loudness. Museum These concepts are described and explained in the Britta Zetterström Geschwind, Publika museirum. first two “information boxes”, which then recur oc- Materialiseringar av demokratiska ideal på Statens casionally in the text itself. The idea may be good, Historiska Museum 1943‒2013 (Public Museum but these boxes unfortunately do not assist the read- Space: Materialisations of Democratic Ideals at the ing. Moreover, the boxes have greatly varied refer- Swedish History Museum 1943‒2013). Department ences, and some have none at all, which further re- of Ethnology, History of Religion and Gender duces their value. It is also a little difficult to under- Studies, Stockholm University. 256 pp. Ill. English stand that it is technically possible to measure per- summary. Diss. ISBN 978-91-7649-974-0. ceived sound intensity with no clear explanation. The author makes comparisons throughout within  At a time when museums discuss and experiment the material, between Istanbul’s different sound with so-called “welcome strategies” in order to at- spaces and three other sound spaces in Turkey, but tract more visitors, the dissertation Publika musei- not with other places, times, or studies. The sound rum is timely, providing historical perspective on environments of the big city of Istanbul are supple- different initiatives taken by the state-run Swedish mented with a bus trip to a suburb, a visit to the History Museum to be a more inclusive and there- country, and a tour to Börek Center. When she aban- fore democratic space. The dissertation shows that it dons the more technical, and musicological, expla- is not only a museum’s exhibition programme that nations it is both easy and interesting to read about attracts visitors: it is also peripheral spaces like the the sound environments she describes. children’s area, the museum shop, the entrance area, Reviews 201

as well as in-between spaces – such as the outdoor third descends to the basement, where the children courtyard of the Swedish History Museum – that are invited by the museum to gather and learn in the create the whole experience-oriented museum (to “children’s space”. The last of the main chapters is rephrase Falk & Dierking 1992). The dissertation about the even less significant public spaces of the actually makes one wonder whether it is, or indeed museum, the so-called “in-between spaces”. ever has been, possible to distinguish between cen- In the chapter about the museum’s entrance, the tral and peripheral spaces within a museum. The first subheading questions whether the state-run mu- idea that changes have resulted from the project to seum is the face of the nation, quite quickly con- foreground the exhibition as the “public” part of the cluding that this is in fact the case. The museum museum may just be a product of the “new museolo- spaces are subordinate to national ideologies and gy programme”, characterized by its criticism of the cultural policies, making the study of the material- often normative and neutralized communication of ization of the museum spaces that much more inter- exhibitions that are based on one-way knowledge esting to interpret and discuss. The museum space of transmission rather than critical reflection upon the Swedish History Museum is spectacular, indeed “who says what to whom with what effect”. One monumental – a characteristic stipulated by the ar- proponent of this new museology, Bruce Ferguson, chitectural design competition committee. In the has claimed that exhibitions are acts of rhetorical end, as no architects met this criterion, and therefore speech rather than representations of fact (Ferguson none won the competition, the second-place archi- 1995). tects Georg Cherman and Bengt Romare in collab- This is, in any case, the claim of this dissertation, oration with engineer Gösta Nilsson were asked to and works as a convincing argument for its focus. further develop the monumental feel of their mu- As the author states, the thesis is about the public seum design proposal. In 1943 it opened to the pub- spaces that visitors encounter in the museum apart lic, a building characterized by Zetterström Ge- from the exhibitions. Zetterström Geschwind asks, schwind as a masculine, racial, and monumental “What have these rooms been thought to bring bunker safeguarding the nation’s history. Although about? What kind of publics have these spaces con- the museum was ready in 1939, its opening was de- ceptualized and formed? Who has worked in these layed due to the outbreak of the Second World War, spaces? What practices have been carried out?” (p. during which the collection was placed in storage 245, English summary). for safety reasons. The space was unofficially inaug- Using a Latourian approach, the dissertation urated in 1940, however, with the temporary (one looks into how the museum has changed practices month) and timely special exhibition Folk och För- and perceptions of the entrance, shop and children’s svar, which demonstrated Sweden’s modern armed area in this context. A strong sensitivity to material- forces and used the museum space as a mass com- ization processes is key, specifically with respect to munication tool. Finally, three years later, despite how these processes undergird power struggles be- the still-ongoing war, the museum officially opened hind spatial changes to museums, as demonstrated with the special exhibition Tio Tusen År i Sverige. through the case of the Swedish History Museum. This drew on the museum’s own collection, and em- This analytical approach involves detailed descrip- bodied its main objective: to represent the evolution tions, using recent observations in the museum of Swedish history and culture as superior to the (mostly fieldwork done in the period 2011‒2013), rest. At last the museum was open to the public, ful- interviews with past and present employees, as well filling the state’s ambition to create a democratic as archival material such as photos, press clippings, educational space for all citizens. Even though the internal documents etc. documenting the museum’s museum space is built of stone – expressing its very history since 1943, when it became an independent identity in its monumental architecture, its massive museum from the National Museum in Narvavägen bronze entrance doors, and its Piraeus lion cast – its in Stockholm. meaning is dynamic. Drawing on D. Massey’s no- The dissertation is divided into four main chap- tion of relational materiality, the chapter demon- ters. The first chapter, appropriately, begins by strates how the meanings of the museum space and describing the museum’s entrance. The second its entrance area change as a result of various en- chapter continues on to the museum shop, while the counters in the room. The entrance desk is highlight- 202 Reviews

ed as one example of a centrepiece of materiality. It perience economy studies, transforming into a more changed in order to meet a state-imposed mandate commercial, experimental public space for cultural of inclusiveness and accompanying cultural policy consumption. The museum needs to serve its public reform, namely “free admission”. The entrance area – a challenging task that requires adaptability was changed in the early 2000s in order to prioritize among both its staff and its visitor-consumers. the profiling of the visitor as a consumer of experi- Despite the dissertation’s specific focus on the ences rather than the museum as a space for educa- Swedish History Museum and its repetition of a tion and contemplation. well-known story of the changes of the museum in- The museum shop space is interpreted by liken- stitution during the twentieth century, it manages to ing it to a miniature museum that reflects the chang- tell in detail an important story of how museums ing perceptions of museum space. Looking back, in change and develop over the course of time accord- the 1970s there was no museum shop as such, only a ing to shifting cultural politics and discourse about museum bookshop. This changed in the late 1990s. their purpose. Zetterström Geschwind’s skill in writ- The space turned into a lifestyle concept store, high- ing the analysis as an encounter with mainly Nordic lighting the Swedish History Museum’s collection museological studies makes it even more welcome and selling all kinds of branded merchandise. Fur- to read. thermore, its book collection was expanded to ap- Teachers of museum history should be pleased to proximately 2,000 titles. In the early 2000s, the mu- include not only one chapter of this dissertation, but seum shop was relocated from behind the museum several, in their curriculum, since it provides a need- restaurant and connected to the exhibition area to a ed and detailed case study demonstrating how ideals spot adjacent to the entrance space. This move was regarding what constitutes “the public” are material- made in conjunction with the “free admission” re- ized in public museums. Indeed, as Zetterström form mentioned above. But although the museum Geschwind argues, the entire museum ought to be shop space was not recognized by the museum as a treated as a public ideological space. If future mu- meaning-making space in and of itself, Zetterström seum scholars and employees learn to keep that in Geschwind argues that it ought to be, since it can be mind, the dissertation’s mission will have been ac- perceived as a “free zone” where visitors more free- complished. ly talk together and sensuously explore artefacts, Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen thereby engaging with the museum experience. When it comes to the museum’s spaces for children, the trajectory appears to be the same, ori- ginating in idealistic ideals of building citizens and Negotiations about Cultural Objects now increasingly addressing experience-oriented Mikael Hammelev Jörgensen, Förhandlingar om consumers. This is tied, too, to evolving public cul- kulturföremål. Parters intressen och argument i pro- tural policy regarding education. From the 1960s to cesser om återförande av kulturföremål. Gothenburg the 1990s, giving children the opportunity to get Studies in Conservation 39, Göteborgs Universitet close to material objects – especially authentic ob- 2017. 281 pp. Ill. English summary. Diss. ISBN jects – was key. Recently, in the 2010s, the aim of 978-91-7346-905-0. the state department has been to make children a main target group for all communication. The offi-  Over the last 20 years or so there has been a sig- cial mission statement of the museum states that nificant change in the attitude of museums to the re- everyone should be able to learn from and become turn of cultural objects. These changes are aptly curious about Swedish history, whether they are a connected to a wider understanding of how cultural child or a grandparent. Parents and children are now objects were acquired earlier, as well as a movement accommodated not only in the separate children’s towards both greater ethical concerns and respect space, but throughout the museum. Children are ad- for the native people to whom the objects once be- dressed as a target group of museums both as citi- longed. In this context Mikael Hammelev Jörgensen zens – small citizens – and as consumers. has written a doctoral dissertation concerning how It seems that the dominant narrative of the public parties negotiate and argue in a possible process of museum is, as stated in many museological and ex- restitution. Reviews 203

The thesis is divided into seven chapters, includ- discussed within the framework of the argument of ing one figure, six tables and seven pictures. In the the objects and remains “coming home”. introduction we are shown a well-known example of Chapter four follows up on the theoretical ap- a claim to a cultural object, the Parthenon frieze in proach outlined in chapter one, with a more detailed the British Museum, which was once at the Acrop- discussion of international examples of negotiations olis in Athens, but the situation is still unresolved, of cultural objects. This includes the relation be- while a case of restitution of objects in Gotland was tween the negotiating parties, and how some cases solved quite easily. Jörgensen therefore ask why the have failed to reach an agreement, while others have results were so different, and what the processes are been quite successful in processes of restitution of that lead to these very different results. This brings cultural property. us to the main questions of the thesis, which are for- The fifth chapter develops the negotiation per- mulated as three interconnected questions: (1) How spective further, and aims at identifying and clarify- can these processes of repatriation or restitution be ing factors in a negotiation process, based on the understood from a negotiating perspective? (2) previously outlined theoretical models from psy- What types of arguments are used and how do they chology based on Bazerman & Moore (2013). Here change over time? (3) Can negotiations influence the negotiation process and its initial stages, the the management of cultural objects in both a arguments used by the different parties involved in short-term and a long-term perspective? the negotiation are in focus, and this is then high- Chapter one continues with a brief introduction to lighted by several examples, both international and theoretical and methodological issues connected to Swedish. Here, in cases where the negotiations are the thesis, as well as basic concepts and definitions. blocked or stalled, it is suggested that a working Here we are also introduced to the way Jörgensen group consisting of both parties may be a solution to approaches the theme by using the “cake metaphor”, advance the negotiations. From these initial discus- particularly inspired by how negotiations have been sions on various methodological and theoretical studied in psychology with reference to a fixed pie, issues connected to negotiations of cultural objects, value creation and improving decision making. a negotiation perspective is applied to two case Thereafter we are introduced to the methodological studies in chapter six in order to analyse how the approach using case studies, interviews, archives, process of restitution of cultural objects happens. films and newspaper debates, and how the argu- The first case is the G’psgolox totem pole which ments have been divided into different categories was exhibited in the Ethnographic Museum in (such as place, cultural identity, handling of the ob- Stockholm and the demand of the Haisla First Na- jects, institution, moral rights, juridical rights, ac- tion of British Colombia, Canada. Here we are given cessibility and economy). The first chapter ends a background to the specific case, the history of the with a brief discussion on different ways to under- totem pole and discussions of the totem pole, fol- stand cultural heritage in more general terms, par- lowed up by an analysis of the case as a cultural ticularly drawing on Laurajane Smith’s work on the heritage process. Here important events are con- Uses of Heritage (2006). sidered, as well as different positions and choices The second chapter takes a broader perspective, made during the negotiations, where especially the introducing Swedish cultural heritage management arguments of the different parties are analysed. Af- and its development, as well as an international ter a lengthy process of negotiations over many perspective on heritage with reference to several years concerning both the actual claim, and later the examples, charters and conventions, pointing out economic responsibilities, the totem pole was re- how our reflections and opinions about cultural turned to Haisla First Nation. heritage change over time and its contextual rela- The second case was the claim for the return tions. several medieval ecclesiastical objects from a mu- In the third chapter the motives and purpose of seum in Gotland, Sweden, so that they could be re- claiming cultural objects are discussed in more gen- turned to their original rural churches. Here we are eral terms, reflecting on different interpretations of also given a context to the cases and their historical how the history of objects, ownership and the ter- background. One of the objects is a crucifix and minology vary a great deal. This latter is particularly the second is a saint’s image; there are additional 204 Reviews

brief considerations of claims to return an epitaph thesis. The theory, methods and concepts introduced and a drum. This is followed up by a more detailed briefly in chapter one could have been moved to analysis of the processes, using archival material their respective chapters in order to avoid repetition as well as interviews and a scrutiny of the argu- and make the text more accessible. Further, we are ments used by the different parties in the process of first introduced to the drum from Hallshuk on page negotiation. The final result was that the crucifix 235, which seems a bit removed from the main is- was not returned and kept in the museum, while the sues in the thesis. A methodological drawback is saint’s image was returned to the parish church. In that the Haisla First Nation people that were in- all these cases the negotiations between the differ- volved in the repatriation of the G’psgolox totem ent parties developed very differently over time, have not been involved or interviewed. We are just and Jörgensen is clearly able to identify the argu- briefly introduced to the G’psgolox totem pole as ments in the negotiation processes and how they well as the crucifix and saint’s images from Gotland differ in each case. This further illustrates the con- over the first five chapters, which makes it partly text of management of cultural heritage objects difficult for the reader to understand the context and both within a museum context and in the cultural the actual claims that are being analysed. Chapter heritage laws. three could have been developed more and better Chapter seven is a summary and a concluding structured, linking the issues raised more clearly to chapter of the analysis, highlighting the issues the topics and problems brought up in the introduc- raised in the introduction. In the negotiation pro- tion. Chapter five lacks a broader discussion of the cess concerning cultural heritage Jörgensen identi- theoretical part, but also why the negotiation per- fies which parts of the process the different parties spective is chosen. This could clearly have been value as important. It is pointed out that what may more nuanced, also drawing on perspectives from be important for one party may not be important economic literature or from literature in law studies for the other, but negotiations may move the par- as well. Worth mentioning here are Marie Cornu ties in either direction. The two museum institu- and Marc-André Renold’s article from 2010 and tions regarded place as an important factor in the Folarin Shyllon’s article from 2017, both using Al- negotiation process, while they did not use argu- ternative Means of Dispute Resolution as an ap- ments connected to cultural identity. In contrast to proach, as this is particularly important in disputes this, their counterpart regarded cultural identity as connected to the return, restitution and repatriation significant in the negotiation process. For all par- of culture property. This would clearly have given a ties involved in this study both reputation and broader understanding of the context Jörgensen in- economy were important in the argumentation. To vestigates; here also a third party or actually a neu- understand the process as negotiations that influ- tral person or group as a mediator could have been ence the management of cultural objects both in a considered both specifically connected to the cases short-term and a long-term perspective, Jörgensen analysed, and on a more general level whether this points out that it is crucial how this is structured, as could be a possibility or not. Further, this is also regards both the outside world and the interests of connected to other parts of disputes over cultural the parties involved. There may also be cases property, such as moral pressure, power relations where one party has a double role, but from the and emotional issues. In the case of the G’psgolox cases analysed here there are also instances where totem pole we also have to consider that both the a longer process creates more understanding. procedures and the legal system in general may be Although this is a PhD thesis, which is a special very different, i.e. that cultural values and ideas are genre, one should bear in mind that a thesis can be different even in the legal system. Therefore, the of interest to a wider audience. As regards technical contexts of the two major cases are very different; and structural issues there are some points to be language and culture are on an even level with re- made. In general, the thesis has few illustrations and gard to the medieval objects from Gotland, but for the first does not come until p. 140, and the tables the G’psgolox totem pole the language, culture and are not really very informative. It would have been even the juridical laws and system are indeed differ- easier to access the theme and the cases by introduc- ent, and therefore the explicit benefit of comparing ing pictures and the actual case studies earlier in the these different cases should have been made clearer. Reviews 205

Despite these critical remarks on the thesis, I find it natural. Fantasmatic is the term for the meaning an interesting and valuable contribution to this very constructions, or fantasies as they are called within important and difficult topic. the framework of this theory, which people use to Nils Anfinset, Bergen explain their existence and make it comprehensible – even if it is full of contradictions. In my opinion it is the fantasmatic aspect that offers the most dynam- Teenagers in Care and Punishment ic analyses, and I think that Silow Kallenberg would agree with me, because it is when the fantasmatic Kim Silow Kallenberg, Gränsland. Svensk ung- dimension of different logics is identified and de- domsvård mellan vård och straff. Södertörns hög- scribed that the analyses here really take off. skola, Huddinge 2016. 258 pp. English summary. The title of the dissertation, “Borderlands: Swe- Diss. ISBN 978-91-87843-42-6. dish Youth Care in the Intersections of Care and Punishment”, presents the ideas that are highlighted  Gränsland is a dissertation about compulsory youth care in state-run homes. It is also a disserta- as the most fundamental principles for how the in- tion about occupational practice and professional formants understand compulsory care (and their identity. It follows and develops a tradition of eth- own work), namely, what the author calls the logic nological research on institutions. Briefly, it is about of care and the logic of punishment. As the names how the staff in a remand home who carry on com- suggest, these logics define the work at the secure pulsory youth care, how they understand and legit- unit in different ways and they also affect how the imize their work. The more precise aim of the dis- informants understand the teenagers’ presence and sertation can be read on page 18: needs in the institution. The logics of care and “The aim of the dissertation, based on the day-to- punishment recur throughout the dissertation. The day institutional work and on the staff’s statements, more specific logics that are then identified and de- is to survey and analyse the understandings and jus- scribed in the respective chapters are all related to tifications of compulsory institutional care that are this general level. created and maintained through constructions of In accordance with discourse theory, the author teenagers, treatment practices, and staff positions.” explains and shows how logics enable a certain span The author points out three lines of study which of agency, but also certain subject positions. The also constitute the three empirical chapters of the logic, or the way of understanding, that dominates at dissertation: the staff’s constructions of the young a particular time will thus have consequences for people they meet, the treatments they provide, and how the people present on this occasion will act and the professional positions adopted by the staff. for how they will be positioned and position them- The material mostly consists of interviews with selves. Such positionings are intimately associated staff and observations at the secure unit that is called with power, but also, it turns out, with powerless- Viby in the dissertation. Here teenage boys undergo ness. compulsory institutional care, and the majority of In three empirical chapters the author examines those responsible for the treatment are also male. the three aspects specified in her statement of the As regards theory, the analyses are based on po- aim. In each chapter she demonstrates how the ma- litical discourse theory, with references such as Er- terial is organized by different logics. She also de- nesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. More specifical- scribes the ideological fantasies through which the ly, the author follows the development of discourse informants create meaning in their work and the po- theory that is ascribed to Jason Glynos and David sitions that are made available through these. Howarth, here called the logics approach. This Chapter 3 is the first empirical chapter, dealing means that the researcher tries to identify what with the way the staff make their work compre- structures and motivates the informants’ thinking hensible by describing the people they work with: and acting in a particular context. Three aspects of the teenagers. The reader gains insight into how the logics are distinguished: social, political, and fantas- informants view the reasons why the teenagers matic. Social logics are structuring logics which are come to Viby in the first place. Three logics are naturalized and taken for granted by people. Politi- identified as operating here. The first is what the au- cal logics challenge what is taken for granted as thor calls “the logic of the social context”, which lo- 206 Reviews

cates the explanation for the young offenders’ up- children – could arouse suspicions about their true bringing outside the individuals. The potential for age. action therefore consists in changing the teenager’s In chapter 4 the author examines treatment prac- environment, from a context that is regarded as tices at Viby. She finds that different meanings problematic to the context of remand care. The sec- could be assigned to the treatments depending, for ond attitude is called a “biological logic”, which has example, on whether they are understood as being a specific status in the secure unit. It too locates the part of a logic of care or a logic of punishment. “In- reasons for the teenagers’ placement at Viby outside dividual conversations” could be regarded as a form their control, but instead of highlighting the social of care, but they could also be used as punishment – context it identifies biological circumstances, for ex- something that happens when a teenager has not be- ample, neuropsychiatric diagnoses. The potential haved in accordance with rules and expectations. It actions here include medication. was much the same with other treatment methods. In the talk of the young offenders we also It is difficult for the informants to know what the glimpse a third logic, which is called “the logic of effect of their work is. When talking about it they choice”. According to this, the presence of the teen- often choose to say that they are at least “planting a agers at Viby is a consequence of a series of more or seed” of change in the young people. This is a kind less free choices. Unlike the norms for free choices of hopeful fantasy of good and successful treatment. that apply elsewhere in the field of care, however, The fantasmatic character of this fantasy means that the idea that the teenagers’ actions were the effect of it conceals awkward problems, for example, that the free and partly conscious choices does not construct staff have no real evidence that they are doing any the teenagers as free and independent. The logic of good, or that planting the seed sometimes includes choice appears solely to fill the function of legit- practices that are more punitive than caring in char- imizing the coercive aspect of the institutional care acter. Silow Kallenberg contextualizes this by relat- by defining the teenagers’ previous choices as bad. ing the treatment fantasy to other belief systems (p. All the logics are well-established figures that we 159). Through comparison with the Christian pres- recognize from elsewhere. If the first two logics be- ence in the history of social care she exposes how come comprehensible within, and support, a care belief and morals are still found in the fantasy of the logic, the third, the logic of choice, supports the good treatment. It is possible, for example, to testify punishment logic: A person who has chosen some- about the disadvantages of criminality and about the thing can be held accountable. advantages of leaving it behind, and great signifi- The care logic and the punishment logic gave rise cance is attached to this testimony, which grants le- to two different ideas about the young people: “the gitimacy. And here we see how a logic of choice fantasy of the child” and “the fantasy of the young with moral connotations once again sneaks into the offender”. The notion that the teenagers were like notion of good care and treatment and complicates children or actually were children positioned them any understanding. as innocent. This enabled certain caring practices, The fifth chapter deals with logics that structure and it normalized and legitimized the power relation the informants’ professional identity and determine between the teenagers and the staff. The fantasy of who is suitable for the work, thus creating the posi- the young offender, by contrast, positioned the teen- tions available to the informants in the institutional agers as responsible and legitimized more punitive setting. Two logics are identified here: “the logic of practices. Ever-present talk of the teenagers’ poten- practical knowledge” and “the logic of theoretical tial aggression was moreover successful in render- knowledge”. The logic of theoretical knowledge ing invisible the practices of violence that the staff stresses the importance of education. It is described sometimes chose to engage in. as somehow sanctioned from above, yet it is subor- The author shows how these fantasies dictated dinate in the material. The logic of theoretical clear boundaries as to who could be counted as a knowledge is present above all in that the inform- child. Here it seemed as if notions of authenticity ants contrast themselves with it. Although education were central: it is only “real” children that deserve is described on some occasions as being good, the care. Individuals who claimed explicitly that they informants mostly argue that other qualities are were children – such as the unaccompanied refugee more important. Instead it is the logic of practical Reviews 207

knowledge that dominates at Viby. It challenges the edge. It is not just that this leads to unfairness, or formal educational requirements of a treatment as- that it preserves gender patterns, but it has such sistant by making experience – of practical work clear repercussions on the care of the teenagers, on with teenagers or personal experience of substance how Swedish compulsory care is delivered when it abuse or criminality – into a real qualification. The alternates between care and punishment, balancing challenge to formal education leads the author to on what sometimes appears to be a rather slack rope. view the logic of practical knowledge as a political The dissertation is wrapped up in a twenty-page logic, a kind of counter-logic. This counter-logic is conclusion with a detailed summary of the discus- interwoven in a fantasy of the necessity of practical sion which highlights the central tensions, while experience and how we live in times when it is also pointing forwards. threatened. According to Silow Kallenberg, the fan- Gränsland is a dissertation about an important tasmatic aspect conceals the fact that the thesis can topic, problematizing interesting aspects of it. It is hardly be proved. Moreover, we may suppose, it of- also a dissertation with clear theoretical ambitions, fers the pleasure of rejecting the superiority of for- which it accomplishes in an elegant and independent mal education. It is thus a counter-logic that com- manner. As always, of course, one can discuss what prises a protest, and a sense of frustration, that has a given theoretical framework contributes and what partly to do with class, but also turns out to be it risks losing from view. The logics approach linked to ideas of gender. makes it clear all through the dissertation how the Chapter 5 deepens the discussion on the signifi- informants’ actions and understandings are related cance of gender, sexuality, and the body. Here the both to overall power relations and to possible iden- author talks of a “logic of macho masculinity”, re- tifications. But the perspective has been criticized vealing how masculinity and a certain type of mas- for moving the focus too quickly from the material culine bodies are privileged in the outlook on who to a rather high level of abstraction and for offering suits the profession. Women are associated with ac- a simplified and excessively schematic model of tions such as cleaning, washing dishes, and provid- how reality and its practices should be understood. ing care. Men are associated with muscle power. Although I sometimes found it hard to keep track of Women are also viewed as needing protection, the levels of the identified logics, it is clear in while men are protectors, and this is symbolized in a Gränsland that it is the empirical material and the great many ways, with significance for how differ- analytical results that are the basis for how the ent bodies can move in the workplace and which logics have been identified and named. The selected type of tasks they can be given. logics are also used very well to reveal tendencies Macho logic also normalizes sexual harassment and power relations in the material. I would have of female staff by the teenagers. It is a logic that is liked to see a deeper discussion of the fantasmatic intimately associated with class positions and eth- dimension of the discourse theory and the logics ap- nicity, and with professional competence. The proach; this is after all a perspective that partly arose macho logic raises a fantasy of control in which as a way to investigate the possibilities of critically muscular men are turned into the guarantors of order explaining the social. Here I find that the author and security, a role that is held up as important at a sometimes stops and perhaps does not always ex- workplace that is constantly described as full of po- ploit the potential of the theoretical construct. I am tential risk. This fantasmatic narrative declares that not told very much about the emotional driving when the going gets tough, a university education is force of the informants, what makes them stick to of no help. In this way, ideas about the teenagers’ their understandings even when these turn out not to problems and needs blend with ideas about gender, correspond to their concrete experiences. Nor do I body, class, education, ethnicity, and professional learn much about the attraction of the fantasies competence in a way that privileges certain bodies. when they go beyond what is permitted, or about the Things get hot when it turns out that the ideal desirability of what the informants become when body in this profession – the muscular male body – they talk to the researcher and otherwise act as they is encouraged by the management. It is problematic do. that recruitment to the profession favours muscular In the dissertation there is a preponderance of in- male bodies and partly devalues theoretical knowl- terview references, and perhaps it would have been 208 Reviews

good if the author’s observation material had been and minorities, regardless of the matter that the lat- used more, that is, descriptions and analyses of how ter groups have resided in the country and have been things are made culturally comprehensible in every- citizens for a long time. The global trend bringing day routines. This might have been able to further these kinds of tensions has also caused movements show how the dominant logics are not something among people who are not necessarily marginalized that unambiguously “exists” in the material, but are or hierarchized but well-educated professionals try- the result of sometimes conflicting attempts to un- ing to settle and make a good life, embedded in new derstand life. social networks. Knowledge of the including and The dissertation is well written and lucidly pre- excluding forces that meet well-educated profes- sented. Yet there are trivial things that can possibly sionals shows how integration is about mutual rela- disturb the reading. Sometimes I get the feeling that tionships; it is much easier to uncover subtle exclud- things are introduced but not followed up. And ing mechanisms within the majority society in com- while it is praiseworthy to comment on quotations, parison to investigations with excluded groups that this occasionally results in mere repetition of what are hierarchized and perceived in the discourses as was said. There are many “teasers” about what is to being “entirely” culturally different. The latter mi- come, which makes for clarity, but it has a distanc- nority groups are often regarded as excluded be- ing effect which constantly reminds the reader of the cause of their own incapability to integrate. construction of the book itself. In many places such biased “minority-focused” Despite these criticisms, Gränsland is a well- integration models are dominant, also in the Nordic conducted and well-written study which has yielded countries. The majority populations in the Nordic an important book. Kim Silow Kallenberg handles a countries are often chiefly seen as role models, help- rather complex and little-used theory, and does so ers and educators of the minority members for throughout the book, without losing contact with the successful integration and are rarely understood as empirical material, even though this is a well-known forces that also keep people excluded. Research risk. This itself makes her study a welcome example about economically and socially privileged groups – of how the logics approach can be used in studies but in other kinds of minority positions – strength- with ethnographic material. Moreover, the disserta- ens the knowledge about the duality of exclusion tion provides vital knowledge and its focus will and inclusion. It provides arguments for the need of surely make it readable for those who are interested a combination of two-sided models in integration in how the cultural, in the form of logics, identifica- politics that are both majority and minority focused. tions, and power relations, structures work in insti- Anna-Liisa Kuczynski’s thesis “Minority Groups tutions and – of course – affects those who, for dif- and Encounters in Cornered Situations” (my transla- ferent reasons, spend time there. tion) contributes to that knowledge when she asks Anna Sofia Lundgren, Umeå how the more privileged minority groups in a Finn- ish context negotiate and mould identity in cornered situations. The thesis is built on three case studies, What is “Culture”? the first with Swedish-speaking people in Uusikau- Anna-Liisa Kuczynski, Minoritetsgrupper och möten punki (Nystad), the second with Finnish-speakers in i trängda situationer. Identifikationer och kulturell Åland and the third is a study about Polish-Finnish gemenskap. Nordisk etnologi. Fakulteten för hu- families in the Turku region. The research questions maniora, psykologi och teologi, Åbo Akademi 2017. are how the members’ group identifications are 184 pp. + articles. English summary. Diss. ISBN symbolized, manifested and changed in the situ- 978-952-12-3623r-5 (print), 978-952-12-3624-2 ations described. The primary empirical material (pdf). consists of 77 semi-structured interviews. Kuczynski’s article-based dissertation consists of  Minority groups suffering from violence, oppres- the thesis and five published articles, one about sion and marginalization is an increasing concern Uusikaupunki, two about Åland and two about the for scholars all over the globe. In many countries Polish-Finnish families. She asks the same research populist movements claim the national majority questions in each context and gets multi-sited an- group’s moral and cultural superiority over migrants swers revealing each case study’s unique historical Reviews 209

and current context. Kuczynski achieves her objec- identity. The Finnish-speaking informants in Åland tive clearly in relation to each empirical field but played down but simultaneously cultivated their discusses the general conditions too briefly. The Finnishness by listening to Finnish radio, watching curious reader has to look further for answers to Finnish television programmes and reading Finnish why people in such circumstances stay with certain books, newspapers and weekly magazines. But all identification markers but not with others. Why this was done in private. They uphold trans-local don’t they put up stronger resistance, keeping one of contacts with relatives and friends and via artefacts/ their “basic identities” and why do they assimilate in commodities and memories from places on the to the hegemonic local order? This added aspect Finnish mainland. would have contributed to the international field of Each field study adds several pieces to the puzzle research even more, touching on classical anthropo- of identity formation among cornered people. But logical and ethnological problems that have been Kuczynski doesn’t explicitly show the final picture scrutinized over a hundred years. when doing the puzzle since she leaves the last Noticeably, Kuczynski really has the possibility pieces. to take this general grip because she often puts her I find the third field study in the thesis about the interviewees from the synchronic studies into dia- Polish-Finnish families not fully compatible with chronic contexts. She goes back in time, considering the two mentioned above. It has a different ontology circumstances such as national and local political based on an intercultural approach, how people are development and demographic and economic products of their cultural origins. From the inter- changes in Finland that made an impact on life in cultural perspective the question is how the inter- Uusikaupunki and in Åland, and other struggles that viewees relate to their cultures, Polish and Finnish. shaped identities and positions over time. Thanks to A subsequent question is what happens when these Kuczynski’s historical account, it is obvious how cultures do not fit into each other and the family the interviewees’ identity formations are historically members have to negotiate. The historical descrip- situated. tion in the study is influenced by this cultural-rela- In Uusikaupunki the number of Swedish-speak- tivistic view, primarily accentuating the contrast be- ing people has decreased over a long time. Step by tween the Polish and Finnish historical develop- step in a period of over one hundred years they have ment. The general research questions in the thesis lost their leading positions and influence over cen- are difficult to answer when the context is contrast- tral institutions such as school, newspapers, libraries ive, culturalized and stripped of a sufficiently strong and the city council. Today just a few families and social dimension to such extent. The study is never- individuals remain in a town totally dominated by theless interesting in many ways, although it sup- the Finnish-speaking group. The minority members plies the reader with results of a different kind from themselves use the Finnish language as default in the ones from Uusikaupunki and Åland. everyday life. In Åland the historical context shows Kuczynski’s theoretical framework is based on how Finnish-speaking individuals’ lower social sta- her interests in identity formation and belonging, tus and marginalization in relation to the Swedish- viewed as identification processes constructed rela- speakers is a product of a historical relationship over tionally and situationally between groups of people a long time. The Finnish-speaking minority mem- in a historical context. This basic approach is con- bers claim and manifest their Finnish-speakingness sistently used and applied in the articles and makes in careful and modest ways. Many attempts to or- it comprehensible how the interviewees’ ways of ganize institutions and a Finnish community have identifying themselves are products of historical and been actively counteracted, even in a contemporary contemporary power relations and interaction with perspective. Kuczynski also gives an account of the local majorities. Their choice to be parts of hege- historical geopolitical context which has affected monic local cultures seems to be rational. In the case how Åland gained autonomy and the rise of “Ålan- of Uusikaupunki the Swedish-speakers are just a dic” identity formation, closely linked to the Swe- few families with limited possibilities to establish dish language. With both these two contexts in mind institutions and mobilize strong networks. In public it is understandable why people act as they do when there are few places and occasions when the Swe- practising belongingness to their mother tongue dish language could be used. The interviewees had 210 Reviews

developed a sensibility about when they could speak consequence of being forced out of these domains Swedish in public and when they avoided doing it, but rather a result of constraints on getting in. Per- depending on what people they were surrounded haps this sounds obvious and simple, but it is of with. great importance for a complex analysis to ask ques- My associative thoughts go back in time to the tions from different angles such as: What categories, anthropologist Harald Eidheim’s study from the belongings and other distinguishing features invite 1960s about the coastal Sami people in Norway. The you to central domains instead of making you ex- Sami avoided the Sami language in public and cluded? What social belongings and features make switched to Norwegian when they were audible to you one of those who are generally excluded? majority members. As in Eidheim’s study, the Kuczynski’s contribution to the research field Swedish-speakers in Uusikaupunki practised their lies not in her theoretical perspectives and con- minority language in private and within the families. cepts. To a large extent they correspond to a stand- But the difference between these two cases is that ard template when it comes to the study of identity Eidheim focuses on social situations and the interac- formation among groups of people. Her field meth- tion between the two groups where the coastal Sami ods with semi-structured interviews also follow the became stigmatized and marginalized. Kuczynski’s main road of ethnology. The interviews are material is based on interviews and lacks sufficient well-structured but seem to be formal, with a dis- information about everyday interaction and social tance between the interviewer and the interviewees relations. And the difference between the studies is which yield material that one cannot dig deeper of course that the Swedish-speaking minority has a into and that does not contain so much about the much stronger position in the society, not being stig- group members’ experiences of situations, course matized. And I find these kinds of relationships the of actions and how they handled certain situations most interesting issue in Kuczynski’s thesis, how in- that arise, what I call the criteria for an ethnogra- tegrated people become cornered due to the domi- phy open to a wide range of possible interpreta- nance of local culture and local social practices. The tions. Another objection I have about the methods picture of integration as relational including and ex- is that the interviewees’ stories and answers to the cluding forces becomes clear and reveals the impact questions are handled and interpreted as authori- of dominating institutions in everyday life. ties, facts, and not as narratives revealing in a more Kuczynski tries to explain these complex pro- subtle way power relations and how the interview- cesses of exclusion and inclusion more generally in ees felt that they were positioned and how they some parts of her thesis. She succeeds best when wished to be positioned. bringing up how exclusion is the general condition Apart from these critical comments I find the dis- in functionally differentiated modern societies, sertation interesting and a result of good research. based on the philosopher Antoon Braeckman’s dis- The language, discussions and interpretations are clear. Kuczynski supports her results with genuine cussion. While full inclusion was possible through field descriptions and logically consistent chains of membership of families, clans and farms in the interpretations. She is transparent and honest about pre-modern society, inclusion can only be partly her field results, never trying to exaggerate what she achieved in the modern and postmodern society, she can find out from her sources. That makes her re- claims, because of the complexity of functional do- sults convincing and her thesis a good contribution mains, such as economy, politics, education, media, to the research field. arts, etc. Even if most people have access to these Oscar Pripp, Uppsala domains, they can’t be included in all of them, never fully. The starting point for Kuczynski’s analysis is exclusion, with the focus on possibilities and con- straints for people to be included, depending on their Swedish Fashion 1930‒1960 belonging to different social groups and categories. Ulrika Kyaga, Swedish Fashion 1930‒1960. Re- This ontology elucidates how the Finnish-speakers thinking the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry. in Åland do not have the same possibilities to be in- The Centre for Fashion Studies, Department of cluded in some domains to the same extent as the Media Studies, Stockholm University 2017. 291 pp. Swedish-speakers. Exclusion isn’t necessarily a Ill. Diss. ISBN 987-91-7649-923-8. Reviews 211

 With the thesis Swedish Fashion 1930‒1960: Re- manities and social sciences, but also the status and thinking the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry, impact fashion had (and still has) on the culture and Ulrika Kyaga has done pioneering work as a fashion commerce of contemporary Sweden at the turn of researcher. She has broken new ground, exploring the new millennium. In the Swedish fashion dis- what constituted “Swedish fashion” in the thirty course, the idea of the “Swedish fashion miracle” years from 1930 to 1960. These were the formative (Karin Falk, Det svenska modeundret, Stockholm: years of the modern, industrialized Sweden that saw Norstedts, 2011) appeared around the year 2000, ex- the rise of the Swedish welfare state and was a pressing confidence in an industrial sector beyond period in which the lives of many Swedes would the success of the major Swedish fashion company change for the better – including finding affordable Hennes & Mauritz (H&M, founded in 1947), and ways to be fashionable, which, as this thesis demon- despite the industrial challenges of the time con- strates, was the incentive that propelled Swedish cerning outsourcing of textile and clothing manufac- fashion into existence. turing to low-wage countries, changing international From a historical point of view, it is indeed a very trade regulations (especially the Multi Fibre Agree- interesting period in modern Swedish history, cover- ment), and the globalization of the supply chain in ing both the emergence of Sweden as a modern general. Scandinavian welfare state and a time where Swe- Two years after the inauguration of the Centre for den’s armed forces chose neutrality during World Fashion Studies and its MA programme, the PhD War II. These major events affected the Swedish programme was launched. Ulrika Kyaga’s is the people’s everyday lives in various ways, as this dis- fifth thesis to be presented for defence since then. In sertation demonstrates. The work contributes to our the context of the successes of and confidence in understanding of how many different private and contemporary Swedish fashion – both its fast-fash- public organizations and individuals took part in, ion and design-driven sectors – it is appropriate to had an interest in, and indeed drafted plans for how raise questions about the history of Swedish fashion. the Swedish people should live their lives, and ac- The thesis defines fashion as a practice involving cording to what sense of “the good modern life” a material aspect (of manufacturing clothing and their lives should be modelled as citizens of a wel- textiles), a symbolic aspect (adding value and mak- fare state. ing meaning), and – in the case of “Swedish fash- Because fashion is part of life, it is part of every- ion” – a national identity aspect (adding value and day life too; but as Ulrika Kyaga demonstrates, fash- making meaning). ion intersects with many different domains – it af- From this statement, the thesis is defined by the fects the practices of textile and clothing manufac- dissertation’s main problem statement and research turing; it affects politics and advocacy for the fair question: What were the central features of the in- distribution of resources; it affects practices of how dustrial production, the image and the idea of Swe- to look, get dressed, perceive gender specificities, dish fashion, and how did this change between 1930 age, etc. Unsurprisingly, the study of fashion is an and 1960? interdisciplinary discipline. If one wants to move The main research question is then further div- beyond the study of a specific fashion’s aesthetic ided into three sub-questions that are answered in look, it is necessary to broaden one’s scope and each of the three main chapters of the thesis. draw on various source materials and analytical The first sub-question asks: “What were the cen- tools (theories and concepts). As Professor Klas Ny- tral features of Swedish clothing manufacturing pro- berg, head of the Centre for Fashion Studies at duction between 1930 and 1960?” This question is Stockholm University where Ulrika Kyaga has been answered via an understanding of the statistical enrolled for her PhD, states in the Editor’s Introduc- group “textil- och beklädnadsindustrin”, meaning tion to her thesis, “Fashion studies is an interdisci- the characteristics of two related, but structurally plinary approach” (p. 9). and technologically divergent, industries during the The Centre for Fashion Studies at Stockholm 30-year-period under examination. Drawing mainly University was a pioneering initiative when it was on the British scholar Richard M. Jones’s theories of founded in 2006 – perhaps reflecting not only inter- the clothing industry and the idea of defining an in- disciplinary trends in academia, especially in the hu- dustry via key ratios, the chapter describes the size 212 Reviews

of the industry (number of companies, employees, miliar brands in this category were AB Fr. V. Tun- revenue, etc.), its structure, and its growth over borg (founded in 1914) and Märthaskolan. these 30 years. What is learnt from the chapter is So the textile and clothing industries were that these industries were important to the Swedish wide-ranging between 1930 and 1960. During the economy mainly due to the number of people they period, clothing manufacturing was transformed by employed. The workforce of the textile and clothing mass production, and the domestic market gave the industries varied between 12.9 and 15.8% of all emerging Swedish fashion industry a lucrative start- manufacturing jobs during the period 1930‒1955, ing point according to Kyaga. with a decline beginning in 1950. These percentages The second sub-question asks: “What were the represent roughly 80,000 to 98,000 people em- central features of the symbolic production in terms ployed by the industries in this period. Exports were of the field of fashion in the same period?” The limited, however, and it is fair to say that the Swe- answer to the question is what concerns Chapter 3, dish textile and clothing industries were predomin- based mainly on contemporary reporting about fash- antly a home market industry. ion in the Swedish press and trade journals. Sources Textile production in Sweden was concerned such as Bonniers månadstidning, Eva, Svenska Dag- with cotton and wool fabrics. The textile mills and bladet, Damernas Värld, Stil, Textil och Konfektion, industry were concentrated around the cities of Textilia etc. were consulted. The chapter explores Borås, Göteborg-Mölndal, Malmö, Stockholm and the struggle to define fashion and its authorship Norrköping. within the field of fashion in Sweden. During the During the 1930s, Sweden became self-sufficient period in question, it was the Parisian haute couture in ready-to-wear clothing production. Women’s industry that held the power to define fashion. The wear saw the most dramatic increases during the pe- chapter even claims a new finding that due to Swe- riod, as it took longer to transform the practices of den’s policy of neutrality during World War II, the home production of women’s wear than men’s wear influence of Parisian fashion lasted longer in Swe- (which by 1930 was already dominated by ready- den than it otherwise might have, limiting the coun- to-wear). The textile and clothing industries were try’s need to promote its own design and to draw on profoundly affected by the Second World War. In local, professional fashion designers. The Parisian 1941, textile rationing was introduced due to the haute couture industry based its business model shortage of materials. The only goods exempted (licensing schemes, exclusive trade agreements, from rationing were shoes, silk, artificial silk, wool etc.) on a transnational operation that centralized (cell wool), sewing thread, and mourning clothes. fashion innovation in Paris, in order to control and Later the same year, price regulations were intro- profit by its dissemination to fashion consumers in duced by the government to secure the production of surrounding countries. The Swedish field of fashion basic needs. After the war, however, the industries was entangled with this dominant French operation. would be forced to export in order to pursue growth. The value of “good fashion” required emulating the This required the ability to work with faster-chang- French connection and making it visible, whether in ing styles as well as marketing. fashion reporting that highlighted Parisian couturist Most Swedish clothing companies were of small genius and star-status, or in the naming of a depart- to medium size; only 1% would have had 500 to ment tasked with distributing fashion (at the high- 1,000 employees. The largest company in 1955 was end department store NK, Nordiska Kompaniet, the Algot Johansson AB (work wear – 1,648 employ- fashion department was named Franska – the Swe- ees), followed by Aktiebolaget Melka (sports and dish word for ‘French’). Within such a system of leisure wear, 1,544 employees), and then AB fashion distribution, Swedish buyers of haute cou- Schwartzman & Nordström (men’s and boys’ wear, ture (dressmakers and department stores) occupied 998 employees). dominant positions. The most renowned among Other kinds of companies were also involved in these were Marg von Schwerin (dressmaking studio clothing production, but were not counted in the sta- Märthaskolan) and Kurt Jacobsson (NK Franska). tistics. These included artisanal clothing producers They held positions that mediated and translated like sewing studios and dressmakers’ studios pro- fashion between the two geographies (i.e. centre and viding customers with made-to-order dresses. Fa- periphery), and as such played a significant role in Reviews 213

the layout of the Swedish field of fashion. The field In the final, concluding chapter, Chapter 5, the of Swedish fashion did not produce its own star thesis claims a new finding in fashion scholarship, fashion designers during the period 1930‒1960, the namely that Swedish fashion originated prior to the thesis finds. What came to characterize the early 1960s, which had been the accepted conventional years of the Swedish field of fashion were the eco- wisdom. According to this research, the field nomic value of the field and its suitability as a ve- emerged gradually between the 1930s and the hicle for Swedish identity. 1960s. Paris haute couture fashion played a role in Finally, the third sub-question asks: “What were paving the way for Swedish fashion to develop: on the central features of national production of fashion industrialist terms, based on democratic values asso- in Sweden during this period?” This question is an- ciated with the modern Scandinavian welfare state, swered in Chapter 4, which considers the import- and affordable for everyone. ance and role of fashion in the ongoing construction Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen of a Swedish national identity, and more specifical- ly, a Swedish fashion identity. It is a complex story, and the chapter demonstrates research and under- Neither too much nor too little standing of Swedish history, politics and economics. Emma Lindblad, Looking vanlig; neither too much In this chapter, the study draws on the anthropolo- nor too little. A study of consumption of clothing gist Benedict Anderson’s theory of nationalism and among mainstream youth in a Swedish small town. the concepts of “imagined communities” and “hori- Fashion Studies 4. Department of Media Studies, zontal comradeship”. What unified the fashion in- Stockholm University, Stockholm 2017. 192 pp. Ill. dustry in Sweden was the ability to translate Paris- Diss. ISBN 978-91-7649-445-5/978-91-7649-718- ian fashion into clothing styles suitable for the 0. Swedish woman, reflecting her demands for af- fordable fashion and her preference for clean cuts in ∎This is a well-written dissertation about the con- high-quality fabrics. The chapter documents how cept of ‘vanlighet’ (ordinariness) among some domestic clothing production is associated in the young women and men in Sweden around 2010. It is fashion press with high-quality but affordable fash- built on extensive fieldwork, which includes Ward- ion (compared to Parisian haute couture), and based robe studies. But, the thesis is much less about fash- on local assets like domestic textile production. Do- ion than I would expect from a dissertation in Fash- mestic fabrics + Parisian fashion design + social ion Studies, and I must regretfully admit that it is democratic values of affordable fashion for every- much less concerned with jeans than the title prom- one and for everyday use = the Swedish fashion ised. I know there is a danger in claiming this, as I identity. am an ethnologist with an in-depth interest in ma- The chapter ends most interestingly with a unique teriality, and find wardrobe studies to be one among study of five original designs by Christian Dior that few other innovative methodologies for contem- were sold to Stockholm-based dressmakers (Märtha- porary studies of dress. Allow me to make my argu- skolan, Edman & Andersson, Bekå) and translated ment. to suit the Swedish woman (Swedish consumer), The cover page of the thesis shows a picture of who is described in this context as a producer of two people seen from behind, showing off their style and the ideal model for Swedish values at the jeans-covered bodies from their waistlines and time. The Dior business model lent itself to this down. The illustrations inside the book show jeans, translation by, for instance, addressing different the prologue is about jeans and the first chapter is markets by using local names for the designs and/or called “Young Swedes and denim: An introduc- models (ref. Palmer 2001). The number of changes tion”. Early in her first chapter (p. 25), Lindblad made – if any – varied greatly, as demonstrated in writes: “In this thesis I study clothing consumption the thesis; they mostly reflected the person wearing in a Swedish small town in the late 2000s, focusing it and in what context. The study of the actual gar- on young people aged 17–23 who self-identify as ments demonstrates that any local adjustments were mainstream, in order to understand their patterns of more a question of media rhetoric than redesign, in consumption and what drove them to dress the way order to appeal to a particular Swedish taste. they did. In order to chart the lifeworlds of those 214 Reviews

participating in the study, the key element is the same amount of participant observations, 6 inter- documentation of their denim jeans as part of an eth- views and 12 written descriptions from the inform- nographic study designed to capture how the group ants as well as 600 photos would seem to be a rich themselves reasoned about their consumption prac- material for a study like this. Lindblad has invested tices.” a lot in her informants as well. She found them in The last chapter titled “The function of van- the small town where she grew up herself and lived lighet” tells me something different about this the- part time during her fieldwork, although she did not sis: “The general objective of the study is to investi- know any of them from before. Lindblad visited her gate how the mainstream was experienced on both informants at home and they visited her. She lent the individual and the collective level, and what this them her flat in Stockholm, partied with them and means in terms of the theories of identity, youth, took them for road trips in her car. From one party fashion, and consumption […].” Here, the author where she did her fieldwork, she even followed mentions identity and youth before fashion and con- some of her informants to the bathroom to relieve sumption, while denim is not mentioned at all. In the themselves. same paragraph, Lindblad writes that she under- From such a close relationship between the re- stands fashion as “something more than garments searcher and her informants, we get all kinds of in- that clothe the body” and that denim only serves as a formation. Most often, we hear it through Lind- reminder of those multifaceted aspects of fashion (p. blad’s words, as she mostly paraphrases. She rarely 163). My critique of this dissertation is founded on quotes her informants directly, and when she does, the gap between these two quotes. As I understand their expressions are translated and written as per- it, Lindblad pays much more attention to the young fect sentences without any pauses, twists or incom- people’s self-identification than to how fashion – pletenesses. The information, however, witnesses an and denim in particular – contribute to this intimate relation between the PhD student and her self-identification. informants. It is a thrill to read! Sometimes her writ- The book is divided into 5 chapters. After the in- ing makes me feel embarrassed by the range of in- troduction, a chapter about theoretical perspectives timacy in the information she is willing to offer me on fashion and identity follows, and after that, chap- as reader. This is not negative in itself, and Lindblad ter 3 presents methodology and material. It is not writes convincingly about the importance of making until chapter 4 that we really encounter Lindblad’s friends with her informants. I agree that this method informants. The last chapter is a summary, a pre- could add a lot to the analysis. However, when I feel sentation of findings and a conclusion. that I know more about how Alex likes to shave his Reading the dissertation, I begin longing for the pubic hair than about his preferences of jeans, my empirical material of the study very early. The dis- enthusiasm declines. cussions of chapters 2 and 3 are no doubt engaging And this is my major objection to the disserta- and interesting, as well as updated and relevant. tion: It is not sufficiently concerned with denim Nevertheless, I keep asking myself why the re- jeans and consumption. Identity making in those searcher never uses her fieldwork results in those young people’s life-worlds is interesting, but I discussions. Lindblad’s take on ‘sub culture’ is valu- would argue that it would be a different topic. It is able, independent and an important contribution, not rooted in the empirical material to a proper ex- and I think it would have gained even more sub- tend. This disappoints me, and when I first begin stance if it was grown from her own empirical mate- feeling sceptical, I start to question the concept of rial. ‘vanlighet’ as well. After having longed for Lindblad’s informants The short empirical presentation (first part of for a very long time, I started counting the pages of chapter 4) and the absence of empirical material in the different parts of the dissertation. I found that the following discussion (second part of chapter 4), the presentation of the fieldwork only fills the pages makes me question how the concept of ‘vanlighet’ is from p. 106 to p. 133. Why so little, Emma Lind- argued for. Lindblad makes 5 out of her 20 inform- blad? ants in the wardrobe study her key informants. Only I find that Lindblad has done a comprehensive three of them use the word directly. The couple fieldwork, though. 20 wardrobe studies and the Anna and Gustav (p. 124) use the word on them- Reviews 215

selves and each other, according to Lindblad. And  In her doctoral dissertation, the ethnologist Lily uses both ‘vanlig’ and ‘alldags’ (translated to Mathilda Marshall explores how the concept of sus- plain) to describe her own style. The informant tainability can be approached and understood in a Alex, however, “rarely spoke of himself in explicit domestic setting, and she digs into new dimensions terms as looking vanlig” (p. 115). Neither does Jo- of how this concept can be explored from a con- sefin, or at least does Lindblad not bother to men- sumer perspective. Based on a personal interest in tion it. Jonas, who is not one of the key informants, environmentally friendly food, she is curious to in- figures both in the introduction and the summary of vestigate how individuals handle and make sense of the chapter, telling about a ‘vanlig’ scarf, but noth- sustainability and how this is transformed into ing about denim. I really do believe that the concept meaningful practices in their everyday life. She pro- of ‘vanlighet’ can do very well as an emic devel- vides us with new insight into the complexity of sus- oped concept. However, I believe that the continu- tainability and how it goes way beyond an under- ous use of it calls for a more thorough argument. standing of the concept as only dealing with en- That way, it could have been made into a useful ana- vironmental aspects. Marshall further states that lytical tool. food is especially useful when studying issues of One challenge to the concept of ‘vanlighet’ is that sustainability in households. Food embodies values it is closely connected to an expected gap between of sustainability and through the study of food, sus- one majority and different minority groups in a so- tainability and sustainable practices are material- ciety. ‘Vanlighet’ is expected to be both the expres- ized. sion of and the description on the majority. In this dissertation, ‘vanlighet’ is something different. In her study, 19 persons from 15 households were Lindblad shows how it takes a lot of work to look included, where a combination of various qualitative ‘vanlig’. ‘Vanlighet’ is shifting through time and methods were applied, including interviews, shop- can differ from occasion to occasion, no doubt. alongs, participant observations and food diaries. Lindblad mentions this, but neither time, class nor Different kinds of archive and media material have place perspectives are discussed as such. Theory of been used as well. Through an ethnographic ap- the body could have taken the discussion in a slight- proach she aimed at getting close both to the prac- ly different direction, but no. The concept of ‘van- tices of everyday life and to the people behind them. lighet’ only floats down a smooth river of nice for- The participants, representing both men and women, mulations and a huge amount of paraphrases from different age groups, household structures and living other researchers. In my opinion, the hard work of situations, came from an urban, well-educated, looking ‘vanlig’ had deserved a more sober, theory middle class, claiming to be “environmentally driven discussion. friendly” and striving for “a sustainable food con- Emma Lindblad summarises her findings in sumption” in the household. However, only one par- chapter 5. The major finding that to be ‘vanlig’ is a ticipant was born and raised in another country than dynamic and active process rather than a static and Sweden. The criteria when recruiting the partici- passive one, is interesting and important. I am sure pants for the study were that they saw themselves as that Emma Lindblad still has lot in her field records being focused on the environmental aspects of sus- that can build up a strong argument for her under- tainable food consumption and as consumers of or- standing of ‘vanlighet’. Let your empirical material ganic food. It would, however, be tempting to find speak! out more about what the result might have been if Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen, University of Oslo the group of participants had another class composi- tion or consisted of people with another ethnic back- ground. In presenting the result, mainly five of the Sustainable Eating households have been representatives, and the Matilda Marshall, Hållbarhet till middag. En etno- others were only given voice occasionally with the logisk studie om hur miljövänligt ätande praktiseras purpose of giving perspective to the issues dis- i vardagslivet. Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Sympo- cussed. As a reader it would have been interesting to sion, Höör 2016. 251 pp. Ill. English summary. find out more about why these households were Diss. ISBN 978-91-87483-23-3. chosen as representatives for the study result. 216 Reviews

In discussing the various dimensions of sustain- mensions of understanding sustainability. Practices ability, i.e. environmental, economic and social, are here to be understood as “routinized behaviour Marshall adds a valuable fourth one: cultural sus- consisting of different elements such as corporal and tainability. This dimension covers aspects related to mental knowledge and action, materiality and emo- shared norms and values as well as habits and prac- tions” (p. 222). Studying practices is about studying tices. This part is extremely interesting in trying to culture, its norms, values and shared knowledge, as grasp the aspects related to sustainability that have well as representations and relations. Marshall also to do with cultural factors. For example, buying lo- argues that practices are dependent on three main cal food can be seen as an expression of being aware elements: materiality, competence and meaning. By of and have an interest in environmental issues, but using practice theory, everyday routines can be it may also be an expression of morality, having an made visible, and thereby also possible to investi- interest in preserving a local community and its cen- gate. Throughout the dissertation, Marshall intro- tral values, including social and cultural relations. duces and discusses a range of interesting and fruit- Moreover, the cultural context is seen as something ful concepts related to sustainability and practices. that sets the limits for sustainable actions, but it is The concept of practice bundles is used to define also something that creates meaning in relation to those sustainable practices, related to each other, sustainable practices. Marshall also argues that, due that are adopted and used by the individual or a col- to the complexity of the concept, there should be a lective. Practice bundles are also to be understood as discussion about “sustainabilities”, implying that something that maintain as well as strengthen an there are many values that constantly have to be identity based on being someone who cares for the handled. This is also a way of avoiding seeing the environment. In order to understand these practice participants’ statements as sometimes inconsistent, bundles, the social and cultural meanings added to and instead viewing them as a result of trying to bal- the sustainability practices must be included. How- ance multiple sustainabilities simultaneously. ever, this practice bundle is not to be understood as Even though the study highlights the dynamics static, instead it is possible to alter what practices and complexity of the concept of sustainability and should be included. how it should be understood, still there is a risk that The concept of practice bundles further relates to the environmental aspects will dominate. It is main- another relevant concept which is green capital, in- ly through the environmental aspects of sustainabili- spired by Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic ty that the author takes her point of departure in dig- capital. Green capital is something that is acquired ging deeper into the meaning of the concept and through having certain knowledge and insight into how it is practiced in everyday life. For example, issues of sustainability, and being able to put it into Marshall initially defines “sustainable practices” as practice. It is shared green values which unite as those practices that aim at minimizing the impact on well as differentiate, and these are communicated in the environment. Expressed by the participants in various arenas. Green capital is a prerequisite to be the study, being environmentally friendly was also able to show green distinction, which is another in- more or less the same thing as purchasing organic teresting concept presented here, also with inspira- food. Even though the participants sometimes made tion from Bourdieu’s work on distinction and taste. other choices, for example due to financial aspects, Green distinction is described as a competence re- routines and various taste preferences in the house- lated to meaningful sustainable practices that are de- hold, it was something strongly connected to en- veloped, changed and re-negotiated over time. vironmental aspects of sustainability. In view of the Green distinction is described as including both con- important contribution of the study in highlighting sciousness of issues related to the environment and a the diverse dimensions of sustainability and sustain- reflexivity regarding their own consumption prac- able practices, the relation between environmental tices. Interestingly, distinctions were made both in friendliness, organic consumption and sustainability relation to those who were perceived as being too could have been more elaborated on as well as prob- extreme or fanatical, and those who do not yet un- lematized. derstand or practice sustainable living. In this dis- Marshall uses practice theory as a relevant theor- tinction, as expressed by the participants in the etical framework in highlighting the practical di- study, a pragmatism is identified which was con- Reviews 217

sidered to be healthy, positive and necessary. This Early Modern Ethnography pragmatism, also viewed as a competence in itself, Tony Sandset, Time and Translation: The Formation was based on acting “on a suitable level”, and to be of Temporalities and Early Modern Ethnography in able to have a balanced approach and to negotiate Theodore de Bry’s A Briefe and True Report of the different values, taking into account various aspects New Found Land of Virginia. University of Oslo, of sustainability at the same time. As part of this Faculty of Humanities, Department of Culture Stud- pragmatism, various strategies were developed in ies and Oriental Languages, Oslo 2017. 314 pp. Ill. order to handle food consumption in relation to Diss. these values and ideals. Marshall refers to Andersen when talking about pragmatic prioritizing, implying  Tony Sandset has written a dissertation that repre- that the individual needs to make constant priorities sent an extensive, profoundly thorough analysis of between different values, in order not to be over- the Flemish engraver Theodore de Bry’s work A whelmed. This also includes taking into account the Brief True Report of the New Found Land of Vir- importance of time and convenience in everyday ginia (hereafter referred to as The Report) published life. Moreover, Marshall discusses the phenomenon in 1590. Sandset’s dissertation can safely be read of fika (a coffee break) as one example of a situation twice. His theoretical reasoning illuminates the way where ideals and visions of sustainability have to be a work from the 1600s encompasses many interest- negotiated, and based on the cultural values of these ing and thought-provoking dimensions. Sandset has occasions a more pragmatic stance appears. These also managed to communicate much of the excite- discussions about pragmatism are both interesting ment and exotic atmosphere from The Report to his and relevant. However, I believe that the partici- own thesis. pants’ statements also could be understood as an ex- Sandset’s work is comprehensive because the pression of the very concept of cultural sustainabili- work of de Bry deals with so many themes and per- ty. In this way, cultural sustainability could be seen spectives. The Report covers geographically two more as an umbrella term embracing the other as- continents – mainly Virginia and England. Tempor- pects of sustainability. Instead of interpreting and ally, the point of departure is de Bry’s present time, discussing pragmatism, and the balanced approach, but themes stretch back to classical or Roman Brit- as a way of maintaining a “suitable level” of sustain- ain. Readers meet an extensive cast of characters ability, it could also be interpreted as a way of ex- tied to the layout and production of The Report, pressing cultural sustainability. However, the rela- which gives accounts of the landscape, fauna, flora tion to this concept and the pragmatism could have and inhabitants of Virginia, the “Indians” with their been further discussed. material repertoire and ways of living. Many of the The dissertation is a valuable contribution to the themes, particularly concerning the inhabitants of discussions and debates about understanding sus- Virginia, or the Algonquian, can be found in de tainability practices from a close-up consumer and Bry’s copper engravings. Life and landscapes in the household perspective. Based on inspiring ethno- “new country” are thoroughly described since the graphical work, the author lets us become acquaint- work is written in the contemporary style of travel ed with the participants in the study, and how they narratives and may as well be viewed as a presenta- handle, negotiate and maintain sustainability in rela- tion of a territory with a potential for new English tion to food. I agree with Marshall that in order to colonization. The most surprising and interesting encourage people to live an environmentally friend- thing, however, is that The Report ends with five ly life, sustainability needs to be further discussed in pictures of the Picts, an ethnic group that lived in relation to what it means to individuals. Actions that Britain in a distant past. Why are these pictures in- are put forward as sustainable from an environmen- cluded in a work that at first glance is supposed to tal perspective might, quite often, collide with social describe Virginia? This spurs questions about the and cultural ideals and practices. Based on this, bal- way de Bry’s work came into existence, how it ancing and negotiations between ideals and prac- should be understood, and last but not least how his- tices, environmental, ecological, economic, social tory and temporality are integrated in this work, and and cultural, needs to be addressed. what purpose it once had. These concerns are Tony Maria Nyberg, Kristianstad Sandset’s main project, and by using the theories of 218 Reviews

Kosellec, Fabian, de Certeau, Bauman, Briggs, La- appearance as many-handed. It is also against this tour and others, he offers the readers profound in- background Sandset characterizes the work as het- sights into these. erogeneous. Without coherent chronological lines, Sandset demonstrates in the first chapters that The Report creates forms of history that integrate in- The Report is both a complex and a multi-layered ordinate distances, differences and times. work. It contains a large cast of characters and a The world Sandset presents is many-sided and of- highly varied list of contents. Sandset consequently ten almost paradoxical. To emphasize the heteroge- emphasizes how the book stands out by its collec- neous nature of The Report, Sandset introduces tion of themes and materials that is prominent in its methodological perspectives that serve to maintain heterogeneity and versatility. Analyses based upon and emphasize the variety typical of The Report. As- structuralist interpretations where the book’s differ- semble/Assemblage is a term that opens ways to ent elements are summed up in a logical totality, collect and present different materials and phenome- will thus prove both insufficient and misleading. na. Methodologically and theoretically, this is a Already in the first chapters Sandset stresses that term closely related to actor-network theory. An as- de Bry must share the honour for The Report with a semblage can, like The Report, comprise rather dif- number of other contributors. One of the more im- ferent elements – human as well as non-human – in- portant is the mathematician and discoverer Thomas dividuals, practices and events, as well as time and Harriot, who, as early as 1585, undertook an expedi- space. Applied to the work of de Bry, Sandset in- tion to Virginia. His many observations of land- cludes the period before the book was produced, the scapes and ways of life were published in 1588. forming phase itself, and even the times when the Another who participated in this excursion was the book was circulated. The heterogeneous and am- artist John White, who visualized, among other biguous is continuously present, while the various things, the peoples of Virginia in his watercolour actors’ and actants’ differences and connections be- paintings. Not only did de Bry use Harriot’s texts in come visible as things that do not connect haphaz- The Report, he also transformed White’s paintings ardly. It may be claimed that Sandset over-interprets of the “Indians” into copperplate engravings for the how subjects and themes are less coherent and con- illustrations in the book. Moreover, The Report nected than is necessarily the case. When it still would hardly ever have come into existence without works in the dissertation, it should be seen in rela- the involvement of Sir Walter Raleigh and Richard tion to how Sandset highlights assemblage and the Hakluyt – adventurers, explorers and substantial fi- many-handed nature of the work. nancial contributors, both for the production and for As theory construction it may be objected that the the translations of the work. In addition, Sandset number of models becomes overwhelming and that points to circles of people who in various ways sup- it occasionally appears that associations and rep- ported the publication of The Report – from the cap- resentations make divergent phenomena too homo- tain and his crew on the excursion to Virginia, to geneous, or the opposite, less coherent than the rela- circles of artists and colonization enthusiasts to- tionships that are supposedly studied. This makes de gether with the power elites of England, which also Bry’s work stand out as a heterogeneous way of pre- included Queen Elizabeth I. senting a manifold and non-comprehensible reality. The long and varied list of contributors is the ba- Translation is another central concept. As a meth- sis for one of Sandset’s principal conclusions, name- odological perspective, this concept opens for a way ly that The Report is a collective project. His con- to show how actors and actants move and relocate in cept “many-handed” indicates that the work is the time and space and create new meanings. The Picts product of, and as such represents, many different and the Native Americans are infused with new di- perspectives. It is against this background that the mensions of meaning when relocated to contem- work can be viewed both as a description of a jour- porary England. It can be viewed as translations ney, thus with an appeal to a wider interested audi- when meetings between different groups, objects, ence, and as a promotion project or a sales pitch spaces and periods create new aspects of meaning as aimed at investors willing to create a new colony. in e.g. de Bry’s many-handed work which enables The various engagements invested in the book be- the shifting of meanings and understandings. Trans- come perceptible in the recognition of The Report’s lations may encompass substantial changes of Reviews 219

meanings, but even minor transformations, as when an empathic, almost identity-promoting approach de Bry translates White’s watercolour paintings into also can be interpreted as a creative promotional engravings, or uses Harriot’s texts as captions for campaign. Whatever viewpoint one may choose, it his own pictures, are translations. Compositions and represents a new and interesting perspective on en- assessment of differences may continuously bring counters between people of different ethnicities and forth new translations and new insights. cultures. Picts are brought into a collection where contem- The Report portrays similarities and differences porary Virginia and England of the 1590s take the between the people of Virginia and England in vari- main stage. Here, the audience from the sixteenth ous ways. By means of the Picts the correspondence century is presented to their own distant ancestors, between the different parts become parallels. This whose nudity and tattooed nature motifs should be impression is enhanced by the illustrations in The viewed as representing savages on a primitive level. Report. Here, not only is the material repertoire Taken as travel narrative, the occurrence of the rather similar, what is striking is first and foremost Picts in the book would be rather puzzling. On the the unclothed bodies with tattoos and inscriptions other hand, viewed as a promotion brochure or sales that points back to habitus and habitats which are pitch, their presence in The Report becomes impor- motifs known both in America and in ancient Eng- tant. The message is that the savages in Virginia land. When the “Indians” despite this still are recog- have much in common with the savages in ancient nized as “Others” it is not solely distance or culture England. In the same manner as the Englishmen, the that constitutes the difference. It is the time that Algonquian in the new country can become Chris- makes up the difference. Put differently, Sandset’s tian, civilized, moral and modern people. Colonial- dissertation demonstrates how differences can be ists and emigrants to Virginia should have nothing viewed in terms of temporalization processes. Thus, to fear from the Native Americans. On the contrary something surprising occurs; the “Indians” can be – these are active, enterprising people with poten- understood as an evocation or reconstruction of a tial. The people of nature can be changed into distant English history. In Sandset’s dissertation people of culture. both the distant and the near occur simultaneously. The encounter between the “Indians” and the The outcome is, among other things, an assem- modern Englishman is a central theme in The Re- blage of times. The time in Virginia, the time in port. In the literature dealing with the meetings be- London, the time in an ancient England are all pres- tween “Indians” and Europeans, these are described ent. Emphasizing the transformation between the in various ways. The Native Americans have been pagan and the Christian also facilitates biblical time. portrayed as wild and primitive, sometimes danger- A closer look at illustrations, however, reveals that ous, but also kind. They have been helpful and in- the Picts move in a modern English landscape. In dustrious but also troublesome and a burden. They The Report these times, so to speak, coexist side by have been viewed as exotic and depicted and looked side. In The Report there is room for many and un- upon with melancholy as a people bound to vanish synchronized times. with time. The description of the “Indians” of Vir- Time and Translation is a dissertation with many ginia in The Report is a somewhat different. Thus, dimensions. It opens for new ways of judging en- when Sandset points out how the “Indians” are re- counters between “us” and “the Others”, it points to garded as a prosperous people, this in itself is not the meaning of time when places and differences are extraordinary. But what is exciting and interesting in to be understood. Not least of all, it demonstrates the Sandset’s interpretation of de Bry’s work is that the way Sandset emphasizes the concept of many-hand- encounter between the Englishman and “the Others” ed. The dissertation also has a scope beyond The Re- takes its own ways when the Picts are used as an in- port itself. In sum, Tony Sandset’s may be included termediary link. In fact, this facilitates the interpre- among the many hands that have contributed to the tation of the “Indians”, the “Others” as something reception, translation and re-interpretation of de almost like “us”. The Algonquin are resourceful, Bry’s work. Together with historians like Gaudio, energetic and have potentials. Such a description is Sandset together with other researchers belong to a rare in the literature about encounters between “In- collective that contribute to the actualization and re- dians” and Euro-Americans. It is a given that such formulation of a work that is more than 300 years 220 Reviews

old. Tony Sandset writes in a slow and low-key active waste repositories on their traditional land. In manner about an exciting and complicated theme. the paper, Sehlin MacNeil further explores the ways The dissertation is exciting, well-informed with a in which cultural and structural violence are ex- range of concepts and lines of reasoning of great pressed in the power relations between Adnyama- value also to contemporary research that deals with thanha Traditional Owners and the federal Austra- subject that have no connection to the Picts, the Al- lian and South Australian governments. Sehlin Mac- gonquian and England in the fifteenth century. Neil’s third paper, “Let’s Name It: Identifying Cul- Eva Reme, Bergen tural, Structural and Extractive Violence in Indigenous and Extractive Industry Relations”, is a two-case study that approaches the results from pa- Extractive Violence pers 1 and 2 and compares the situations for Laevas Čearru in Northern Sweden and Adnyamathanha Kristina Sehlin MacNeil, Extractive Violence on In- Traditional Owners in South Australia. In the paper, digenous Country: Sami and Aboriginal Views on Sehlin MacNeil promotes the term extractive vio- Conflicts and Power Relations with Extractive In- dustries. Faculty of Arts, Centre for Sami Research. lence. Extractive violence, according to Sehlin Mac- Umeå University 2017. 53 pp. Diss. ISBN 978-91- Neil, is a term that illuminates how extractivism af- 7601-657-2. fects Indigenous peoples negatively and how this is often ignored or trivialized. In the fourth and last pa-  In her thesis, Kristina Sehlin MacNeil explores per of the thesis, “Indigenous Research across Con- situations of conflict and asymmetrical power rela- tinents: A Comparison of Ethically and Culturally tions between Indigenous groups and mining com- Sound Approaches to Research in Australia and panies in Sweden and Australia. More specifically, Sweden” (2015), Sehlin MacNeil together with the thesis draws on the situation for two groups of Jillian Marsh reflect on some of the challenges with- indigenous people: Laevas Čearru in northern Swe- in Indigenous research. The paper throws light on den and Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners in the ethical and methodological framework under- South Australia. Both communities describe various pinning Sehlin MacNeil’s thesis and puts particular forms of violence at the hands of extractive indus- weight on articulating a Decolonizing Standpoint. tries that threaten their livelihoods and cultures. According to the authors, a Decolonising Standpoint Sehlin MacNeil argues that in order to confront places responsibility on Indigenous as well as these types of assaults against Indigenous peoples non-Indigenous researchers engaged in Indigenous and their country and to promote processes of con- research to decolonize the research process. flict transformation, concepts that include Indigen- The key theoretical base for Sehlin MacNeil’s ous peoples’ perspectives on violence and power re- analyses of asymmetrical power relations between lations must be taken into account. indigenous communities and extractive industries is Sehlin MacNeil’s thesis is based on four papers. the Norwegian peace researcher Johan Galtung’s The first one, “Shafted: A Case of Cultural and violence triangle. Galtung’s model includes struc- Structural Violence in the Power Relations between tural violence (unequal advantages and structures), a Sami Community and a Mining Company in cultural violence (those aspects of culture that can Northern Sweden” (2015) was published in Ethno- be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural logia Scandinavica: A Journal for Nordic Ethnolo- violence) and direct violence (visible violence; both gy. The paper revolves around how cultural and physical and verbal assaults and threats). In Sehlin structural violence is manifested in the power rela- MacNeil’s thesis direct violence is replaced by ex- tions between Laevas Čearru and the Swedish gov- tractive violence (violence on people, animals and ernment-owned mining company LKAB. “On Equal land caused by extractivism) to allow for the type of Terms? Exploring Traditional Owners’ Views Re- violence that the Laevas and the Adnyamathanha garding Radioactive Waste Dumps on Adnyama- experience when their lands are destroyed by extrac- thanha Country” (2016) was published in the Jour- tive industries, industrial proponents, and govern- nal of Australian Indigenous Issues and is centred ments. The concept of extractive violence is both in- on a case study involving the Adnyamathanha teresting and relevant, but only one of Sehlin Mac- people’s experiences regarding proposed radio- Neil’s papers targets the term. A further elaboration Reviews 221

of extractive violence could thus have been pre- games available to date from a folkloristic perspec- ferred. tive have focused on the use of folk narrative themes Sehlin MacNeil describes her methodological ap- and characters in video games rather than the action proach as yarning, which is referred to both as a of playing them as traditional practices. Although form of interview method and a narrative method. It the study of folk games as (1) historical artifact, (2) is not clear how yarning differs from the qualitative medium for narrative and ritual content, and (3) a research interview that precisely aims to privilege social practice has a long history in folkloristics, the the voices of the research participants and where a relatively new investigation of video games, as sharing of knowledge and experiences is in focus. Vahlo acknowledges, primarily has been the domain The direct quotations open for insight into the re- of communications, media studies, and popular cul- search participants’ thoughts and experiences, but ture studies because of the distinction that folklorists preferably the author’s own voice; her questions and often make between naturalistic folk contexts and response to the interviewees could have been added the commercial world that supposedly works against for a better contextualization of the yarning ses- tradition. Vahlo makes a strong case for video game sions. play as a tradition displaying continuities with pre- In her case study on the relation between the vious forms of social play, and it is this contention Laevas community and LKAB, only two of Čearru’s that will undoubtedly spark discussion among fel- members’ narratives are approached in the analysis. low folklorists and ethnologists. And it deserves at- It can be questioned whether these people’s perspec- tention from other fields associated with game re- tives are representative of the whole Laevas com- search such as media studies, communications, and munity. The paper could have benefited from a cultural studies for its consideration of folkness as broader range of interviewees’ perspectives on the an aspect of mediated play. violence caused by extractive industries on their Vahlo breaks new ground by interpreting how lands, societies, livelihoods and cultures. video games are played as a “vernacular” experi- Despite these minor objections, Sehlin MacNeil’s ence comparable to playground, or “social,” games. thesis is a well-written and important contribution to Indeed, he finds a high level of social interaction in the subject of ethnology by introducing an interna- the play experience of video games, although they tionally comparative perspective explored through are often perceived exoterically as solo activities. the use of Indigenous methodologies. Encouraging further research by folklorists on video Trude Fonneland, Tromsø games as a primary form of play in contemporary society across all ages and genders, Vahlo intro- duces the concept of “persona narrative” (rather Video Game Play than “personal narrative” as an oral literary genre) Jukka Vahlo, In Gameplay: The Invariant Structures consisting of character types associated with storied and Varieties of the Video Game Gameplay Experi- actions to represent the distinctive emotional and ence. Faculty of Humanities, School of History, performative experience of “video game gameplay.” Culture and Arts Studies, Department of Folkloris- While the game has as an object with rules, to tics. Turun Yliopiston Julkaisuja-Annales Univer- gamers it is part of a broader experience of stylized, sitatis Turkuensis, University of Turku 2018. 335 structured play that is separable as a “frame” or pp. 9 appendix pages. Finnish summary. Diss. ISBN “magic circle” from everyday life. 978-951-29-7168-8. Vahlo’s interpretation of the similarity of game- play experience in analog and digital culture is As far as I am aware, Jukka Vahlo’s dissertation based on both quantitative and qualitative evidence. is the first completed in a folkloristics department He surveyed three populations (N=2,594, N-845, on the subject of video games. Although the produc- N-1,053), drawn from Finnish and Danish partici- tion of memes and social media has attracted folk- pants in video gameplay. He added to this qualita- loristic attention as part of digital culture, video tive data from 32 interviewees on gameplay prefer- games have not, probably because they are commer- ences, gaming memories, and motivations to play. cial and do not apparently rely on face-to-face com- Further, he conducted a manual rhetorical analysis munication. The few published studies of video of video game magazines for keywords of the game- 222 Reviews

play experience to correlate with the responses of even forms of “habitus” (a term from Bourdieu for “gamers” in interviews. Self-identifying himself as embodied dispositions) arising out of the framing of a gamer, Vahlo also shared from a phenomen- events as play. Vahlo is concerned not only with ological viewpoint his own experiences of gaming “ordinarized” practices within a gamer community and his observations of others at play (“virtual life” but also the kinds of experiences that participants of a “gameworld” or VL) in contrast to their “real- who do not claim the “gamer” identity have when life” (RL) pursuits. Vahlo’s goal is to use be- playing video games. Vahlo does not make judg- havioral evidence, rather than textual evidence as ments on whether these experiences are positive or has been the norm in studies of digital culture, to negative, as is common in the literature replete with identify cognitive patterns that underlie actions fears of game addiction and promotion of violence. within “play frames” (a concept from the work of His work precedes this kind of judgment by calling psychological anthropologist Gregory Bateson). for an assessment first of what video game play is, The title and content of the dissertation repeat in and how it varies and has evolved. different forms three keywords of folkloristic re- Methodologically, he is careful to not univers- search: game, play, and variation. One might there- alize these activities, since he works from a sample fore assume a generic position for the research as of Finnish and Danish participants, and he calls for much as folklorists might pick up books with tales, similar studies in other national contexts to be able songs, and houses that display variation as a charac- to propose more sweeping conclusions on video teristic of their folkness. Indeed, “structures” is part gameplay environments. of the title, paired with “experiences.” The term sug- As a study purporting to break down the binary in gests a sociolinguistic basis of performance to con- folkloristics between “natural” and commercial struct narratives based on a cognitive grammar that worlds, Vahlo spends much of the dissertation ex- is outside of the awareness of the performer. It fur- plaining how video games are, or should be, in the ther connotes patterning as an indication of folk purview of folklorists. The video game market practice. These last words, action and practice, are specializing in packaged commodities has been as- not apparent at the outset, but are significant in the sumed to be a passive experience much in the fash- dissertation, along with tradition and phenomenon, ion of network television and popular movies. Vahlo to placing it at the forefront of a contemporary para- extends the scope of folkloristic inquiry into video digm shift in folkloristic history that I have called a game play with attention to the interactive practices “hyper era of convergence” in line with a practice of players across different types of games. The key turn in social behavioral theory. That is, rather than component of their play, he finds, is tradition in the look for classifiable “items” in video games as much sense of repeatable, variable actions perceived as as one would look for proverbs, beliefs, or legends based on precedent. Although the content of video in literature, or the Internet, and therefore render games might be derived from folk sources such as them as separable objects, Vahlo has proposed that mythology (i.e., characters and plots), which Vahlo the experience of playing videogames is a phenom- aptly considers “folkloresque” (following the work enon, in the sense of a repeatable event that raises of Michael Dylan Foster and Jeffrey A. Tolbert), he questions about itself, that can be observed to follow concentrates on the kind of traditional practice, or tradition and show continuities with unmediated enactment as he writes, in video game play that con- folk games. He refers to it as “vernacular,” but I am veys the often- paradoxical message “this is play” or not convinced that this is the right term because so- even “this is tradition,” that could be outside the ciolinguistic usage refers usually to localized ex- awareness of the participant. Vahlo hypothesizes pressions that are circumscribed by communities that there is continuity in the “action procedures” of with linguistic, or material, resources from the im- video games with social games, a view that goes mediate environment. He appears to use it in the against the frequent assumption of digital culture sense of expressiveness on the part of the user rather constituting a break with analog culture, if one ac- than material managed by the producer. I understand cepts that constructed binary which favors the digi- that he wants to use this term to establish the folk- tal turn. ness of the phenomena of video game playing, but I The results and conclusions might be assessed on would point him more to behavioral routines, or three related but different levels. One is the impact Reviews 223

on folkloristics while another is on game theory and havior in the social psychological theories of Mihaly particularly the understanding of video game experi- Csikszentmihalyi and Brian Sutton-Smith, respec- ence. A third is on the philosophy of enactivism. On tively, but do these go far enough to uncover “deep the first level, the “object” of video games he brings play” (from anthropologist Clifford Geertz) as a into the folkloristic laboratory for scrutiny in com- form of metaphorical social construction? And from parison to the traditional “social” game and its rela- a material culture viewpoint, does it make a differ- tionship as folklore to other folk processes of ritual, ence whether one engages a play frame, or can en- narrative, and play are critical during this period of gage a play frame, from a mobile device, or even folkloristics in which expressive communication dedicated gaming device, rather than a computer might give way to repeatable, variable behavior as station, which is the central device in Vahlo’s study? folklore. Yet he might be asked to locate the artistic The application of enactivism to cultural issues sense of folklore drawing attention to itself in this that Vahlo proposes could answer the above ques- shift. Is gameplay really performative if it is done tions, particularly the adaptive or evolutionary role without a physical audience? To his credit, his re- of play in human lives as people define themselves consideration of game as “personal narrative” to as individuals. Enactivism appears to be distin- “persona narrative” is an original idea that revolves guished from enactment-oriented folkloristics by the around the idea that taking an avatar drives the former’s connection of environmental issues to folk- game, and the player, to continue through his or her loristic situations in which tradition bearers are storied journey. It raises possible connections to forced to embrace a double consciousness of them- Carl Wilhelm von Sydow’s idea of memorate from selves in relation to the way others perceive them as individual experience with the supernatural, but in well as what they want for themselves in relation to this case the experience is mediated and involves their heritage and location. These are behaviors that fantasy that is often supernatural in content. It is an perceived as “praxis” are repeated practices taking idea worth elaborating with the analysis he gives to on symbolic characteristics form community and first-person experience drawing on the “I-me” dis- constitute traditions. Of particular significance from tinction of philosopher George Herbert Mead and this idea philosophically as well as folkloristically is modern ideas of self-development and identity in a post-modern world. In addition to narrative, the role the way that traditional knowledge is externalized of play behaviors as transitional action, that is to and perceived within social frames—how it is enact- say, ritualizing strategies that often take on the tri- ed, recognized, and differentiated—and indeed how partite structure of rites of passage, might be linked play and tradition, despite worries about its obsoles- to narrative in videogame play or analyzed separate- cence in a massifying information society become ly. essential adaptive tools of navigating the world. On the second level, the identification of invari- Moreover, Vahlo’s foray in this dissertation into ants in video game gameplay connects to ideas of embodied cognition and enaction in mediated play underlying structures for expressive culture that are provides a model of predicting events and attitudes outside the awareness of participants. He deals with in the future. With rapid changes in digital technolo- questions of “fun” as deflecting self-analysis for the gy, the platforms of video game play will undoubt- gamer which might be cognitively disturbing, but edly change, but Vahlo has shown that what makes does this not again suggest a psychoanalytic concern gaming playful in whatever form they take will in- for how anxieties from RL are projected or chan- voke traditional ideas of a lusory attitude resulting neled in VL? His analysis derives from ideas of flow in “gameplay” experience. as an ideal activity state and playworlds as immer- Simon J. Bronner, Harrisburg, PA (USA) sive environments that allow for distinctive be- Book Reviews In chapters two and three – written by Richard Jenkins and Bolette Moldenhawer respectively – this is elaborated from nationalism and multi- What is “Culture”? culturalism. In chapter four the editor Tanggaard Kultursociologi og kulturanalyse. Pernille Tang- Andersen together with Eva Ladekjær Larsen deep- gaard Andersen & Michael Hviid Jacobsen (eds.). ens Zeuner’s arguments with a focus on culture as Hans Reitzels Forlag, Copenhagen 2017. 604 pp. everyday life. The crux is how we can study ISBN 978-87-41260570. people’s lived life in the context that they are a part of and how culture comes alive. This is also some-  This huge volume has the aim of presenting cul- thing that Billy Ehn and Orvar Löfgren present in tural sociology and cultural analysis in a Danish the chapter “Analysing the Neglected”, where the context, and most of the empirical examples are focus is on what people do in the tension between from contemporary Denmark. From a broad theor- the private and the public. etical and empirical perspective the book takes the Part two – “Culture as a Social Arrangement” – question “What is ‘culture’?” seriously. Even chapters six to fifteen, present us with a variety of though, as we know, culture is in itself a difficult writers. Themes that are dealt with in this part are, in word to use, and there are many explanations of the order in which they come: political culture, eth- what it is and therefore no consensus, the two soci- nicity and nationalism, organization culture, work- ologists Pernille Tanggaard Andersen and Michael ing culture, rural and urban, youth culture, education Hviid Jacobsen present in the introduction a short culture, art and aesthetics, media culture, and con- background to how the word is dealt with in the sumption culture. What is interesting in this part is volume. Briefly, culture is seen as something trans- the smorgasbord of interesting analytical as well as formative and something that we have “a certain empirical themes and perspectives that, for example, freedom to choose or refuse” (p. 31, my translation). a student can take hold of and develop on his/her It is also a term that is operated in three different own. But it can also be seen as short introductions ways: (1) the descriptive culture term, (2) the com- for researchers trying to grasp a field in relation to plex culture term and (3) culture as praxis. There are the Danish context. The space in this review doesn’t definitions that go from seeing culture as something allow me to elaborate on every chapter, but I will that can be demarcated, to seeing culture as some- highlight some thoughts that struck me as I read the thing that people do and studying the different ele- ments of action. book. The different theoretical and methodological per- Culture is seen in the different chapters as some- spectives on culture are more elaborated in the first thing transformative and at the same time each au- part of the book, consisting of chapters one to five. In thor gives his/her own picture of how to study cul- the first chapter, written by Lilli Zeuner, the more hu- ture. This gives the reader a good overview of see- manistic culture term is presented in relation to an an- ing culture as “a collective phenomenon”, “a mean- thropological culture term, and thereby the complex ing-bearing structure”, something that is “actively culture term is elaborated. Zeuner points out that created” and so on. In chapter nine Lotte Bloksgaard “culture is about those elements that are part of shap- and Sigtona Halrynjo present their view of culture ing relationships between people” (p. 46, my transla- and how it can be used to study working culture and tion). This is a perspective that gives the possibilities the new working life. This is a good example in the to present and discuss both the classical and the new- volume where the authors present their culture vi- er sociologists, as well as sociology in a global age, sion through a specific field. Their focus is on how with a focus on culture as a subject/object relation. In new cultures are internalized, such as the more flex- the chapter we are introduced to a broad mixture of ible individual and an individual that takes some of sociologist from this perspective, such as Georg Sim- the risk (instead of the state or the market). This can mel and Max Weber, as well as Pierre Bourdieu and be seen in the way the demand today is for constant Zygmunt Bauman. This dualistic approach is high- responsibility to be flexible and develop this compe- lighted as central to understanding this global era’s tence. This also effects the relation between work cultural meeting in everyday life. and family life, which is discussed in the chapter.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 48, 2018 Reviews 225

But in some chapters the discussion can also span collection like this: it easily becomes too long and over larger fields. One example is Christian Stenbak tries to cover too much. One suggestion would be to Larsen’s chapter which has an interesting discussion divide it into two books and in this way make it about consumption culture. Consumption culture more manageable for students and researchers. It is can be studied on its own, but it can also be an im- also a book that focuses on Denmark and on sociol- portant perspective, for example, in working culture ogy. For example, even though there are writers or youth culture and so on, because we are all con- here who are ethnologists – Anne Leonora Blaakil- sumers. At the same time, this chapter also shows de, Billy Ehn and Orvar Löfgren – there is no men- the difficulties of making a book with many differ- tion of what ethnology has contributed to this field. ent and contiguous themes, where some of the dis- The word “ethnology” is never used! Focusing a cussions are repeated in the chapters. little bit more on Nordic examples and on other dis- Part three – “Culture, Health and Whole Life” – ciplines, this could easily be a book that could be consists of seven chapters with a focus on body, very useful in other disciplines and in our courses at health and health care. Themes that are dealt with in the Nordic universities. But this is nevertheless an this part are, in order: emotions, diagnosis culture, impressive book with many exciting theoretical sug- body and culture, health and disease culture, sexual- gestions for students and researchers alike. It will ity and culture, age and ageing, and finally death, not answer the question What is “culture”?, but it sorrow and mourning culture. Based on the chapters makes us a bit more puzzled and that is good opin- it is in this part of the book that the texts are best re- ion about a book. lated to each other thematically; this could easily Kristofer Hansson, Lund have been a smaller and possibly more manageable volume focusing on health and body in contem- porary Denmark. On the City’s Dark Side A central theme in the chapters in part three is Peter K. Andersson, På Stadens Skuggsida: Männi- different kinds of emotions, and here too the first skor och Brott i Jack the Rippers London. Carlsson chapter starts by describing this field. Marie Bruvik Bokförlag, Stockholm 2017. 188 pp. Ill. ISBN Heinskou and Lasse Suonperä Liebst give a very 978-91-7331-848-8. good introduction to the research field of emotions with their instructive explanation of three perspec-  When evaluating a book it may be appropriate to tives on emotions: subjective, intersubjective and consider its intended audience. Although I am re- postsubjective. In the last theme the reader is intro- viewing Andersson’s On the City’s Dark Side: duced to a perspective that tries to find a way out of people and crime in Jack the Ripper’s London in an seeing culture as a subject/object relation, and they academic journal, my guess is that its publishers are write: “man and things must rather be understood as also targeting a general audience for whom some of affectively interwoven and relationally linked” (p. my comments on the work’s limitations may be un- 427, my translation). Another theme in this part, one important so long as it provides them with an inter- that is strongly related to emotions, is the body. This esting read. The ‘general reader’, however, is likely theme is found in many of the chapters, but is also to be disappointed if the book’s ‘enticing’ title has introduced by Inge Kryger Pedersen in chapter led them to expect melodramatic evocations of eighteen. The chapter starts with the “bodily turn” lower class criminality or yet more speculations and then presents many of the classic writers in this about the identity of London’s infamous late 19th field. century multiple murderer. The book’s ten case Because of the length of this book and the many studies do deal with crimes, but not all as serious as different chapters, the reader is introduced to a very murder, and only those in the final chapter relate to interesting and multifaceted perspective on culture. deaths linked to Jack the Ripper. Even here, the It is a really good toolbox that one can start with to quarrel of his impoverished victim Anne Chapman find a way into a more specific field. But it is also with a fellow lodger over a bar of soap, is presented interesting to read through the volume and have all as potentially more interesting than her eventual the different perspectives presented. At the same death. Moreover, the Ripper himself is never dis- time, this is also the tricky part of putting together a cussed beyond the statement that ‘like all mass mur- 226 Reviews

derers’ it is likely that, if known, he would ‘show also refers briefly to Booth, Besant, Mayhew – pro- himself to be a pathetic and sad individual.’ lific early documenters with reformist intent. He is In the preceding chapters we learn not about ser- on stronger ground in arguing for their middle class, ial murder, but fighting between neighbourhood- and in Dicken’s case, sentimental, perspective ‒ based street gangs, the fatal attack by a mentally ill which is where the court reports come in, offering a man on a female visitor to his lodging house and an different kind of access to lower class experience. altercation and suspected theft of a pocket watch in Limited literacy meant the poor seldom directly a dockland’s lodging house frequented by off-duty documented their own experiences and feelings. But Chinese seamen. Andersson also describes the mur- as victims, accused and witnesses in court records der of a middle class doctor who had been wander- they might seem to offer accounts in their own ing the streets of East London with a probable pros- words of what they did and saw, ‘providing us today titute, a fatal knife attack on a woman by her part- with one of the few possibilities we have to hear ner, the association of a migrant furniture-maker voices of the less well placed’. with possible anarchist terrorists, a neighbourly feud But are the Old Bailey reports [which the reader involving the death of a cat, and the theft by a maid can access online via the case protocol numbers of money from her mistress. helpfully provided] some kind of ‘pure’ or ‘uncon- The low level misdemeanours of ex-police con- taminated’ window into the lives they touch upon? stable Porrock and the possible involvement of his Andersson himself acknowledges that witnesses’ old colleagues in shady activity are also documented accounts are sometimes contradictory. Whilst he has in chapter seven. Here we learn that the lower ranks ‘tried to weigh the different reports against each of the police were recruited from ‘the more ordered other to give as certain a picture as possible of the elements of the lower class’, but that despite strong actual course of events,’ nonetheless, he concedes, discipline from superiors they sometimes experi- ‘some of the occurrences described may not have enced ‘a chronic difficulty in maintaining their dis- happened or not in the exact way described’. In tance from the hedonistic and petty criminal world some of the case studies he suggests miscreants may they patrolled every night’. Although presented have threatened witnesses. But hints that police rather late in the day, this chapter is important in weren’t always popular might also have led to un- providing some context for the chief data source for willingness to incriminate others. An officer in the all the others. For, as in his earlier, lengthier and Porrock case was himself prosecuted for perjury and more theoretically-orientated Street Life in Late Vic- it’s possible that who actually came before the torian London: the constable and the crowd [2013] courts was affected by, for example, police un- Andersson largely draws the present cases from re- willingness to call witnesses who might discredit cords of proceedings at the Old Bailey Central them or reduce their conviction rates. If we add in Criminal Court, supplementing them occasionally the probability that the transcription of court pro- with contemporary newspaper reports. His ‘Intro- cedures involved some discrepancies between the duction’ suggests court records provide a useful actual courtroom utterances and what was written counterbalance to the novelistic and literary sources down, we might conclude that, valuable as they are, he feels other commentators over-rely on. An over- court records cannot be guaranteed to offer an en- reliance which has led to lower class life being un- tirely unmediated, ‘objective’, fully rounded depic- der-represented in recent depictions of late Victor- tion of the events they deal with. In a more academ- ian society, and, where dealt with, seen through ically oriented volume fuller discussion of issues in- middle class eyes. In the final section ‘Sources and volved in using these kind of official documents as a Literature’ he backtracks a bit on claims for a com- resource might be expected. plete break between the ‘literary’ presentations of These caveats aside, what will the reader get city life and the ‘everyday’ reality, but says he from the material presented? Under headings such stressed the divide to strengthen his point that the as ‘Angry young man’, ‘The determined knife’, latter is often overlooked. I’d query whether con- ‘The claustrophobic chamber maid’, Andersson pre- temporary, nineteenth century, depictions of the or- sents, almost as little mysteries, a varied range of dinary life of London’s poor are so hard to find. An- cases with a sometimes confusingly large cast of dersson himself can’t avoid naming Dickens, and he characters. Not all of them are completely solved. Reviews 227

We learn, for example, who killed Doctor Kirwin of [see for example Old Bailey protocol t18880109- Stockwell, but there are only hypotheses about why 223 depicting rioting in 1886]. Last but not least, they did so and why he spent the day before his though we are told the length of sentence of some of death wandering around various poor areas of Lon- the convicted, nothing is said about what their incar- don with a disreputable woman. Nor are we quite ceration would have entailed. sure whether Mrs Barry actually threw acid at her Of course a shortish book cannot cover neighbour’s son in revenge for her probable belief everything, but it would have been helpful to have that he killed her cat. And was the Dutchman Brall the examples chosen put into context through some using gunpowder only to clear soot from the flue to indication of the scale of lower class criminality and his stove? Readers may vary in how far they find relative prominence of different types of crime. Was these ‘tales’ entertaining and intriguing. They are coming before the courts, in whatever role, a fre- not over-sensationalised as they might have been by quent part of lower class London life? If not, we some novelists. Indeed the protagonists feel rather might query Andersson’s claim that court records remote, for we do not get access to their back-stories show ‘criminality was rarely far away from this and inner lives as we might do in fiction, or even in [lower class] world’, since they don’t capture the ex- some modern, in-depth ethnographies. The ‘claus- periences of that proportion of the lower orders who trophobic’ maid tells how she objected to the restric- were law abiding and never witnessed any crimes. tions her employers placed upon her. But we learn If the book offers a selection rather than compre- little about how others felt, for example, about their hensive documentation of types of crime, the vari- poor living conditions or the volatile relationships ously derived ‘background information’ about Lon- with their partners. This part of their ‘lived experi- don life presented as the case studies unfold, is also ence’ remains obscure. fragmentary. We are offered snippets, for example, In general On the City’s Dark Side offers about Cockney rhyming slang, working class East glimpses into, rather than systematic coverage of the Enders’ annual migration to pick hops in Kent, the everyday life of London’s poor, though the final availability of opiates and of different types of cat section does provide useful, if limited suggestions food. A wide variety of jobs are mentioned, some for further reading. As documentation of criminali- [coach washer, straw mattress filler, collector of ash ty, if we rule out Jack the Ripper’s serial murders, and bones for use in industry] no longer with us. But many of the crimes discussed arise from domestic or there’s little discussion of what working life was street quarrels and thefts, some of which escalated like and no indication of the relative proportion of fatally. Whilst the doctor and the maid’s employer London’s population in different types of occupa- provide examples of middle class victims of lower tion or working and unemployed. The age structure order criminality, we hear nothing about cases [often a variable relevant for crime] remains ob- where the poor were victims of the actions of the scure. We discover nothing about important topics rich. Sexual harassment of domestic workers by such as health, life expectancy, education or reli- their employers would provide an example, al- gion. What we do get is some sense of what we though one probably unlikely to come to court. The might see if we wandered these streets with their maid’s thefts from her employer also provide the roaming children, horse drawn wagons, and many sole example of a workplace crime – pilfering of pubs. We are given some sense of the population goods in the docks or by market porters, for ex- distribution within, and the physical fabric of its dif- ample, go un-noted. Several prostitutes, but no ferent areas. There were predominantly lower class pimps, are mentioned, Andersson’s previous inves- neighbourhoods [around the docks for example], tigation of pickpockets’ practices is not brought into ones known for their foreign migrants, but also dis- play and there is no general discussion of full-time tricts where patches of poverty were interspersed or occasional crime as an example of ‘people’s strat- with middle class housing. Class segregation was egies to survive under difficult and harsh life cir- not complete and working class terraces and back cumstances’. Only the chapter on Brall and the an- yards could be next to major thoroughfares. Maps archist club touches on politically-motivated law prefacing each chapter and the evocative cover pho- breaking, though the 1880s in particular were years to [I’d have liked more] hint at the density of build. of anxiety about ‘agitators’ and lower order unrest The text shows different degrees of poverty leading 228 Reviews

to different adaptations to available accommodation. we take for granted today.’ Personally I was struck Some families rented their own set of rooms in a by the way early 21st century Londoners can still bigger property, a ‘landlady’ shared her single room open their newspapers and read about their city’s with a lodger, while the unfortunate denizens of the expanding population, ethnic enclaves, pockets of ‘common boarding houses’ paid for their beds in cu- poverty in better off districts and also shifts of the bicles or dormitories by the night. Not discussed is poor outwards as inner city areas are redeveloped. what many poor Londoners feared the most – the Bad housing, overcrowding and homelessness Work House where the destitute, often separated haven’t disappeared, technological change is bring- from family members, were incarcerated and forced ing job insecurity and the police continue to deal to labour in return for their meagre bed and board. with knife attacks by members of youth groups ‘de- We see that cramped quarters, thin walls and the fending’ their territory. The world Andersson deals spread of activity out into yard and street made priv- with was not entirely ‘unique’. And that’s partly be- acy difficult. But we also meet surprisingly incuri- cause some of the underlying processes which ous neighbours who knew little about each other. No shaped it, are still with us today. one asked Brall about the strange noises coming Hilary Stanworth, Swansea from his room. We are largely left to infer possible status divisions within the lower orders, but perhaps in the contradictory examples of how far lives were Danish Manor Houses and Gentlefolk lived out in public, we see evidence of a difference Signe Boeskov, Herregård og herskab. Distinktioner between ‘rough’ and ‘respectable’ life styles. og iscenesættelser på Nørre Vosborg og Hvedholm Andersson’s ‘Introduction’ reminds us that the 1850–1920. Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenha- th late 19 century was a period of great change – of gen 2017. 363 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-87-635-4144-2. industrialisation, when London as the centre of an expanding empire experienced in-migration and  The manorial world and the people populating it rapid population growth. However, the reader large- is the subject of Signe Boeskov’s research about two ly has to fill in the gaps themselves to link such different manors: Nørre Vosborg situated in the structural factors to the ‘dark and hopeless’ lives western part of Jutland and Hvedholm close to the many of his subjects led. Nor is there any mention city of Faaborg on the island of Funen. With these of the state and how its policies affected life chances two manors as a staring point, Boeskov explores of those it tended to think of as either the ‘deserv- self-presentation and self-perception among Danish ing’ or the ‘undeserving’ poor. Andersson early on estate owner families in the period 1850–1920. laments that ‘descriptive history’ is often ‘dismissed The original building at Nørre Vosborg dates as anecdotal and unscientific’ even though ‘every- back to the 1530s and has since then undergone day life and human fates are not suited to an abstract many additions and restorations. Hvedholm likewise theoretical analysis of the past’. He says he wants to dates back to that time, having been built during the show that ‘small stories can stand on their own feet fifteenth century and after a fire rebuilt during the and do not need to be used as variables in a general late seventeenth century and almost 200 years later historical picture’. But this is to ignore the fruitful rebuilt to give it the exterior it has today. Needless middle ground between empiricism and grand the- to say, both manors have long and winding histories ory where greater understanding of ordinary lives and backgrounds, playing important roles not only can be achieved by seeing how they are shaped by in the local history but also very much in the nation- specific broader social, economic and political fac- al history, being the home of many of the wealthy tors. Don’t we want to know, where possible, not families exerting political as well as cultural influ- just what life was like, but why it took the form it ence. did? During the period in focus for Boeskov, the two Thus I suggest On the City’s Dark Side can’t mansions harboured two quite different sets of fami- function as a core text on Victorian London’s poor, lies. At Hvedholm manor the Bille-Selby family re- even if it provides readers with tantalising glimpses, sided, at Nørre Vosborg the Tang family. But the from an interesting data-source, into a period in the scenes, the manorial settings, were also different. capital’s history which ‘heralds the existence which The Bille-Selbys at Hvedholm were surrounded by Reviews 229

Denmark’s oldest noble families and they had sig- well as to a family of ancient lineage gave status to nificant funds to maintain their lifestyle, while the the owner families. History – or rather how history Tangs at Nørre Vosborg came from the bourgeoisie, and the past is used – is obviously important to the constantly grappling with financial problems. But owner families, thus combining different kinds of there are also similarities between the two manors symbolic capital, showing that they possessed cul- and the two families. One of them is that they have tural as well as economic capital. In chapter four, provided Boeskov with extensive archival material, festivities, feasts and holidays are in focus, the start- making it possible to follow the individuals on a ing point being conspicuous consumption, rituals micro-historical level. and manifestations of power. This was in contrast to This book with the Danish title meaning “Manor the everyday life, where temperance and simplicity House and Gentlefolk: Distinctions and Stagings at were held in esteem. The feasts were a way to create Nørre Vosborg and Hvedholm 1850–1920” is an and recreate the owner families, a way to stage edited version of Boeskov’s dissertation from 2010. themselves. Both families held feasts not only for The book consists of five main chapters, focusing on friends and relatives, but also for servants, employ- the life of the two families and the world surround- ees and subordinates to the estate. The symbolic ing them. need for these feasts was great, working both hori- In the introduction and the first chapter, the read- zontally and vertically, but the two families handled er is presented with the background, previous re- this differently. At Hvedholm, the family took part search and methods used in the research performed in the festivities for a short time, while the family at by Boeskov. One of the more important perspectives Nørre Vosborg took part in the celebrations in a is the conspicuous element in the manorial world. more genuine way. These parties were necessary to Rituals and ceremonies as well as consumption (in uphold the status they desired, but they were also accordance with one’s station, of course) and oppor- expensive. The families regarded them as a form of tunities for leisure time all signal power and status. investment, and used them to build networks and The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is invoked create new acquaintances, important for the family for his theories about habitus and different forms of business. symbolic capital, such as cultural, economic and so- The importance and meaning of connections to cial capital. The different dynamics of power in so- the royal family is at centre of the last chapter. Not ciety and how power is transferred, transformed and only personal connections, but also the importance altered to maintain social order is in focus here, and of having a member of the royal family visiting the the author describes how the elite live their life, a mansion was something that the owner families universe of their own in many ways. This is a fre- gladly boasted. Especially at Hvedholm, the connec- quent approach to choose when studying the elite, tions between the owner family and the royal family but the comparison between the two families and the went far back. A royal visit was meticulously two manors during a fairly short period adds a new planned, and all the splendour the family could pro- angle to the field. duce was put on display. At Nørre Vosborg, where In the following chapter, the physical establish- the family did not have the same status of ancien ré- ment of the manorial world is studied. The Danish gime, the connection to the royal family was sparse. estate owner families during this period lived sep- The means and the ambitions the two families had arately from their servants, with specific zones for were different; at Hvedholm the ambition was to the two groups, for example different staircases, strengthen their status, at Nørre Vosborg their social hidden doors and bell pulls to summon them if they status as well as their local esteem was what they were needed. The different scenes of the manorial wanted to show off. world are described and outlined for the reader, cre- There are undoubtedly many similarities and dif- ating a background to the descriptions of the life the ferences between the two mansions and their owners owner families lived and wanted to maintain. When during the period in focus. Nonetheless, the goal the scenes have been set, the discussion goes on to was the same: distinction and self-staging. To be explore how the owner families used their assets to both traditional and modern at the same time runs create and maintain their power status. Connections through their actions as Boeskov pictures them. The to a place, a mansion, and to a long line of owners as prospects of succeeding were different. At Hved- 230 Reviews

holm the family operated with exclusion, at Nørre physical and material encounter between visitor and Vosborg inclusion. At Hvedholm history worked in museum. In the hierarchies between professional their favour and they knew how to use it, at Nørre positions within the museums, working with chil- Vosborg they tried in many ways to find it and con- dren and pedagogy has rarely been regarded as hav- nect themselves to it, both nationally and locally. ing high status (or a big salary), although this seems Together they are good examples of the manorial to be slowly changing. Museum education has been world during this period. taken for granted, as a “matter of course” in the Also worth mentioning are the many illustrations words of Mette Boritz. She does not regard it this in the book, from pictures of early photos to maps, way; on the contrary she views museum education genealogical tables and paintings. The illustrations as something complex, demanding and often unpre- are also very informative and add to the text. They dictable. It is a truly challenging art. In the light of work as informative pictures but also to illustrate the an ever-expanding emphasis on children and learn- source materials. In particular, they help to bring the ing in museums, I think it is paradoxical that the people behind the source material to life. The study practices of museum education have been so re- is grounded in solid work about the two manors and markably little documented or researched. With her the two owner families. The book is equipped with study of structured teaching sessions in museums of comprehensive lists of references. Perhaps I miss cultural history, Mette Boritz’s book, which is a re- here some of the extensive research carried out in working of her thesis, therefore provides an ambi- the field of manorial studies, not only in an Anglo- tious and important contribution to the field. The American context but also for example in both Fin- original version of the thesis was reviewed in Ethno- land and Sweden. The book also lacks an index, logia Scandinavia 43 (2013) by the examining com- which perhaps would have added value. mittee, Inge Adriansen, Niels Jul Nielsen and Birgit- This is a very down-to-earth book. The language ta Svensson. is pleasant, easily accessible and captivating. De- With a cultural-analytical and didactic perspec- spite being a heavy volume with almost 360 pages, tive on structured teaching sessions, the aim of it somehow seems shorter. The information about Mette Boritz’s study is to investigate what charac- Hvedholm and Nørre Vosborg, their owner families terizes education in museums of cultural history, and their history and background, is presented in a and how the museum education is formed in prac- fascinating way, as is the Danish manorial culture. tice. (I will come back to the debated terms “educa- Marie Steinrud, Stockholm tion” versus “learning” later.) The book investigates this with a special focus on how, and to what extent, the museum spaces, exhibitions and artefacts are in- Cultural Analysis of Museum Education volved in the practices of museum teaching. A Mette Boritz, Museumsundervisning. Med sanser og strong focus throughout the book is on what the mu- materialitet på kulturhistoriske museer. Syddansk seum materialities do in the learning situation, what Universitetsforlag, Odense 2018. 259 pp. Ill. ISBN they can help to bring about, and how this is con- 978-87-408-3122-1. nected to the use of the senses, bodies, and to feel- ing. This makes her study a part of the interdiscip-  In cultural policy in Denmark, as in Sweden, chil- linary field of materiality studies, as well as the vast dren have become increasingly prominent in claims field of museum studies. about the social benefits of museums. Children and The book aims at linking existing practice with young visitors are a high-priority area. Statements theoretical reflection, as well as highlighting what is regarding the accessibility, democracy, but also the perceived as “good” museum teaching, what meth- revenue of museums are increasingly linked to chil- ods are used, and what rationales and ideals lie be- dren as a target group. There is a great deal of litera- hind. A strong motif of the study, also explicitly elu- ture on museum education and learning, typically cidated, is to upgrade the pedagogic practices of cul- from a theoretical and didactic perspective with the tural history museums, and to raise awareness of visitor and exhibition in focus. In comparison, there how museum education is shaped in practice. are surprisingly few empirical studies made of how Museum education is a diverse field. As Boritz learning in museums is shaped in practice, in the notes, it not only covers many different subjects and Reviews 231

museum realities – economic as well as organiza- education, as well as people who in their everyday tional, diverse attitudes and perspectives, but it is lives work with museum education in museums of also in constant flux. The preconditions of museum cultural history. The main part of the fieldwork was education change, cultural policy as well as peda- carried out 2009–2011. Her study clearly builds on gogic perspectives change, as do the needs and de- rich empirical material. The museums chosen for the mands from the schools that use the museums. What study differ in size, subject matter, organization etc., seems to be enduring, though, according to Boritz, ranging from the National Museum of Denmark to is the use of materialities in teaching. At the begin- the open-air museum Frilandsmuseet. This broad se- ning of the book, she states that there is a consensus lection seems to be well-chosen, but the author that museums are well respected resources for edu- could perhaps have given an account of the criteria cational activities. There is also agreement that mu- for the selection of museums and of the informants seum education is different from that provided by chosen for the study. Most of her empirical ex- the school and to some extent that it should be dif- amples come from the National Museum, where she ferent from classroom teaching. One important as- herself has been part of the staff for many years. pect of museum education often brought up by mu- This raises questions about possible challenges or seum professionals is that the physical spaces and potentials of conducting fieldwork within her own the artefacts provide the museum with unique poten- workplace. I would also have liked a discussion of tials for learning. But as Boritz asks, how, and to the interview methods used, and her own role as an what extent, do the museums succeed in exploiting interviewer in terms of power, and reflexivity. On this potential? the other hand, it is important to have in mind that The book is richly illustrated with photographs this book is a reworked published version of the the- from Boritz’s fieldwork. The first part of the book sis, with a broader audience in mind than scholars. covers the introduction, theoretical approach, earlier In the first part of the book, Boritz presents shift- research, a historical background on museum educa- ing ideals concerning education aimed at children. tion, and she also outlines some of the frameworks She also provides a much-needed background on that dictate the conditions of museum education, structured museum education from a historical per- presenting cultural policy in Denmark, and overall spective. As she notes, there are surprisingly few pedagogic trends. The review of previous research is historical studies of museum education, and the ones both exhaustive and concise. Although I think the first part of the book is a bit long compared to the that exist mostly focus on the late nineteenth century empirical chapters building on her actual field or the years surrounding the radical 1960s. Although studies (the first empirical example drawing on the historical background is only 22 pages long, it is Boritz’s own observations of practice does not come an analytically interesting account stretching from until page 110), the thorough background is one of the beginning of the nineteenth century to the pres- the book’s vital strengths. It provides an excellent ent day, focusing on the use of, and incentives for, source of knowledge for anyone searching for an artefacts in teaching situations. A strength is how analytical outline of the research, ideals and prac- she nuances a common view that “real” museum tices of museum education from the nineteenth cen- education begun in the 1960s, and how she points to tury up until today, in Denmark, but also relating to the fact that the interest in experiences, involve- general shifts in the English-speaking western ment, and sensuality is far from new. I find the dis- sphere. cussion on how museum education has been con- The second section covers the empirical parts, nected to the senses in hierarchical ways particularly where Mette Boritz presents and analyses her field interesting. At the end of the study she comes back studies. She conducts her investigation with the help to this, when she cites the historian Constance Clas- of 53 participant observations of structured teaching sen’s view of the senses as not only physical but sessions carried out in nine Danish (and one Swe- also culturally constructed; here she discusses how dish) museums of cultural history. She has also con- there is still a hierarchy where seeing and listening ducted 20 interviews with persons who are involved are valued as the most important ways of acquiring in museum education in various ways: people with knowledge, while touch is regarded as less impor- an administrative and political outlook on museum tant. 232 Reviews

She discusses some key concepts concerning mu- set out to explore the extent to which shifting con- seum education within the museum field, as in mu- cepts have been followed by changed practices. I seum research, and how they have changed. In her find it both important and entertaining how she un- own study Boritz chooses to use the concept of mu- covers the field’s buzzwords, and questions them by seum teaching (undervisning) rather than museum posing them against practice. learning (læring) although she says it might give an Boritz’s research can be understood in a context “old-fashioned” impression. These are central con- of increased demands on museums to present cepts extensively discussed in contemporary mu- “measurable data” on learning, which is also reflect- seum studies, as in the museum field internationally. ed in museum research on learning outcomes, learn- Transmitting metaphors and a perspective focusing ing analytics, and visitor studies. To get funds from on the transmitter/educator has been abandoned in government, the museums must demonstrate how favour of participant metaphors, and a perspective they contribute to society, they must present meas- on the receiver/museum visitor. Often a historical urable results. Boritz underlines that her book is not progress is outlined, where “passive transfer” and about learning results or outcomes (so often sought “education” are contrasted negatively with new con- after today), but about the learning process. Her cepts such as “learning”, “communication” and book is also set in the framework of an ongoing de- “dialogue”, which are accentuated as more demo- bate in Denmark, where museums are expected to cratic. Nor does her study take a stance on the mat- adjust to the school’s curriculum. Boritz poses the ter of the “dispenser” or the “receiver”; rather she question: Should museum education take its outset wants to overcome this dichotomy, and research the in the demands and needs of the schools, or should it linking space in between. The way I understand Bo- take the museum’s special strengths in the form of ritz is that she tries to avoid the normative aspect of factual knowledge, exhibitions and artefacts as its the concepts “education” and “learning”. These two starting point? It is a hypothetical question, for she concepts bear with them both possibilities and con- instantly answers it. Her viewpoint is that all mu- straints, and she declares that they are good for see- seums are not well equipped to teach all things, and ing different things. I agree with her when she states that they should take the museum artefacts and ma- that we need a new language to speak of museum terialities as their starting point. education/learning, we need concepts that can cover Boritz highlights how the learning situation in the the intermediating power relations of learning, the space of a museum comprises much more than the “in-between space”, in less normative ways. museum educator and the schoolchild. Her empiri- In a broader context of contemporary cultural cal study shows that, amongst other things, it is in- politics, however, learning is connected to more habited by the children’s own teacher, and by the than issues of participation, citizenship and democ- materialities of the museum which can affect the racy. In a chapter on shifting cultural policies, Bo- learning situation in profound ways. To grasp and ritz poses the question why children seem to be so analyse the complexity of museum education, she very important for museums today, and what it is finds a useful concept in “uren pædagogik” (impure that they are expected to learn. One aspect she pedagogy), inspired by Svend Brinkmann, Thomas brings forward is that museums are linked to con- Aastrup Rømer, and Lene Tanggaard. In line with cepts such as “competition” and “economic their reasoning, Boritz does not think that “learning” growth”. In a time when nation states compete over as a phenomenon can be understood regardless of knowledge, children need to learn how to adjust what it is that specifically is to be taught, nor that their competence in accordance with the demands of anything can be understood outside the specific con- a market. Children are also tremendously important text. for visitor statistics. I would say that the stressed fo- I interpret the use of the concept of “impure peda- cus on the “visitor”, rather than the “tutor”, is linked gogy” as both a standpoint for highlighting that to a quite new view on the museum visitor as a “cus- there is more to museum education than pure tomer”. One could, perhaps provocatively, argue method and the commonly described relation be- that the contemporary vocabulary of learning is con- tween educator and pupils, and as a tool to take into nected to these shifts, and that they are both account all the parameters which might affect the revenue-driven and individualized. However, Boritz situation of learning. She has made a model for this, Reviews 233

with “education” in the centre of a flower, and the wishes to explore the embodied knowledges and ex- petals surrounding it saying things like “time”, periences that cannot be put into words, but at the “weather, “intentions”, “the subject matter”, “the same time are crucial for creating interest, emotion, materiality”, “politics”, “theories of learning”, intensity, and presence, also concepts borrowed “methods” etc. One could argue, though, that many from Massumi. She discusses presence with the help more parameters could be added. I see the model of the literary theorist Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, and more as a reminder to pay attention to the complexi- shows that there is a special power in just being in ty of museum education, rather than as a strictly the moment, in the body. Contrary to her description analytical tool. of affect, presence is seen as something more indi- The theoretical framework derives from material- vidual. Following Gumbrecht, she argues that there ity studies as well as from pedagogic philosophy. need not be a meaning behind the artefact – it cre- Boritz stresses the relationship between body, mind, ates something just in itself. She gives empirical ex- and museum materialities which she states give mu- amples of this, for instance when a boy is handed a seums a special affective, transformative potential clog, and he seems to forget time and space. When for learning. To study this, she draws inspiration handling the wooden shoe, he just sits there intense- from various didactic thinkers engaged in the rela- ly focused and still, with ears or eyes for nothing tion between body, mind and learning, as well as else. But also looking at an artefact behind glass can thinkers of museology, ethnology, and the anthro- create this effect. One example is when a little girl pology of the senses. slowly gravitates towards a harpoon in a showcase, Her starting point is, from a socio-material per- and she gets totally absorbed by it. There is a photo spective, that materialities do something, they are of her in the book, her face close to the glass, her not a backdrop or simply props. She finds that al- eyes are wide open, and her jaw has dropped. From though materiality research has gained a profound the photo alone, it is obvious the artefact affects her impact on universities, its theories have not really in some way. hit the museums. Instead, she finds that it is words The theoretical approach seems well-suited to ex- and interpretations that are in focus. She gives plore what happens in the interaction between chil- so-called “dialogue-based teaching” as an example dren, museum spaces, and artefacts. Especially in- of this and criticizes the way it is mostly formed as a triguing is her ambition to study affect. The intro- dialogue between people and not between people ducing theoretical discussion is convincing, but the and things. She states that the only perspective mu- theoretical concepts are not always interwoven with seums have borrowed from materiality research is the empirical parts. A problem in relation to the an interest in sensory experiences in relation to chil- method that Boritz herself brings up is how to ac- dren. This is a perspective Boritz set out to develop cess the affective and physical experiences of the in her work. children. She draws inspiration from several thinkers of She gives some well-wrought empirical examples pedagogy, for example the philosopher of pedagogy of how to study affect, as when the children walk John Dewey, who have argued that learning does into a World War II bunker in the Museum of Da- not only take place cognitively, but also bodily. The nish Resistance. She analyses how their bodies react view of bodily acquired knowledge she combines to the darkness, and to the cramped space. But, one with the concept affect. Drawing on the philosopher thing I have trouble with is how, drawing on Mas- and social theorist Brian Massumi, she states that sumi, she describes affect as something collective when museum materialities and spaces interact with that has little to do with personal experiences, that it the body and senses, they can create affect. Affect is is “pre-cognitive”. I can’t help wondering whether not to be understood simply as feelings. It is the im- the affective power of the bunker wouldn’t be quite mediate physical response which proceeds the different if a child interacting with the space of the thought, the feeling or the conscious decision. In bunker had hidden from missiles in a similar bunker line with Massumi, Boritz describes affect as a before, or if she or he was claustrophobic, for in- “pre-cognitive” sensation which comes from within stance. The next question is whether creating affect the subject body, which can interrupt and change old is always positive. Here I wonder why she decided thought structures. With the help of affect, she not to combine observations with interviews with 234 Reviews

the children. She justifies this choice with the fact as the pedagogical methods used. A museum’s that it is the learning situation which is in focus, not unique setting does matter, and it really does many the children’s feelings about it, or what they have things. Boritz finds that despite the emphasis on the learned from it. Her choice not to include interviews particularity of museum education and its materiali- with children might also have been due to ethical ties and spaces in museum discourse, it is still words concerns. However, with her interest for the interac- that have the highest regard in this information cul- tion between children and museum, bodily sensing, ture. Regardless of numerous study on the impor- affect, feelings and mind, I think that also interview- tance of embodied learning, and an accentuated new ing the children might have added to the study. Es- language of concepts like “dialogue” and “commu- pecially since she states – both in the introduction nication”, the monologic guided tour is still the most and at the end – that affect has the potential to create common form of museum education. This however “transformative experiences and new knowledge”. I is a conclusion which is already stated at the begin- do believe her, but how can this be stated if it cannot ning of the book, and again in the middle, before it be studied? Overall, I think a deeper methodological comes back in the closing discussion. There are discussion would have been beneficial. quite a lot of repetitions, and several conclusions are The ethnographic descriptions of the observa- already formulated as questions or starting points, tions are generally very well executed. Some de- creating somewhat circular arguments. This gives scriptions of the meeting between child and artefacts the impression that her starting points and theoreti- are especially captivating. For example, the descrip- cal premises steer the analysis and shape the results, tion of a sensuous meeting between a boy and a although I think it is rather a question of writing smelly clog, or the illustration of how a rope creates technique. Overall, though, she succeeds in convinc- strong bodily reactions in a group of children tied ingly illustrating and proving her points in the eth- together to demonstrate slavery. Her interest in the nographic examples, and one can claim that the museum space is not always demonstrated as clear- repetitions also make her arguments very clear. ly, though. But towards the end of the book she con- Overall, this is a well-written, interesting, and cisely analyses spaces especially built for children. useful book. With her well-chosen empirical ex- Her conclusion (which I find noteworthy and in line amples, she manages to nuance the museum debate with findings in my own study of museum spaces) is on learning. By studying the actual interactions of that on one hand, these special “educational spaces” structured teaching, she shows that there is no one can give other prerequisites for education than the simple model to use, no systematized “quick-fix” exhibitions; they can create calm and benefit a for museum teaching. Set in a broad debate about deeper exploration of a subject, sometimes they can the museum from the viewpoints of cultural policy give possibility to make loud noises or use water and museology, Boritz’s book could be viewed as an and messy materials. On the other hand, these argument against the idea that we can find a perfect spaces are seldom taken seriously, and are not al- and universal model of learning, suitable for all situ- lowed to cost money. As a result, she finds that they ations and all topics. This I think is one of the most often are very similar to traditional classrooms: important results of the book. Tables and chairs in straight rows, wall charts, and Another great merit of the study is that Mette Bo- whiteboards. Their placement, often in the periph- ritz not only explores ideals of learning in relation to eral spaces of a museum, (for example in the base- practices, she also gives examples of how abstract ment), might separate the children from the artefacts philosophical ideas could be translated into practice. and the subject matter of the museum. With the help of empirical examples, she gives sug- Finally, what do we learn from Mette Boritz’s re- gestions on how museums could use their sensual search? Despite some objections above, her study and affective potential better. clearly shows the impact and importance of taking The final words of the book say that, regardless materiality seriously, and to upgrade the use of bodi- of how good the teaching is, “you can always do it a ly senses in museum teaching. The book gives evi- little bit better.” The most obvious target readers are dence for the claim that the way something is best therefore professionals within the museum field, but learned has to do what it is we wish the learning it might also be stimulating and inspirational read- should be about, and that the content is as important ing for students, and anyone interested in how re- Reviews 235

nowned didactic and philosophical ideas about how ditionally, the authors explicitly address profession- materialities relate to bodily sensing and learning als within the welfare field of work. could be studied empirically. There is no doubt that The specific aim of the book is to discuss how this book will prove to be most useful in the field of ethnologists produce reflective knowledge. The museum education. book is thus primarily an educational textbook. Mette Boritz’s study is important, and it evokes However, it can also be read as a contribution to a new questions. She does not come back to the politi- debate about what has been called a post-factual so- cal discussions and motivations for museum learn- ciety (think for example of the last year’s discus- ing she introduces at the beginning, but it would be sions of “fake news”, “climate change denial” and interesting to take her findings on the impact of the implications of social media as a political tool). learning with the body, senses and materiality fur- Addressing a general decline of confidence in aca- ther, to a broader discussion of inclusion. Her re- demic knowledge, the authors set out to re-establish search has interesting implications relating to indi- trust in the ability of the humanities, and particularly viduals who have trouble learning by just seeing and ethnology, to generate robust knowledge. They do listening – for example, visitors who do not speak this by advocating a reflective approach, and by pro- the official language. It would also be interesting to moting an understanding of culture as practice. The discuss and investigate in relation to visitors with book rests on the idea that both concepts and the- certain mental or sensory disabilities. If you cannot ories within the humanities are historically situated use sight and hearing – the senses regarded most and conditioned by practice, but that this does not highly in relation to learning – there might be a great prevent it from being both relevant and adequate. democratic potential in stressing the importance of In the Introduction, Sandberg and Jespersen set touch, smell, and taste. Mette Boritz’s study shows the scene by asking how phenomena such as “the in- the importance of acknowledging that there is more dividual”, “the society”, “our common history” or to museum education than what is measurable, it is a “the ability to unite” are socially put together. They highly complex process of materialities, bodies, conclude that in order to deal with such questions, spaces, feelings, emotions, affect, and meaning- research has to scrutinize taken-for-granted con- making. cepts such as individuality, community, everyday Britta Zetterström Geschwind, Stockholm life, society, similarity, difference, history, culture, origin and belonging. The authors set out two main lines for the book. A Textbook of Culture as Practice Firstly, they stress the collective character of ethno- Kultur som praksis. Etnologiske perspektiver på in- logical research; ethnologists carry out their projects dividualitet og fælleskab, kultur og historie. Søren together with their research subjects. Secondly, with Christensen, Astrid P. Jespersen, Signe Mellem- reference to Anna Tsing (2015) they conclude that gaard, Marie Sandberg (eds.). Hans Reitzels Forlag, research is a cultural practice that has “world-mak- Copenhagen 2017. 202 pp. ISBN 978-87-412-6593- ing capacities”, meaning that research is part of the 3. making up of our common world. The following four chapters each revolve around  The title of this book means “Culture as Practice: topics and perspectives that have been fundamental Ethnological Perspectives on Individuality and to ethnological research: first cultural history and Community, Culture and History”. It is written by temporality are discussed, followed by a dissection Søren Christensen, Astrid P. Jespersen, Tine Dams- of perspectives on community and social cohesion. holt, Signe Mellemgaard, Marie Sandberg (all but Individuality and identity is the third matter to be Damsholt editors), one scholar of history of ideas addressed, and finally cultural analysis in itself as and four ethnologists from the University of Copen- reflexive process is in focus. hagen and the University of Aarhus. Ethnologists have long since directed the search- A specified target group of the volume is students light towards different uses of the past. In the chap- in the humanities, especially the disciplines of eth- ter “Problematizing the history of culture” Damsholt nology, anthropology, history, migration studies, and Mellemgaard address the question of how the and students interested in qualitative fieldwork. Ad- past, the present and the future are related. The 236 Reviews

chapter starts with a flashback to a scholarly debate cial order and draws on sociology and ethnomethod- from more than hundred years ago, when the Prus- ology. The theoretical backgrounds of the two ver- sian history professor Dietrich Schäfer accused the sions are written with reference to, for example, Danish cultural historian Troels-Lund of not deploy- Herder, Durkheim and Gellner in the case of im- ing traditional historic source criticism while study- agined communities and Simmel, Goffman and Gar- ing ordinary people’s everyday life. However, finkel in the case of interactionist community. The Damsholt and Mellemgaard use the example to review ends with a discussion of community and show how Troels-Lund’s ethnological perspective communities in a globalized world. and methods opened up for a reflective understand- The idea of letting the discussion alternate be- ing of the past. tween two different “community types” works well. The timeworn example is an elegant way to start The chapter also includes examples of actual ethno- a discussion on the uses of history, but also serve as logical studies of communities, for example, Tho- an instructive example on the tension between tradi- mas Højrup’s work with state forms and life-modes tional historians and cultural historians about how to and Orvar Löfgren’s analysis of the role of everyday accomplish a credible understanding of the past. life in group unity. The chapter finishes off with an The line of reasoning in the chapter includes analysis of the “Denmark canon” that was launched Pierre Nora’s distinction between memory and his- in 2016 in Denmark, as an example of how the tory, Michel Foucault’s genealogical method, Ro- theoretical models described here can be applied to bert Darnton’s ethnographic perspective on histori- understand contemporary societal processes. cal research, and Reinhart Koselleck’s discussions In focus for the following chapter, “Subjectiva- of temporalities in the plural. There are also refer- tion and individuality”, by Christensen and Sand- ences to and examples from research by Burk, Darn- berg, are theories about individualization and sub- ton, Medick, Ginzburg, Geertz and others. jectification in late modernity. With a sober and The conclusion is that the past must be regarded critical eye, the authors describe how theorists like as a foreign country, and consequently that it is a Giddens, Bauman, Beck and du Gay have launched hopeless task to gain objective knowledge about it. late modernity as an era of individualization. How- As a cure to this rather pessimistic deduction, the ever, they describe this as an a-political and more or authors advocate a radical historicity in the study of less deterministic perspective. Thus, it is badly suit- the past. Recognizing that every historicization is a ed for reflexive ethnological research that deals with shaping and re-shaping (not uncovering) of earlier subjects, not individuals. The authors point to the times, radical historicity works as a destabilizing fact that the study of culture needs a theory that tool which opens up for reflective understandings of grasps complexity, differences, and dynamics of the past, the present and the future. power. In order to build up a framework in which In the next chapter, “Communities in a Cultural- resistance and subjectification can be problema- Analytical Perspective”, Sandberg, Christensen and tized, the authors’ arguments range from Louis Alt- Jespersen tackle one of the core questions in ethnol- husser and Michel Foucault to Slavoj Žižek, Judith ogy: what is community and how does it work? In Butler and Nicolas Rose. focus is what in Danish is called “sammenhængs- The last chapter is written by Jespersen, Sand- kraft”, roughly translated as “social cohesion”. berg and Mellemgaard and called “Cultural Analy- What is it that makes a group, a society or a nation sis as Reflexive Practice”. Here the authors return to hold together? a hands-on standpoint, as they pick up and carry on Initially, they present the two classical concep- the post-factual society discussion from the first tions of imagined communities and interactionist chapter. How can ethnologists produce trustworthy community. The types are not defined as two con- knowledge in a time when academic research is mis- trasting counterparts, but as different social and cul- judged? The answer the authors give is: reflexivity. tural ways of organizing inclusion and exclusion. As in the chapter about cultural history, research “Imagined community” is borrowed from the na- method is in focus. Cultural analysis is described as tionalist theorist Benedict Anderson, and deals with a concrete line of work, consisting of the four di- big, abstract communities such as “nation”, “state” mensions/phases Research questions, Methodologi- or “culture”. “Interactionist community” is about so- cal design, Analytical work and Cultural analysis. Reviews 237

The four phases are thoroughly and pedagogically Based on the above I would say that Kultur som described, and reflexivity is held up as an ideal praksis succeeds in both of its self-imposed mis- throughout the whole research process. sions: to be a good tutorial for students who want to I find Kultur som praksis a very consistent intro- know more about how to be an ethnologist, and to duction to the questions and knowledge goals in give examples of how ethnological research can ethnological research. Throughout the five chapters, contribute to credible and productive knowledge. the discussion oscillates between ontological, Mattias Frihammar, Stockholm epistemological and political questions. How is the social world put together? What can we as research- ers know about it? What effects can cultural analysis Seaways to Sweden have? As often in ethnology, influences come from Sjövägen till Sverige. Från 1500-talet till våra da- a range of theories and theorists. However, the au- gar. Simon Ekström, Leos Müller & Tomas Nilson thors’ good judgement and stringent choices make (eds.). Universus Academic Press, Malmö 2016. Fo- the reading enjoyable and the arguments clear-cut. rum navale skriftserie 56. 330 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91- Culture and cultural manifestation are consequently 87439-27-8. treated as practice. The unbending de-constructivist stance is balanced with an explicit aim to show the  According to the editors, this book arose out of a creative strength of humanistic research. The au- course at the Centre for Maritime Studies, where the thors’ different experiences complement each other teachers realized the lack of a book that could serve and the text moves between topics in a seamless as an introduction to Swedish maritime history and way. Even though there are five different authors, ethnology. The text has been tested for several years the text is uniform in style, and easy to read and in a course on “Swedish History from the Seaward comprehend throughout the book. Side” at Stockholm University. In this review I will Being interested in rituals and ceremonies, I assess the book as an introduction to and a textbook would have appreciated the authors’ standpoint on on Swedish maritime history. the role of formalized practice when it comes to so- The book is divided into two parts. The first part cial cohesion, maybe in relation to an in-depth dis- is an introduction to Swedish maritime history from cussion about the concepts of performance and per- the sixteenth century to the present day. The second formativity. The absence of, for example, Pierre part contains a number of field studies or closer Bourdieu’s cultural sociology in the discussion looks at some more contemporary aspects of Swedes and their relations to the sea. about identity, subject and group could be seen as a The first part consists of the following chapters: minor shortcoming. But these are negligible objec- Ingvar Sjöblom, Leos Müller, and Gunnar Åselius tions. on naval warfare and the navy. Leos Müller, Per Accordingly, I think this is a felicitous publica- Hallén, and Thomas Taro Lennerfors on trade and tion. It discusses a range of complex questions about shipping. Dan Johansson and Leos Müller on ship- how to understand, describe, conceptualize and building and shipyards. Henrik Alexandersson, Len- study culture. It is written in a light-handed and lu- nart Bornmalm, and Tomas Nilson on fishery. Pauli cid way that makes complex matters easy to grasp. Kivistö and Tomas Nilson on ferries and passenger One special quality, which distinguishes this text- traffic, although here the account begins in the mid book from many others in the same genre, is that it nineteenth century. offers not theoretical discussions or empirical ex- The second part has the following chapters: Han- amples, but successfully combines profound theory na Hagmark-Cooper on sailors’ wives. Mirja Arns- with recognizable empirical illustrations. The ab- hav on sailors’ tattoos. Mattias Agerberg on the oc- stract models of, say, Žižek, Foucault and Law are cupation of sailor at the transition from sail to continually exemplified with straightforward ex- steam. Simon Ekström on lobster fishing and the amples such as the Dansk Folkeparti’s view of lobster trade on the west coast of Sweden. Mattias Danishness, practices surrounding the Danish Frihammar on Swedish leisure boating. monument Julianehøj, or the meeting between a Generally speaking, all the contributions are clear patient and a doctor. and concise, and in some chapters the language is 238 Reviews

rather dry and catalogue-like. As the authors them- the provinces this had at least short- term negative selves point out, a great many relevant themes are consequences for their patterns of shipping and trade, omitted, and the chapters about tattoos and sailors’ because they were now part of a different political wives could, in my view, have been replaced by and economic unit, and the Swedish government de- topics such as harbours, marine archaeology, and liberately sought to prevent the conquered provinces sailors in literature. But an edited volume will al- from trading with Denmark and Norway. That whole ways be dependent on the state of research and the problem is simply not mentioned in the chapter about available authors, and at all events it is good to see trade and shipping, but there is a brief allusion to the breadth of maritime research. I have two funda- foreign trade and peasant shipping from Bohuslän in mental points of criticism. the chapter on fishery. The first concerns the general failure to present My conclusion is that this book is a knowledge- research discussions. I am fully aware that it is not able, informative, and at times inspiring survey of possible to devote a lot of space in an introductory Swedish maritime history, which will be a natural textbook to an account of the disagreements, large starting point for a course on Swedish maritime his- and small, between different scholars, but I think it tory, but it also underlines the need for a larger mod- is bad pedagogy to omit them altogether. It would ern history of Swedish shipping. have been natural to select the major points of dis- Dan H. Andersen, Copenhagen pute in maritime history and ethnology and integrate them in the text. This does happen once or twice, but very briefly and almost apologetically. Of Lobsters and Men My second criticism is aimed at the use of Swe- Simon Ekström, Humrarna och evigheten. Kul- den as a basic concept, without defining Sweden. As turhistoriska essäer om konsumtion, begär och död. we know, Europe is the burial ground of states and Forum navale skriftserie 59. Makadam förlag, Göte- empires, and the surviving states have through the borg/Stockholm 2017. 256 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91- centuries gained and lost territory to a significant 7061-235-0. extent. This applies particularly to Sweden, so where does the “seaway” of the title take us? To  Humans and lobsters is the topic of Simon Ek- Sweden plus Finland? Plus Skåne, Halland, Ble- ström’s book, the title of which means “Lobsters kinge, Bohuslän, Gotland, and Ösel? Plus Norway? and Eternity: Cultural-historical Essays about Con- Plus Bremen-Verden, Wismar, Stralsund, Rügen, sumption, Desire, and Death”. The declaration about Livonia, and Ingria? The authors do not solve the the essay form in the subtitle should be taken literal- problem of dealing with the varying size of Sweden, ly. After an introduction there are ten chapters, tack- partly because they only seem to recognize it to a ling lobsters from various aspects, followed by a limited extent. One example is the statement on conclusion, although one should not expect narra- page 18 of the introduction, that, “with a few excep- tive progression or analytical inquiry, but rather a tions, Swedish wars have taken place far away from kaleidoscopic collection, as the author himself ad- our mainland.” As a Dane I must point out here that, mits (p. 33). One source of inspiration is the ethno- by my count, the Skåneland provinces and Bohuslän graphic “follow the XX” metaphor, exemplified were invaded and ravaged during the wars of here by Sidney Mintz’s famous book about sugar, 1563‒70, 1611‒13, 1643‒45, 1657‒60, 1675‒79, but one may wonder why the author does not also 1709‒19. That makes quite a large number of excep- cite George Marcus’s thorough examination and tional years! discussion of the method. Precisely Skåneland and Bohuslän are interesting But to the book. To begin with we are given what because, unlike Finland, Norway, and the Baltic and is mostly a historical-ethnological description of German provinces, they have remained a part of Swe- lobster fishing, especially on the west coast of Swe- den. Yet in the chapter about trade and shipping there den, the trapping methods, economic and other is no discussion of the consequences of Sweden’s ac- structural matters, with a focus on the lobster both quisition of these former Danish and Norwegian as an economic activity and as an identity-creating, provinces through the treaties of Brömsebro in 1645 processual cultural activity. Then two chapters are and Roskilde in 1658, although for the inhabitants of devoted to an examination of the lobster as luxury Reviews 239

consumption, for example in the (perhaps) countly analysis, just pure positioning – is something one home of the Hallwyls in Stockholm in 1923, and the can wonder about. aspects of cultural analysis that might be found here. Is this the influence of an ethnological tendency, The author then considers the matter from the point with its frequently seen but also unfortunate fond- of view of art history, beginning with an analysis of ness – as pointed out by Orvar Löfgren and as Salvador Dalí’s famous lobster telephone. From the shared with other disciplines – for name-dropping surreal play with the limits of reality and human per- theoretical and methodological approaches that are ception, the book slips, via two chapters with a sig- currently in vogue in a certain research environ- nificant American slant in the material, to questions ment, but which do not necessarily have much to do of lobsters, gender, and sexuality, after which it re- with the topic? A familiar and rather basic semiotic turns to the question of lobsters as luxury consump- (and perhaps a phenomenological) analysis would tion in a different sense, namely as a dish that is of- surely have done the job. The essays show no little ten given a leading role at Nobel banquets in Stock- resemblance to the writing style of the late semio- holm. Two more chapters deal with the culinary po- tician Umberto Eco, who can be contained within a sition of the lobster and, as a consequence of this – philosophical framework of this kind. Or is it the because they are boiled alive – their place in the po- book as a form that causes the difficulty? This re- litical work of animal rights activists. The epilogue viewer has wondered whether it is the kaleido- concludes that, although the lobster is a biological scopic, restless, and yet comprehensive picture of phenomenon, it is humans who ascribe the various the human-lobster relationship that simply does not meanings to it. suit the book as a form, where the pages with the The introduction, as is customary, places the spine and the binding necessarily entail a forward topic in a triad, with the lobster as considered in movement. Perhaps an exhibition focusing on sep- terms of the animal’s actual life, semiotic readings, arate points, which in principle can stand alongside and the materiality of the doing and being of lobster, each other but not necessarily with a set order of if one can express it in such phenomenological ter- progress from one topic to the next, could have ful- minology, which is not the author’s own. But that filled the author’s wishes better? Or perhaps a would have made life easier for him, and thus for choreography, which can have pauses in the form of the reader. Instead the introduction to the book con- installations or narrative episodes, but simultaneous- tains a rapid and dizzying survey of what the author ly have movement that can go in more than one di- calls inspirations, consisting of semiotic readings, rection at the same time? I don’t know, but the the lobster as a Latourian actant in line with Actor- thought struck me during the reading. Network-Theory, a Veblenian approach to the en- Having said that, Ekström’s book is rather good joyment of lobsters as conspicuous consumption, a company in the armchair. In fact, it makes me en- Goffmannian reading of scenes as theatrical meta- thusiastic. The book deals with its topic in a way phors, and what is more than anything else an ethno- that is both thorough and surprising. It is well writ- ten in modern but also elegant and proper Swedish logical study of an animal as a cultural category, al- (as far as a foreign reviewer can judge). The topic is though it draws on Donna Haraway’s ideas of “com- simply exciting. The book is well illustrated, besides panion species” along with other positions from the which it is attractive! The publisher has done well, firmament of cultural analysis rather than the actual as can also be noticed in the impeccable proofread- disciplinary tradition of ethnology. How these in- ing and typesetting, which gives a pleasant overall spirations can be reconciled – especially how one impression. can make ANT and semiotics pull together philo- Mikkel Venborg Pedersen, Copenhagen sophically, is a question that does not interest the author, which is a charge that can be levelled at the book. Its kaleidoscopic form, however, means that the various sources of inspiration in the different Methods in Dress Research chapters do not clash; on the contrary, they are used Opening up the Wardrobe – A Methods Book. Kate well and, at times, elegantly. Why the reader should Fletcher & Ingun Grimstad Klepp (eds.). Novus be brought along at breakneck speed through the Press, Oslo 2017. 195 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-82-7099- presentation in the introduction – which has no real 893-7. 240 Reviews

 Opening up the Wardrobe presents a fresh collec- robes; Part II, Exploring individuals, practices and tion of 50 methods for dress research. It makes a dynamics through clothing; Part III, Transforming new and somewhat radical foray into a different sort wardrobes; and Part IV, Materiality. All the of fashion knowledge. This book explores the ac- methods are presented in the same way, repeating tions, relationships and material contents of ward- a pattern, so that the reader can easily focus only robes. Organized as a practical guide to information on the content of the text. Each contribution fol- about people and their clothing, it includes visual, lows a similar short question-and-answer format, tactile and verbal methods and others, which involve which explains, among other things, where the in- making together, observation and interviewing. The spiration comes from and the motive for using this editors, Kate Fletcher and Ingun Grimstad Klepp, method, how it is different from other methods, say that the purpose of this book is to throw open the how to use it and what insight it generates. After doors and views of the wardrobe. They want to give that, a clear description and a summary table fol- more attention to wardrobe methods, and by high- low, outlining the practical requirements for ap- lighting the methods, our understanding of fashion plying the method and enlists the help of relevant and clothing will become better in the context of the illustrations (p. 7). actual lives, skills, ideas and priorities of wearers of Part I, Investigating wardrobes, presents clothes (p. 2). This book and the everyday lives of methods that seek to uncover knowledge about the wearers of clothes that are its focus create a narra- content, dynamics and practices of wardrobes. tive of a more diverse, emancipatory and holistic This part is the biggest section of this book and in- fashion and clothing system. The two biggest areas troduces 19 methods. The methods in Part I are re- of investigation dealt with in this book are the social lated to dealing with what is inside wardrobes. processes associated with clothing and dressing and The first theme is mapping the contents, and it in- the physical aspects of wardrobes and textile mater- volves collating qualitative and/or quantitative ials, and the third area is the mental phenomena and data about a part or the totality of an individual’s, decision-making processes associated with ward- household’s or community’s clothing resources. robes (p. 3). After that, the focus moves to mapping wardrobes Opening up the Wardrobe involves contribu- across time, whereby the reader can learn to inves- tions from four continents, from both inside and tigate past behaviours and clothing resources. The outside academic circles. Fletcher and Grimstad third theme is mapping the space of the wardrobe, Klepp (p. 4) want to avoid jargon and terminology which concerns recording information about associated with specific traditions or academic spe- clothing-related resources by place. A further two cialities, which was a particularly important aim methods are related to wardrobe know-how, which when they put this book together. The reason for means exploring experiences of garments and this is the sheer variety of backgrounds of the con- ways of dressing. The last theme introduces a tributing authors. The editors themselves have an framework for techniques that open up the ward- academic background. Fletcher is Research Profes- robe to further investigation, which often concerns sor at the University of the Arts London, exploring specific garments and/or clothing-related be- design for sustainability in fashion, and Grimstad haviours (pp. 16–17). Klepp is a Research Professor who works at Con- Part II, Exploring individuals, practices and sumption Research Norway (SIFO) at Oslo and dynamics through clothing, involves methods for Akershus University College with consumption of obtaining information about individuals, their clothing. The other authors are specialists of vari- practices and wardrobe dynamics to reveal struc- ous backgrounds, for example textile engineers, tures and frameworks that shape our understanding designers, dancers, anthropologists, historians, of clothing. This part is simply divided into three sociologists, ethnologists, futurists and fashion sections: individuals, practices and dynamics (pp. stylists (p. 4). 70–71). After the introduction, the sections of the book Part III, Transforming wardrobes, explores the handle 50 methods for research on wardrobe, dress process of wardrobe transformation from a range and clothes. These 50 methods are divided into of perspectives. First, it focuses on methods with four parts by theme: Part I, Investigating ward- which to test your knowledge and build your skills, Reviews 241

and making examples in groups in different work- Heritage Sites of Death shops. Next, this section tells us how to explore the Heritage of Death: Landscapes of Emotion, Memory contents, activities and space of a wardrobe as a and Practice. Mattias Frihammar and Helaine Sil- way to foster individuals’ capacity to act. The last verman (eds.). Routledge Cultural Heritage and methods focus on advice and pedagogy (pp. 108– Tourism series. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon 2018. 109). 243 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-1-138-21751-8. The final section, Part IV, Materiality, includes Thanatological research has been very active re- two separate parts dealing with experiences about cently, and one of the new volumes in the field is and handling and examining garments. This materi- Heritage of Death: Landscapes of Emotion, Memory ality section embraces methods related to physical and Practice edited by Mattias Frihammar from the garments or parts of garments to generate new un- Department of Ethnology at Stockholm University derstanding about experiences of fashion, clothes and Helaine Silverman from the Department of An- materials, culture and systems (pp. 134–135). thropology at the University of Illinois. The book is a According to Fletcher and Grimstad Klepp (pp. result of the work of more than twenty scholars dis- 5–6), “We draw on practical and theoretical cussing the heritage of death from spatial, political, methods as diverse as mapping used in geography, religious, economic, cultural, aesthetic and emotional observational techniques from art practice, and aspects. The goals of the book, to show both what processes of recording interactions and flows of in- death means in contemporary societies and how indi- formation such as soft systems methodologies.” viduals, groups and nations act towards death, have Opening up the Wardrobe offers a comprehensive been successfully carried out. It is a pleasure to take reflection of wardrobe, dressing and clothes re- this scholarly trip from the Woodland Cemetery search methods. But readers have to remember that (Skogskyrkogården) in Stockholm to the ghost town the purpose of this book is only to throw open the of Chernobyl in Ukraine via cemeteries or mauso- leums in the UK and Russia; scenes of war in the UK, doors and views of the wardrobe. The editors wish Australia and Russia; and heritage sites of oppres- to pay more attention to wardrobe methods. If sion, tyranny and genocide in Armenia, Russia and readers want to obtain more specific knowledge of the US. The spread of disciplines is just as broad: in wardrobe, dressing and clothes research methods, addition to the ethnology and anthropology represent- they have to refer to the links given in each method ed by the editors, the other disciplines represented are section of this book. ethnomusicology, archaeology, sociology, architec- Opening up the Wardrobe presents an expedi- ture, tourism studies, art history, urban planning and tious and dynamic survey of wardrobe research. One geography. This book is a “must read” for anyone of the goals of this book is to highlight its multipro- who plans to study or supervise studies on heritage fessional approach, both academic and non-academ- sites where death plays a role. ic. Fletcher and Grimstad Klepp want to avoid jar- Death does play a role. Joy M. Sather-Wagstaff gon and present clear reflections on their multidis- points out that “aside from most natural heritage ciplinary approach. They also demonstrate concisely sites, nearly every official and informal heritage and how important a multidisciplinary approach is. For historical site in the world is linked explicitly or im- example, they show how sustainability in fashion or plicitly to the dead, even if simply based on the fact clothing is not only a technical crisis. They state that that humans once inhabited, worked, played, or technology alone cannot help us out of the mess we warred on such sites. Museums of all kinds are over- are in. We need to piece together the social, relation- whelmingly places of the dead and monuments to al, material and practical questions around ward- and statuary of the famous of the past characterize robes. This would perhaps enable us to understand cities throughout the world.” She uses the term better how to create a sustainable future for clothes “thanatourism” as a form of heritage tourism. The (p. 5). Opening up the Wardrobe points out that we same basic categories work quite well also without have an extensive research field on wardrobe, dress- the tourism aspect. According to Sather-Wagstaff, ing and clothing. Do we need more method litera- thanatourism falls into five basic categories: ture that would introduce and focus more deeply on 1).Witnessing public death-in-processes a few themes at a time? 2).Visiting sites of mass or individual deaths af- Tytti Lehtovaara, Jyväskylä ter they have occurred 242 Reviews

3).Visiting interment and memorial sites In this book Anders Gustavsson, senior professor 4).Seeing the material evidence or symbolic rep- of cultural history at the University of Oslo, has resentations of deaths at locations other than looked back at his professional career and offered us their occurrence an insightful reflection on the versatile research that 5).Watching and/or participating in re-enact- he has conducted since the 1970s. As he notes in the ments of death. introduction, inspiration for preparing the publica- tion came at the Why Folkloristics? international One of the most fascinating articles of the volume conference held in Visby in 2015. The book itself is falls in the first category, namely Rasul A. Mowatt’s an answer to the question, demonstrating the results article on the peculiar heritage of lynching in of folkloristic research through methods ranging America. Lynchings were public, full of rituals and from the historical work with archival sources to either tools of the state or at least tolerated by it. creating new knowledge using participant observa- Lynchings were a horrible disgrace to humans, and tion, ethnographic documentation of cultural arte- what makes them even more horrible is that they facts and fieldwork interviews. Folkloristics in the were amusement for the townspeople, from small book appears as a discipline that highlights human children to the elderly. Several states have erected life, its commonplace realities and unusual aspects, historical markers in memory of lynchings that have and the varieties of human experience. In discussing taken place. Why commemorate such an awful prac- and analysing folkloric forms Gustavsson empha- tice? Mowatt answers: “The need for heritage sites, sises their personal and emotional dimensions, as historical markers, and memories is one of the ways well as the power of folklore to transmit norms and to combat the continued burying of this horrendous values, shape attitudes and identities, and create so- history. These places will enable to us to learn from cial division. Empirical material for the book comes the past and prevent a possible future that repeats both from Sweden and Norway. it.” Without research tied in with the commemora- tion, the message could be easily lost in the beauty, The first part of the book discusses micro-narra- design and architecture of the memorials. tives of personal experience. The author starts from Many of the other articles contain this human the study of cultural encounters between summer th meaning making and a humanistic idea of death as a holiday visitors and local residents in the late 19 reminder of life and its uniqueness. Several articles century on the west coast of Sweden. Humorous and refer to sites of death of today, and the book even critical storytelling about the financially and social- starts with a picture of the plan for a memorial ly superior summer guests offered an outlet for ten- which was never built: “Memory Wound” by Jonas sions and reinforced the boundaries between the Dahlberg, referring to the Island of Utøya in Nor- fishing communities and the short-term visitors. On way, where in 2011 a lone shooter slaughtered 69 the one hand they were seen as a source of income young people. Affects are the theoretical basis of the while on the other as an outside group who compli- book, even though not every article has a discussion cated everyday life and made the local people feel on the concept. However, with a very well-written inferior. Power-related conflict also appears in nar- introduction by the editors and the high-quality ratives that have been told on the Swedish-Nor- scholarly articles and useful index, our knowledge wegian border about the customs officials who rep- of affects and death is much improved after reading resent the control of central government. As Gus- this book. tavsson shows, technical innovations, such as the th Hanna Snellman, Helsinki first velocipedes and bicycles in the late 19 and early 20th centuries, also provoked critical attitudes towards their well-to-do owners. The function of folklore in reinforcing and negotiating social norms Exploring Life from a Folkloristic  actualises in religious communities that impose Perspective strong restrictions on their members relating to the Anders Gustavsson, Folkloristic studies in Scandi- consumption of alcohol and tobacco, playing cards, navia. Personal research experiences and reflec- dancing, etc. Folklore also expresses rivalry be- tions. Novus Press, Oslo 2017. 186 pp. Ill. ISBN tween village communities whose members target 978-82-7099-887-6. their neighbours in derogatory stories. In one chap- Reviews 243

ter Gustavsson has insightfully analysed the con- promote scholarship of legends and related narrative flicting narrative accounts of a particular parson as a forms. Belief narrative as a category brings together local authority. It appears that discords in narratives several genres, such as myth, legend, urban legend, about this clergyman express the social tensions and oral history and rumour, which were set apart by hierarchies within the village. In addition to these former taxonomies. Gustavsson justly claims: “It is retrospective studies, the first part of the book ad- impossible to discuss the beliefs sanctioned by the dresses emotionally charged micro-narratives about church and those not sanctioned by the church as deceased pets on Swedish and Norwegian web separate entities if we aim at understanding the sys- sites. Gustavsson shows that the borderline be- tem of beliefs that people have actually embraced” tween humans and animals is disappearing as pets (125). Using the example of his fieldwork inter- are considered family members. The final chapter views he shows that people who belonged to the free of the first section of the book addresses silenced church have told memorates about ghosts and other stories – reluctance to narrate traumas and painful supernatural beings. Thus the claim of former schol- memories. ars that the revival movements eradicated popular Next, Gustavsson turns to scrutinising rituals, beliefs does not reflect the actual situation. In the starting with two traditions that are connected with analysis of afterlife beliefs Gustavsson shows that lifecycle. Churching of women after childbirth is an the earlier differentiation between blessed and un- old ritual that has disappeared because it has lost its blessed death has disappeared in today’s Internet ac- relevance in modern society. Memorial drinking at counts. The belief in angels that has become more funerals is another custom that vanished during the prominent recently also reflects changes in world- 20th century. However, in other cases old rituals are view. However, the basic idea about the afterlife as revived and appear in new forms. Such revivals a post-mortem existence that resembles earthly life have occurred within the context the Forest Finn Re- has remained stable and continued into the 21st cen- public festival that is celebrated in the province of tury. Hedmark in eastern Norway. Since it began in 1970 The fourth part, Folklore and Materiality, con- the festival has revitalised the Forest Finnish culture tinues the discussion about supernatural beliefs as and generated positive attitudes towards it both they have been expressed in the visual arts. Gustavs- within the community and outside. Gustavsson also son examines the paintings of the Swedish folk artist discusses the revival of traditional rituals using the Carl Gustaf Bernhardson (1915–1998). In the final example of new religious movements. Thus, the chapters of the book he studies pictorial symbols charismatic Swedish movement Oasis has reintro- and texts on old grave memorials. He finds the his- duced liturgical dance as a form of worship. New torical changes in Swedish and Norwegian grave- rituals have also emerged as responses to tragic yard culture and interprets the visual images as ex- deaths in traffic accidents. Gustavsson notes that In- pressions of afterlife beliefs. As before, he notes ternet and tabloid newspapers have an important some differences between the two countries, such as role to play in mourning and the private sphere is the tendency to adopt innovations and the emphasis thus becoming public. The last chapter in this sec- of individuality, which is much more pronounced in tion of the book discusses the celebration of national Sweden. holidays in Norway and Sweden and the cultural The book is well structured and written in a clear differences between the two countries. Gustavsson language. The author’s personal engagement with shows that the expression of national identity takes the research topics and his reflections on his long more vivid and emotional forms in Norway. academic career make the reading an enjoyable ex- The third part of the book examines belief narra- perience. The rich set of illustrations, mainly con- tives about supernatural encounters among the sisting of historical and new photos, brings the re- members of the free churches and about the afterlife search topics visually close to the reader and adds in Sweden. Belief narrative is a new genre concept another, nearly tangible dimension to the scholar- in folkloristics, which was coined at the 15th con- ship. Folkloristics appears in the book as a disci- gress of the International Society for Folk Narrative pline that opens up a vast field of empirical study Research (ISFNR) in 2009 in Athens, when the and leaves the researcher a lot of freedom to choose ISFNR Belief Narrative Network was established to a focus and ask different research questions. 244 Reviews

Among the readers I could envision students of cul- everyday life, and division of labour, networks and tural research, who would like to expand their field communication. of vision and are looking for possible research top- Ærø was centrally located for trade and shipping ics to be studied from a folkloristic perspective. Al- between northern Germany and Denmark, and a together, I am positive that the book will have an in- fleet was built up here, sailing in the Baltic Sea and vigorating impact on folkloristics in the Nordic the North Sea in the nineteenth century. Marstal it- countries and abroad. In 2017 the University of Tar- self grew up as an important shipping town which in tu launched a new MA program entitled Folkloris- the late nineteenth century had Denmark’s second tics and Applied Heritage Studies, in English, with largest fleet after Copenhagen. During an economic the first-year students coming from Europe, Asia boom in the late nineteenth century a large part of and North America. I shall definitely recommend the fleet was engaged in long-distance shipping to this book personally to the students, whose research North and South America, in addition to the topics are related to the interests of Professor Gus- short-range shipping in the Baltic and the North Sea. tavsson. The micro-narratives, rituals, beliefs and According to the author, the boom gave rise to a tangible artefacts examined and discussed in the bourgeois culture that left its mark in architecture, book all help to carry on the grand narrative of inter- lifestyle, and social behaviour. Shipping thus per- national folkloristics. meated the whole town, which had a shipyard and a Ülo Valk, Tartu school of navigation. During the twentieth century the number of ships registered in Marstal itself de- clined steadily, but the town and the island still had Sailors’ Wives in Marstal relatively many residents who were seamen with po- Mette Eriksen Havsteen-Mikkelsen, Sømandskoner i sitions as officer. Marstal – fortællinger fra sø og land. Marstal Sø- The book is divided into two parts, the first fartsmuseum, Marstal 2017. 94 pp. Ill. ISBN 978- dealing with the period roughly 1900‒1950. The 87-89829-68-5. second part covers the years 1950‒2000. Hav- steen-Mikkelsen first gives an account of previous  In research on maritime history, social condition research on seamen’s wives in Denmark. She have ended up in the background, with the focus be- shows that very little work has been done on the ing on ship types, cargo routes, and technology. The subject, and much remains to be done. The first same is true as regards the history of seamen’s part is based on archival sources in Marstal Mari- wives and gender roles in seamen’s families. Little time Museum. The aim of this part is to set our has been written about Danish sailors’ wives, and it own time in relief. The second part of the book is is only since the 1980s that the topic has attracted mainly based on the author’s own interviews with any attention in Denmark, with Henning Hen- women in the seafaring community. The inform- ningsen (1981), Ole Højrup (1985–89), Bjarne ants were born in the 1940s and 1950s and in the Stoklund (1988), and the Seamen’s Wives Project of 1980s‒1990s. Whereas the first part is a relatively the Museums’ Maritime Pool (1992). general presentation, the second part is more var- With this book on “Seamen’s Wives in Marstal” ied in that the informants themselves are allowed the ethnologist Mette Eriksen Havsteen-Mikkelsen to speak in the text. It is this part of the book that aims to shed light on the life of seamen’s wives in makes the greatest contribution to maritime histo- the twentieth century in Marstal on the island of ry. The book is relatively richly illustrated, with Ærø, south of Fyn in Denmark. The author applies a the oldest pictures coming from Marstal Maritime broad definition of seamen’s wives. She defines this Museum, while the later pictures are from private as women with a husband who periodically works at photo albums. The pictures show seamen’s wives sea, but also women who periodically went to sea in different public and private social contexts. We themselves, with or without pay. A main theme run- see photos of seamen’s wives with neighbours, in ning throughout the book is the gender role patterns clubs, at Christmas tree parties, at weddings, but in seamen’s families. But she also analyses the also with their husband and children, female women’s social background, their life-course, the friends, and particularly sailing together with their basis for their existence, their household structure, husband to exotic places. The book is provided Reviews 245

with notes, lists of references and sources, and a the Second World War. The school of navigation in list of informants and interviews. the town attracted seamen from all over the country In “The Seaman’s Wife in the First Part of the who wanted to become officers in the merchant na- Twentieth Century” Mette Eriksen Havsteen-Mik- vy. Havsteen-Mikkelsen shows that this educational kelsen examines the shipping town of Marstal, institution affected the pattern of marriage. Several everyday life in the town, wives who sailed with informants say that they wanted to marry an officer, their husbands, and the wives of wartime sailors and many of the students did marry local girls. Out- during the First and Second World War. The author side Marstal, for example in Copenhagen, local girls shows that seamen’s wives in Marstal were por- were more wary of having sailors as husbands, be- trayed as enterprising and economic in the early lieving all the negative myths. Although few ships twentieth century. They managed the house and gar- are registered in Marstal today, many seamen live in den, administered the family economy, bore and the area. This is because senior seamen were attrac- raised children. At the same time, they looked after tive on the marriage market, there was a maritime the social networks that gave help when problems environment here, and it was easy to be integrated. arise. The husband was far away for long periods, or The traditional division of labour between the at home in the winter if he was engaged in North sexes was overwritten in seamen’s families. “He Sea and Baltic Sea shipping. Many children were was a guest when he was at home with us” says one therefore born in October as a result of the hus- of the informants who built houses while her hus- band’s spell at home the previous winter. Traces of band was sailing. The seaman’s wife was the head European bourgeois culture when the woman had to of the nuclear family. There could be negotiations play a background role are not clear in the sources. when the man was at home, but the woman ruled the Several seamen’s wives tried to acquire extra in- family when he was away. The women managed the come, especially widows who did laundry, cooked economy and made decisions about the interior, car food, ran grocery shops and boarding houses. purchases, and building houses. Fathers are often Havsteen-Mikkelsen shows that life had a dimen- portrayed by the informants as having been absent sion of anxiety and uncertainty. They were afraid of when the children were being brought up, and this being widowed, and worried about the temptations also applied to dictating rules of behaviour for the that could attract their men in foreign harbours. children. The 1970s saw a change, with new views Membership of temperance societies, religious fel- of spousal relationships and child rearing. Time with lowships, and women’s associations gave strength the children was supposed to be used and shared, in vulnerable times. If a woman was widowed, the but there could be differences between theory and family and other kinsfolk came to assist. In the practice. Shorter sailing periods and better commu- twentieth century it became more common for nication have made it easier for fathers to be in- women to sail with their husbands for a period, volved in the children’s lives. Changes in communi- occasionally bringing children along too. On board cation, from telegrams and letters to social media, the gender roles were divided as on land, and the have been enormous. Informants nevertheless tell of woman’s task included cooking for the crew and their own children’s scepticism about the divided washing clothes. According to Havsteen-Mikkelsen, family, with the result that they have chosen to work the wives of wartime sailors deserve special atten- on land. The husband’s periods away and at home tion. During the First World War 54 seamen from structured the everyday life of their wives. The time Marstal lost their lives, and 82 during the Second without a man was devoted to practical everyday World War. If the man was sailing under a British matters, socializing in clubs and associations, and flag, his wife worried for his life, and the war the women got used to acting alone in the company brought economic challenges with a shortage of in- of others. The trusting nature of the relationship was come for the wife, restricted communication, and emphasized. If you have a propensity for jealousy occasions of traumatic after-effects after peace you can’t marry a sailor, says one informant. The came. Seamen’s Wives’ Association on Ærø was not The second part of the book, “Seamen’s Wives in founded until 1994. It was non-political and func- the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century” looks at tioned as a social meeting place for women in the gender roles in the shipping town of Marstal after same situation, and later also for children and hus- 246 Reviews

bands; in practice it was a social club. It mainly at- turbing the atmosphere on board, the absence of a tracted newcomers with no local network. maritime environment on offshore ships because of An interesting theme in the book is the transitions specialized duties, short stays in port, and better between the husband’s absence and presence in the communications have made it less attractive to sail family. The author nicely brings out how expecta- with husbands. tions were high at the prospect of having the man at This is a well-written book with rich and interest- home, but for many they soon fell. The man was not ing contents, dealing with a side of maritime history attentive enough, and irritation and quarrelling soon that is mostly taken for granted. This book ought to arose. Then the rhythm of everyday life fell into attract readers outside academia. The maritime en- place. Some women found it a relief when he went vironment in Marstal is fascinating, having reached back to sea again. an international audience though the novel Vi, de Adjustment to absence or presence tended to be a druknende (“We Who Are Drowning”) by Carsten time of anxiety, and families practised various rit- Jensen. Havsteen-Mikkelsen tells of a community uals to mark the transitions, such as a celebration with a strong maritime culture with clear expecta- dinner when he came home. The farewell dinner, on tions of the seaman’s wife over the years. The sea- the other hand, tended to be simple, something that man’s wife has stood by the rudder on land, but she had to be over and done with. On the whole the de- also has experience of the sea. The pattern of a parture was less marked than the homecoming, and “visiting marriage” and the two different everyday several informants liked the time when they could lives, with the husband at home or at sea, is a ten- be alone and think more about themselves. acious structure in the maritime environment, as the The time after 1968 was also a time of change author shows. One of the most interesting things when several seamen’s wives chose to work outside about this book is how the author demonstrates the home. Some of them wanted to work full-time changes and flexibility in the gender roles. Spending and sail with their husband on holidays, while others a long time alone is not so typical today of the year- chose an occupation with flexible working hours, ly rhythm of the seaman’s wife, and distant places such as a hairdresser or shop assistant, where it was can be experienced without sailing along with the easier to take time off and sail with the husband. husband. Moreover, a seamen’s wife often has gain- One nevertheless gets the impression from the book ful employment of her own. The maritime environ- that in practice it was the women who had to lower ment has fostered properties such as strength and in- their ambitions in occupational life. dependence according to the author. Women had to be flexible, and free in relation to the traditional di- The author also examines how the women sailed vision of labour and gender roles. with their husbands. Better berths and sanitary con- Bård Gram Økland, Bergen ditions made it easier after 1950 to have the family along for a period. Relatives at home could be asked to look after children if they could not come along. The voyages are described as positive opportunities Rethinking the Museum to experience exotic places and cultures as the Museums in a Time of Migration. Rethinking Mu- man’s guest on board. Occasionally the woman was seums’ Roles, Representations, Collections, and employed on board, and on smaller ships she could Collaborations. Christina Johansson & Pieter Beve- help to create a familiar atmosphere on board. Those lander (eds.). Nordic Academic Press, Lund 2017. who sailed with their husbands could be witnesses 240 pp. ISBN 978-91-88168-82-5. to prostitution. One informant tells of how she was at brothels with unmarried seamen. The tone on  In recent years, migration has become an increas- board is often described as jovial between female ingly relevant topic. The majority of the world and male sailors. But there could be a distance be- population, adults as well as children, are confront- tween female sailors and women accompanying ed daily with ongoing discussions of the so-called their sailor husbands; they also moved in different refugee crisis in Europe. Stories about migration, places on board. Today the informants say that there and with it many new citizens, are constantly in the is not the same need to accompany husbands on news, not to mention on the everyday political agen- voyages. Shorter sailing periods, the sense of dis- da. The new citizens are part of our society and Reviews 247

thereby part of our future common history. As im- way the reader gets a good understanding and an in- portant educational institutions, museums have an sightful survey of the different main positions that obligation to contribute to the topic of migration. museums cover worldwide. With Peggy Lewitt the That is a focal point of view in this book and why it reader becomes aware of the many global and na- is a must for any museum professional interested in tional structures that influence the final results along migration and the role of museums in today’s socie- the way. And as a museum professional one redis- ty. covers one’s own point of view. This edited volume is the result of a conference During the last couple of years, many exhibitions held in Malmö, Sweden, in 2016. It is part of the re- have been created in an attempt to document the search and integration project “Museums as arenas starting point of the contemporary history evolving for integration – New perspectives and methods of around us. Some museums take a close look at the inclusion” and is financed by both EU funds and term migration by focusing on labour migrants and Malmö University. The book is edited by the profes- their descendants. Exhibitions put faces on them, sor of International Migration Studies, Pieter Bieve- listen to their stories, and share their experiences, lander and the lecturer Christina Johansson, both re- joys, and sorrows. searchers at Malmö University. Apart from traditional museum work such as cre- In Bievelander and Johansson’s introduction to ating exhibitions, there is a development towards a the book the reader embarks on a journey through more daring approach. Outreach and community en- many points of view, including an understanding of gagement projects where museums collaborate and the different dichotomies in the study of migration. co-create with the “world outside”, pop up every- The two authors explain the central theme of the where. The will to work with cultural citizenship book in a very clear way and shed light on the histo- and innovation is keenly felt in many museums. The ry of museums working in the field of migration. goal is to expand and propagate knowledge that can This is also why the book stresses the importance of be incorporated into the planning of integration ini- “being out there”, and in the following four chapters tiatives. This gives a new relevance to working at a we are presented with a variety of ways to join in museum because these initiatives can – if they suc- discussing, handling and putting the topic of migra- ceed – facilitate positive changes in how people see tion into perspective. and relate to each other in a society. Through the chapters of the book, leading mu- Eager to join in, many museum professionals also seum professionals and researchers describe differ- experience a major dilemma. Though knowing that ent takes on the topic of migration. The main they should join in and voice our contemporary so- focuses are the practical, theoretical, and ethical ciety and its problems, at the same time they face a considerations behind actual museum practice. The risk in dealing with migration ‒ a subject on top of eleven articles present new angles and innovative almost every political agenda. Some find it very dif- ways of thinking migration in a museum context, all ficult to keep their credibility when dealing with po- of them structured in four different chapters: (1) The litical issues such as migration and refugees, thereby role of museums in a time of migration and societal addressing a topic that is fraught with myths and change; (2) Representing migration and ethnicity; prejudices. How should museums approach and (3) Rethinking museum collections and documenta- rapidly document a contemporary situation and tion; and (4) Collaboration and inclusion in the mu- refugee crisis? seum sector. In the book it is hard to single out one article be- In the keynote by Peggy Lewitt, co-director of cause they all present relevant reflections connected Harvard University’s Transnational Studies Initia- to working with the subject of migration. However tive, we are presented with an impressive overview Dragan Nikolić’s article “The future is ours” from and tour-de-force of the museum world. In her Regionmuseet in Kristianstad stands out. In his pre- study, she questions the role of museums in creating sentation of the “Refugee Documentation Project” national and global citizens. She simply questions Nikolić both answers and questions the above-men- what different museums think they are doing by tioned dilemmas. The emotional and professional comparing three sets of countries at different stages, dilemmas that occur through the specific project are in the act of their nation building projects. In this put in perspective through different theories. He 248 Reviews

makes a strong impression by being extremely hon- humour: as a safety valve or rebellion, as a critical est in sharing the irritation with himself and with his voice or critique of power, as a tool for humiliation, profession. The article underlines the fact that it and as a boundary marker or an instrument for so- takes a lot of courage for the museum worker to ad- cialization. At the same time, they stress the impor- dress and work within the field of refugees and mi- tance of problematizing the supertheories on the ba- grants. sis of the empirical material and grounding the an- And it does take a lot of courage to meet your au- alysis in a profound understanding of the context. dience with a topical issue such as migration. You As they point out, analyses of humour tend to seem have to put yourself and your professionalism on the like the application of ahistorical theories, which line and offer visitors different and nuanced ways of they are not. In the following I select a number of looking at a current omnipresent topic. As a cultural articles which I found particularly thought-provok- institution you have to be aware of your own histo- ing. ry, be sure your board of directors, funders, and net- Anna Johansson and Angelika Sjöstedt Landén work is on track and right behind you and your investigate the narrative of the ironic 1990s, partly work. And time is a factor when working with and based on Henrik Schyffert’s stand-up show The 90s documenting real life! – An Apology, partly on press material. The inten- Furthermore, museums are important educational tion is to understand the meanings ascribed to the institutions in our society, but they are also institu- form of irony associated with the nineties in Swe- tions meant for all, not only scholars and insiders. den, and how it is used to create a generation, “the This is why museums have an obligation to cultivate ironic generation”. With the aid of thematic analysis critical thinking on all levels. Therefore the present of the material, three dominant themes crystallize in book can be highly recommended as the collection the narrative of the nineties: generation protest, the of articles offers different angles and takes on how will to make a stand, and the turn to the authentic. to handle migration in research, building up collec- The irony is portrayed as subversive, a revolt by the tions and documentation of migration. It presents younger generation with features of developmental concrete hands-on experiments from some of the psychology. By psychologizing the transformation professionals and inspires the reader. At the same of society that took place in the nineties, the blame time many of the articles reveal the dilemmas that is placed on the young people’s attitude and lack of follow “being out there”, meetings with reality, col- commitment. According to the narrative, this went laborating and including audiences of today. hand in hand with a depoliticization which was re- Malene Dybbøl, Copenhagen garded either as part of a rebellion against the par- ents or as cowardice. When the turn came – towards authenticity, in- Cultural Perspectives on Humour timacy, and commitment – at the end of the 1990s, it Skratt som fastnar. Kulturella perspektiv på skratt is so surprising that it is forgotten at the expense of och humor. Lars-Eric Jönsson & Fredrik Nilsson the dominant narrative. Is that not irony too? At any (eds.). Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences. rate, Johansson and Sjöstedt Landén point out that Lunds universitet, Lund 2014. 195 pp. Ill. ISBN the narrative of the ironic generation mainly speaks 978-91-981458-1-6. to a male, white middle class that is perceived as an elite in relation to women and rural people. In this The book begins with an introductory chapter by way the irony is normative and conservative rather the editors which sets the nine essays in a shared than subversive. framework in the history of research. The common Lars Kaijser studies how humour is used to main- approach, according to the editors, is a focus on the tain and create boundaries between the fans, entre- basic techniques of humour and its cultural, social, preneurs, tourists, and other actors in Liverpool’s and political meanings, which are studied in differ- Beatles industry. The starting point for the discus- ent variations and contexts. They highlight the “su- sion is two companies that use humour in distinct pertheories” of humour, as formulated by Mikhail ways to mark their own position in the network of Bakhtin, Sigmund Freud, and Michael Billig, and relations generated by the shared interest in the they discuss the fundamental functions ascribed to Beatles, but also to stress their understanding of Reviews 249

what the band members were like as people and as a history in Finland, since it was adopted as a condi- group: absurd, amusing, laughter-inducing. The tion for the shaping of the Finnish nation, as Pertti same characteristics were important constituents of Anttonen has shown. the Liverpudlians’ self-image, so these were fea- How humour can be used to create alternative tures that the entrepreneurs themselves could identi- meanings about overweight in Sweden is the topic fy with. of Fredrik Nilsson’s article. Based on some ex- In the Beatles festival organized by Cavern City amples from the newsletter of the National Associa- Tours, the arrangers balance between being Beatles tion of the Overweight, he discusses how humour is fans engaging in an affective alliance with other used as a way to deal with real or threatened stigma- fans, and being detached professionals, a detach- tization. One way is through parody. In Nilsson’s ment that is achieved through humour. The humour material this is exemplified in a description of en- in the Beatles Shop was different, more ironic and listment in the Home Guard, when the uniform did not geared to building affective alliances; if any- not fit the person writing in the paper. Through par- thing, the opposite. Irony was used to correct the ody the blame for this fact is shifted from the indi- customers in different ways, which made the laugh- vidual himself to the military structure, which has ter uncomfortable and embarrassed. In other words, no room for overweight people. A similar process is laughter could create both nearness and distance. visible in another example, where things – here turn- Sven-Erik Klinkmann analyses the limits of hu- pikes at the entrances to sports arenas and the like – mour and its stigmatizing effects, based on two ex- do not admit overweight people without consider- amples where Swedishness in Finland is ridiculed able difficulty. The situation comedy, which is actu- and exoticized: the folk celebration in Helsinki after ally not funny at all, is associated with cynicism, Finland became world champions in ice hockey in which makes the humour both a safety valve and a 2011, and the advertising campaign by the Sauna- way to shape a critical consciousness. lahti telecom company with the filthy-rich fictitious The question whether humour is always amusing Blingström family from 2012. Klinkmann asserts and laughter-provoking is raised both in the latter that the humour builds on the double bind that has example and in witty come-backs to disparaging long existed between the Finland-Swedes as a group comments from people who are not overweight. The that is at once privileged and marginalized, and ex- clever replies are a defence against attack, but ac- amines how humour can become a weapon in the cording to Nilsson they also raise questions about struggle for symbolic space. In the celebration for whether it really is legitimate to answer in the same the hockey players there was a spot where a com- coin. Caricatures of the ideal body likewise function edian spoke about punching the hurri (a Finnish pe- as a way to create distance through an aggressive jorative term for the Swedish-speaking minority), disparagement of what is perceived as a sick ideal. which caused a sensation in the Finland-Swedish The point of the humour is often aimed against the media, not least because at roughly the same time discrimination to which overweight people are sub- there had been threats against Finland-Swedish cul- jected in everyday situations where a rebellious hu- tural personalities, while there were also Finnish mour that challenges established norms and thus speakers who expressed support for the Finland- criticizes power becomes an important coping strat- Swedes. Klinkmann asks whether the statement was egy that is also based on repetition; it is a recurrent a means to stereotype the Finland-Swedes as a strategy in the newsletter. group without needing to take responsibility for Ida Tolgensbakk discusses Norwegian jokes what had been said. about “party Swedes”, a negative nickname for the The resonance of the advertising campaign came young Swedes who move to Norway to work. She from the traditional scorn in the Finnish-speaking observes that for many Norwegians these jokes are culture for the wasteful and snobbish way of life not problematic, since they are perceived as critique embodied by the Blingström family. In both cases of power, picking on somebody stronger than your- there is stereotyping which is achieved in different self. Although the union between Sweden and Nor- ways but with the same fundamental function: to ex- way was dissolved more than a hundred years ago, clude the Finland-Swedes from the national Finnish the memory of Sweden’s role as “Big Brother” has discourse. This approach too has a relatively long not faded. 250 Reviews

Moreover, the wave of jokes about Swedes told Cultural-Historical Methods in Ethnology in Norway in the 1970s (when comparable jokes Kulturhistoria. En etnologisk metodbok. Lars-Eric were told in Sweden about Norwegians) have meant Jönsson & Fredrik Nilsson (eds.). Lund Studies in that a story about Swedes is almost automatically Arts and Cultural Sciences 13. Lunds Universitet, perceived as humorous and with no malicious in- Lund 2017. 162 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91-983690-0-7. tent; that is part of the concept, so to speak. Al- though this type of humour can be interpreted as an  When I was a student of folklore in Oslo in the outlet for aggression, and thus can serve as a kind of 1990s I had the feeling that all important methodo- safety valve, it can also be regarded as the result of a logical literature was written in Sweden. This was close relationship, although it is perhaps a little probably not the case, but in a Nordic context it was one-sided: Swedes are more important for Nor- indeed Swedish ethnologists, or more exactly some wegians to use as a mirror than vice versa. specific authors, who supplied the premises for the The young Swedes that Tolgensbakk has inter- methodological perspectives used in Norwegian viewed find this humour offensive, picking on folkloristics and ethnology, determining the direc- somebody weaker than yourself; at least they do tion taken by our indigenous discussions on method. not want to identify with the stereotype of the Books by Bo Eneroth, Karl-Olov Arnstberg, Billy “party Swede”. Some of them ignore the jokes and Ehn, and Orvar Löfgren were among those that pretend that the stereotype does not apply to them, found their way to Norwegian reading lists, and all while others have adopted the Norwegian view of them provided methods and interpretative tools and complain about “party Swedes” when they for the cultural analysis of the present day. For it themselves have passed that stage (here the jokes was the present day that Swedish ethnology seemed have functioned as an instrument for socializa- to be primarily studying. In other words, contempor- tion), and some protest, at the risk of appearing ary cultural analysis took priority over cultural his- humourless. tory. What is striking about this book is (1) how con- This book, “Cultural History: An Ethnological stant the supertheories of humour still are, if you Method Book” evidently represents a counter to this compare this book with Humor och kultur from present-oriented methodology. The editors them- 1996, a classic in ethnological-folkloristic humour selves relate their project to the change in methodo- studies against which Skratt som fastnar expressly logical focus brought by the cultural-historical turn. positions itself, and (2) how the material that is This means that the starting point is no longer con- studied has changed over time and how people temporary questions about how to conduct inter- choose to write about it. The references to high-cul- views and observations – and subsequently how to ture humour that are quite prominent at least in the interpret the material – but the infinite wealth of ma- more theoretically oriented articles in Humor och terial objects and written historical texts and sources kultur have largely vanished in Skratt som fastnar. that can be explored with the aid of various meth- Instead the focus is on contemporary popular cul- odological and theoretical perspectives. This return ture, whether this is Muslim humour on the Internet, to the historical roots of ethnology is interesting, but stand-up comedy, or Beatles nostalgia. more about that later. In other respects the topics in the two books are Nine authors together consider sources and meth- not so different: Humor och kultur deals with laugh- ods in interesting and partly differing ways. News- ter in Western religion, Skratt som fastnar in Islam. paper articles, kitchen furnishings, outdoor clothing, Humor och kultur examines humour about local archival series, and other things are tested against characters, while Skratt som fastnar explores laugh- close reading, micro-historical perspectives, con- ter in the history of psychiatry; both consider devi- trasting, bricolage, and perspectives on organiza- ants as a source of cultural understanding. In Skratt tion. In this context I will highlight three essays som fastnar there is an interesting effort to move be- which particularly contribute to the overall meth- yond the established fields of humour research to odological focus of the book. Rebecka Lennarts- tackle more insignificant humour; this approach son’s article “Mamsell Bohman’s Tickets” describes could well be developed in future research. in detail how methods are developed during the Camilla Asplund Ingemark, Visby working process and how to work with sources; how Reviews 251

one can understand the sources one reads, and how contrast. For the Swedish development has not taken questions and answers constantly produce new place in a vacuum, but has also left its mark on the questions. Oddly enough, basic descriptions like discipline in the other Nordic countries. this, where we try to convey what we actually do, When I discovered this publication earlier, I can be among the most difficult texts to write, but quickly put it on my students’ required reading list. Lennartsson manages this in an exemplary fashion. The need for books that systematically discuss The reconstruction of what fieldwork is like in the methods from a cultural-historical perspective is archive is of great epistemological value for anyone constant, so I was truly pleased to find a fresh ex- about to engage in this for the first time. ample of the genre. Another reason why the volume Fredrik Nilsson’s article about “Distortions – is good as a textbook is that it has a wide embrace in Clues to Cultural Analysis” also provides a basic de- the choice of materials, methodological tools, and scription of what the research process can be like. theoretical perspectives. In my opinion, it is best Here Nilsson uses various theoretical perspectives suited to higher levels for students who are about to such as organization (Latour) and context (Darnton) tackle research projects of their own and face large which help a researcher to go through material and amounts of source material and thus can relate to the arrive at certain research questions, and to under- methodological challenges discussed in the book. stand one’s sources and finds and place them in their Ane Ohrvik, Oslo spatial and temporal contexts. The aim of the book is to convey how knowledge comes into existence, and this is described in Political Projects and Uncertain Cultural “Knowledge out of a Vacuum” by Karin Gustavsson from the perspective of close reading. What we do Heritage when reading closely – whether texts or images – is Politiska projekt, osäkra kulturarv. Kampanjer och demonstrated here from a linguistic angle, through fôrhandlingar i det sena 1900-talets Sverige och Eu- the meaning of the vacuum (the meaning of what is ropa. Lars-Eric Jönsson (ed.). Lund Studies in Arts not there), what happens when something is given a and Cultural Sciences 14. Lund 2017. 142 pp. ISBN name and is thus made visible, and the significance 978-91-983690-1-4. of the researcher’s position. Given that it is such a widespread and frequently used method, far too  The central theme of this edited collection is the little has been written about the methodology of political use of the concept of “cultural heritage” in close reading, which makes Gustavsson’s article a Europe, seen through cultural heritage policies in welcome contribution. the 1990s and the early twenty-first century. In re- The editors, Lars-Eric Jönsson and Fredrik Nils- cent decades the discussion of whether cultural her- son, introduce the book with a historical survey en- itage is static or dynamic has been a recurrent theme titled “On Ethnology and Cultural-Historical Meth- in political discussions in Europe. In parallel there ods”. This is interesting for several reasons, but has been a lively academic debate, pursued in many what strikes me most is that it can be understood books and seminars, on cultural heritage as a politi- (putting it in extreme terms) as a plea for the re- cal instrument. The book inscribes itself in this de- establishment of cultural history in Swedish eth- bate. nology. Admittedly, the reestablishment has been in The focus is on Swedish cultural heritage: Swe- progress for some time in Sweden (and some people dish arts and crafts, culinary heritage, cultural en- never abandoned the historical perspective), but the vironments and citizenship. A well-written article contemporary perspective has dominated heavily. by Anneli Palmsköld on Swedish arts and craft For us neighbours who have grown up with the highlights the role of exclusion in the making of cul- Swedish methodological literature it is therefore tural heritage. This article describes very explicitly, pleasing that Swedish ethnology is back on its old down to each stitch, how certain sewing techniques, track. Since the editors themselves bring up the dis- for example, are included and some are excluded. It cipline-based methodological development of eth- is through this process of excluding parts of what nology in Sweden, they could well have contextual- could have been heritage that the idea of Swedish ized this by looking at neighbouring countries as a arts and crafts has developed and selected certain 252 Reviews

traits, in this case stitches. Hereafter words like tra- Imagined Finland-Swedishness in the ditional, authentic and true values are used to de- Twenty-first Century scribe the heritage. Föreställda finlandssvenskheter. Intersektionella The editor Lars-Eric Jönsson’s article about the perspektiv på det svenska i Finland. Sven-Erik concept of citizenship and political campaigns re- Klinkmann, Blanka Henriksson & Andreas Häger flects political developments in Sweden in recent (eds.). Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Hel- decades. In 1997, the then Prime Minister of Swe- singfors 2017. 375 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-951-583- den Göran Persson received a research report – 364-8. later called into question – stating that a signifi- cant proportion of school children did not view the  On 6 December 2017 Finland celebrated its hun- Holocaust as a historical fact. This resulted in dred years as an independent nation. Many hon- several conferences and in 2001 it was decided to oured the strong historical ties between Finland and create an official institution, “The Living History Sweden. A newly published volume Föreställda fin- Forum”, to work with democracy, tolerance and landssvenskheter: Intersektionella perspektiv på det equality for all people. The article demonstrates svenska i Finland (“Imagined Finland-Swedishness: how the focus in a debate about cultural heritage Intersectional Perspectives on Swedish in Finland”) policy changed from the issue of poor historical deepens our understanding of a long history to- knowledge to the question of representation and gether. Based on a research project funded by the identification. Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, the publi- Another theme in the book is how cultural heri- cation concentrates on the contemporary look of tage is used as a tool to mobilize humans and re- Finland-Swedish culture. sources and to reform discourses and transform In the introductory pages the editors, Sven-Erik practices. In her article about the Linderöd pig, Moa Klinkmann, Blanka Henriksson and Andreas Häger, Petersén exemplifies this transformative role in yet explain the complexity of the field. Their intention another Swedish vision, “Sweden as the new land of is to trace how Finland-Swedishness is exposed in food”. The biological heritage has been commercial- texts and media. The picture of earlier studies on the ized – the Linderöd pig represents dynamic potential theme and the editors’ insights are valuable and very and politically explosive nature. Moa Petersén de- interesting to follow. Perhaps some readers will find scribes how the Linderöd pig was developed over the introduction too wide-ranging because of the time and how, for example, the farm Ängavallen as bricolage of ideas and the definition of the subject, a contrast to the industrial produced animal has the which stretches over many scholarly fields. The edi- Linderöd pig as part of the ethics concerning the tors have to grasp cultural diversities within the treatment of animals. Consumers have since entered Swedish-speaking group and they are numerous, so- the scene of culinary heritage in new ethical sur- cially and economically. The editors are working at roundings. Åbo Akademi, where Sven-Erik Klinkmann is a lec- “Cultural Heritage in Sweden” has recently for- turer in folklore, Blanka Henriksson is a lecturer in mulated visions about cultural heritage also as a po- cultural analysis and researcher in folklore, and An- litical project. In the overall political vision of 2016, dreas Häger, Associate Professor of Sociology of “Sweden that stands together”, the basic idea behind Religion. Patricia Aelbrecht, Andreas Backa, Johan- the government’s cultural heritage policy is that cul- na Björkholm, Mikael Sarelin and Sofie Strandén- tural heritage is constantly being developed and Backa also participate in the volume. shaped jointly by people. Everyone is to have the The Swedish-speaking segment of the population right to help shape cultural heritage. accounts for just over five per cent. Already in the This book inscribes itself in this heritage debate Middle Ages there was Swedish influence in Fin- and is an important contribution to the debate. It land and a Swedish language belt spread on the would be interesting also to read a future issue of other side of the Gulf of Bothnia. In line with a long “Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences” focus- and common history the Finnish and Swedish lan- ing on this very openly dynamic concept based on guages worked side by side. Only in a late stage did the political vision “Sweden that stands together”. a normative Swedish culture become evident, re- Bobo Krabbe Magid, Copenhagen sponding to a feeling of community and authenticity Reviews 253

among these groups. Then we are talking about the upper layers of society. Ordinary farmers, fisher- twentieth century. men, coastal settlers and working-class families The Finland-Swedish culture is exposed to a var- with a Swedish-speaking origin are almost invisible iety of threats, because of its minority position in in the educational textbooks. Finland. Editors and contributors extract cultural I recall friends I met during my ethnographic meaning out of papers, websites and similar sources. studies in the Volvo car factory, at the shipyards and Perhaps there could have been room for more eth- the ball-bearing factory in Gothenburg and the mine nographies, but that is only a speculation on my at LKAB in Kiruna. Officially they were named part. Meetings “on the ground”– at eye level – are Sweden-Finns (Sverige-finländare). Cultural analy- sometimes worth considering. sis is seemingly complicated, with many para- The theoretical perspectives, intersectionality meters, and keeping track of them is a challenge. and coping, are justified in the introduction of the Sweden-Finns were not Finland-Swedes. book. The focus is on power and resistance. A co- At the time of writing this overview, I was read- hesive theme is the imagined threats to the Fin- ing a nineteenth-century biography, authored by the land-Swedish minority, concrete, symbolic and gen- astronomer Gustav Svanberg in Uppsala. According eral. to his story the Finnish student-nation continued to I appreciate the contribution by Sofie Strandén- exist at Uppsala University for a long time after Backa and Andreas Backa. They raise a critical Sweden’s loss of Finland in 1809 – as if nothing had question about the interrelated collective and nor- happened. The Finnish students were treated in the mative Finland-Swedishness, perhaps most charac- same way as the Swedish students in Uppsala. In the terized by a certain mindset. Their commentary on autumn term of 1824, the Finnish nation ceased to being an observer to the world is worth reading. exist. Now the Finnish students were counted as the Another contributor, Mikael Sarelin, describes a category of “students from foreign locations”. well-known theme in the archipelagos, the right to The situation in the 1820s has something impor- fishing and waters. Blanka Henriksson writes about tant to say about the relationship between Swedish the snus (oral snuff) that is an expression of a male and Finnish cultures. Sometimes the relationship led Swedish habit in Finland. The debate about the fu- to uncertainties about language, with a focus on so- ture of snus took shape in connection with admis- cial and historical differences. Sometimes they sion to the EU. The right to snus was a sensitive is- worked closely together. Here this volume brings sue that generated particular controversy. great clarity, and I hope it will work as a spring- The reader will find valuable articles about board for further studies. The editors and contribu- Swedish-Finland in a regional perspective (Patricia tors of articles have done a great job for the benefit Aelbrecht), Ostrobothnia as the Bible Belt (Andreas of ethnology and human sciences, and I hope many Häger), the conflicts of interest caused by the nam- will read the book. ing of geographical locations (Sofie Strandén- Gösta Arvastson, Uppsala Backa), tolerance as ideology and coping strategy (Andreas Backa) and stereotypes and clichés about the Finland-Swedes and the saying, “Swedish- The Limits of Swedishness in Early speaking better people” (Sven-Erik Klinkmann). The concluding remarks, by Lena Marander- Modern Sweden Eklund, concern her own thoughts about the book’s Jens Lerbom, Svenskhetens tidigmoderna gränser. ideas and what is likely to be discussed in the future. Folkliga föreställningar om etnicitet och rikstillhö- The Swedish-speaking group is relatively small and righet i Sverige 1500–1800. Makadam förlag, Göte- therefore it can be viewed from different angles as borg/Stockholm 2017. 208 pp. ISBN 978-91-7061- an interesting laboratory for new cultural analyses. 195-7. Johanna Björkholm writes about education poli- cies in Finland and concentrates on textbooks in his-  What is Swedishness? Might one be able to stake tory. There is a noticeable silence about the Swedish out a certain field of play for Swedishness when it influences in Finland. When something “Swedish” emerged on the scene (reality) and find out where its is mentioned, it is usually referring to people in the borders are, symbolically and in terms of actual 254 Reviews

geography, how these borders have changed over Culture and Society (Williams 1976, 1983) which time and why? More specifically this book concerns describes transformations in the meaning of many of the period which its author calls in Swedish tidig- these words over time – implies that the author is modern, which of course is a direct translation of throwing himself into a scientific field which is vast “early modern” in English, a periodization concept and today a subject of intensive debate. This debate anchored in an Anglo-American discursive and ana- concerns questions about nation and nationalism, lytical tradition. belonging, identity, questions which have become The fact that Swedishness and border are notori- more pertinent in the new millennium and have re- ously elusive concepts, difficult to analyse, is made sulted in a failure of the predictions of an imminent clear rather early on in this book. Swedishness is decline and death of the ideas of nation and nation- here a kind of key concept regarding issues of affili- alism, predictions which only some decades ago ation to a state and of ethnicity, the two primary were made by, among others, the British Marxist analytical distinctions Lerbom establishes already in historian Eric Hobsbawm. The two concepts and the the more informative subtitle of the book: “Popular complex reality they are linked to have re-emerged conceptions of ethnicity and state affiliation in Swe- time after time in what looks like a historical return, den 1500–1800”. Lerbom speaks about two differ- after an era which seemed to indicate an eclipse of ent types of imagined communities, what he calls the conceptions of nation and nationalism as gov- regnalism, or a state identity based on an imagined erning categories in the course of events. The wars political-juridical community, and what he calls an in Balkan in the 1990s and those fought later in the ethnicity which he describes as an imagined cultural Middle East have once more indicated that the ener- identity which, internal social or economic differ- gy load in nations and nation building is of a very ences notwithstanding, is maintained through a sym- tenacious kind. It can rearrange itself according to bolic “we” and “they”, and also through inner ele- what different political and religious ideologies ments, as he calls them, such as conceptions of spe- might require. The development in Europe, within cial qualities of one’s own group, bloodlines, territo- the EU, in the last few decades also points in the ry, language, common heritage and religion. same direction. But the fact that Swedishness is such an ambigu- These lines of development in today’s society, ous concept which opens up to several different do- and the imaginary worlds which are linked to them, mains – state, nation, identity, ethnicity, ideology, indicate that Jens Lerbom’s book about imagined language – makes it elusive and difficult in an ana- communities in early modern Sweden has the poten- lytical context, something which with even greater tial to open up this field of inquiry from an angle reason could be said about the other key concept in which underlines both the long historical lines and the title of the book, the concept of border/limit/ the breaches in their development. The fact that Ler- boundary (in Swedish gräns). This Janus-like con- bom has chosen the concept of imagined communi- cept turns one side towards the factual reality and ties made famous by Benedict Anderson from the another towards the imaginary, the symbolic, a book with the same name from 1983 means that he world of more or less charged conceptions about in- has placed his research into a veritable hornets’ nest side and outside, us and them, in this case Swedish of complex and often competing descriptions and and non-Swedish. interpretations. Among “the modernists” in the his- If the subtitle of the book is more informative tory sciences who have been leading proponents in than its main title it is paradoxically also more elu- this continuing discussion about the meaning of sive, since it introduces two other concepts that are nation and nationalism have been Ernest Gellner, not easy to grapple with either, the notions of popu- Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm, who have lar and of conception. While not going into more de- maintained that notions such as nation and national- tail about the conceptual history of these words, it ism are a rather modern construction, while the op- can be stated that a book which charges its title with posing view, led by Anthony D. Smith, has been such examples of what can be called generalia, called primordialism. For the primordialists early words which are important in different contexts and myths and conceptions of a chosen people, a chosen often are highly abstract – cf. the cultural analyst nation with a very old history, were a central part of Raymond Williams’s Keywords: A Vocabulary of the question of nation and nationalism. The fact that Reviews 255

Israel is the prototype for such a thought model is pean political culture. The contents of the requests obvious. Later Smith re-oriented a bit from down- have not interested the researchers to the same de- right primordialism to something he called an ethno- gree. And he adds that neither the protocols from symbolic paradigm. trials nor the requests themselves have been used in Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined com- any substantial way as the basis for analyses or in- munities has been such a success story because it terpretations of possible national imaginary worlds. has a certain fuzziness and ambiguity to it and there- The requests which comprise the core material of fore can be used in rather diverse ways by research- his investigation deal with trials and other processes ers with different leanings. Anderson himself has of a similar kind which are located in time and place written, in a chapter of his autobiography Life be- in one of the most turbulent phases of the continuing yond Boundaries (2016, the chapter has also been historical conflict about the dominance over the re- published in London Review of Books under the gions around the straits and the western side of the heading “Frameworks of Comparison”) about his Baltic between the two kingdoms ruled from Copen- inspiration for the book. These paragons come from hagen and from Stockholm. It was a period that quite different intellectual fields. They are the liter- would see the end of Denmark’s claims as a great ary scholar Erik Auerbach (who wrote about reality power and the beginning of Sweden’s ascendancy to and representation in literature in his great work that position in the North, in the seventeenth century Mimesis), the literary critic and essayist Walter Ben- and the feud over the provinces of Scania, Halland, jamin and the anthropologist Victor Turner. Ander- Blekinge, also Gotland, Bohuslän, Härjedalen and son’s book is quite a boundary-crossing achieve- Jämtland. Especially those conflicts described in the ment. He himself holds the notion that it is not requests and legal protocols, often with a deadly strictly academic and that it had a polemical intent outcome between individuals or smaller groups of which was to emphasize non-European aspects of people which took place at the border between Hal- nation and nationalism. The research field in Ander- land and Scania during these critical years are son’s book is as wide as can be, with connections looked at in detail in Lerbom’s book. The author is between language and reality, ideology, world view above all interested in learning how people on both and fiction within the social and cultural. sides of this “hot” border address each other accord- Concerning the book Lerbom has written, I think ing to the legal protocols, how much they used na- that the concept of imagined community should be tional designations or indeed insults and swear seen as an entry ticket into a complex field in which words. The most typical of this latter category are there are many competing notions and tussles be- “Swedish crook” and “Danish dog”. The difficult tween researchers to be found. When reading his question, one which Lerbom is unable to give an il- book it soon becomes obvious that, more than An- luminating answer to, concerns how one could draw derson, it is Anthony D. Smith who is Lerbom’s any decisive conclusions about how the people in guide when he is grappling with the problem of try- these parts of the world and during this time looked ing to show and understand how an early modern upon their own status, the imagined world they were Swedishness is expressed in various circumstances living in. which are documented. Lerbom is unable to supply any deeper micro-his- The most important contribution of the book to toric analysis of the type Carlo Ginzburg performs the history research on Sweden and the Swedish na- in his studies, for example, on the world view of a tion building, also Swedish nationalism, lies in the heretical miller by the name of Menocchio in careful and detailed work with different judicial pro- north-east Italy, the object of interrogation by the in- tocols and reports, “requests by supplicants”, more quisition and burnt at the stake by the papal church. than the analytical grasp which is consistently rather The case Lerbom describes in most detail concerns weak. These requests by supplicants can be viewed an ill-fated wedding party in the 1620s in the border as a common name for addresses and complaints country between Sweden and Denmark, in the vil- made by individuals or groups and sent to authori- lage of Hassle in the parish of Skatelöv in Småland, ties on different levels of the state apparatus. Ac- where a guest at the wedding, the soldier Nils Måns- cording to Lerbom these requests have mostly been son, was singled out as the perpetrator in the killing seen and analysed as a mirror of early modern Euro- of another soldier, Sven Ram, who was born in Den- 256 Reviews

mark. Lerbom notes that the manslaughter is typical of what was happening. The first – and the most im- of such emergencies of deadly violence in peasant portant – of these is that Swedification was not just society at this time: drunken men who in conjunc- about a “vertical” dialogue between those who held tion with some form of social gathering felt that power and their subjects. There was also another, their honour was violated and hence used a knife, more mundane, “horizontal” dialogue going on be- gun or some other weapon, in this case a candle- tween individuals in the local community in which stick, on each other. In the Hassle case there is a “Swedes” and “the others” were problematized. Ler- special dimension because Sven Månsson had start- bom’s second argument is connected to the first one ed to sing “a discourteous song” containing a text and concerns the political competence of the sub- which saluted the Swedes and denigrated the Dan- jects. He says that one can hardly characterize the ish. This aggravated Sven Ram and a scuffle ensued. subjects as passive political objects. The picture The question about the extent to which the conflict which emerges is, in his view, one of a meeting be- had anything to do with what can be called “patri- tween a politically informed collective of peasants otic”, “national” or even “ethnic” is in Lerbom’s and a power group which is not quite certain of the view difficult to interpret. The divide between a loyalty of the peasantry. His third argument – or Swedish “we” and a Danish “they” leads to the conclusion – is that the political interaction and question of the occurrence and meaning of national communication took place within a reciprocally identities in early modern society, Lerbom con- shared “identification” or a common “mentality” cludes. (his reasoning on this part is derived from conclu- Apart from a focal point on the border region be- sions drawn by the historian Eva Österberg). The tween Sweden and Denmark in Småland and Hal- fourth aspect of his conclusions concerns the fact land in early seventeenth century there are also sec- that it was political crises and changes which en- tions in the book which deal with the geographical forced a more pointed problematization of what it and political centre, Stockholm, at approximately meant to be “Swedish”. On this point he adopts the the same time, and sections on a later period, eight- thoughts of the historian Johan Holm about espe- eenth century up to the time of Gustav III. cially the 1630s being an important breaking point It must be said that the results of Lerbom’s en- in which those who held power in order to legit- quiries are rather modest, something which might be imize their status had to form a partially new way of ascribed to the fact that the material he uses is insuf- addressing the subjects. But he adds that scarcely ficient when it comes to drawing more far-reaching the 1630s alone but larger parts of the seventeenth conclusions concerning the question he has formu- and eighteenth centuries bear the stamp of a se- lated for his work, or it might be a result of the fact quence of connected external as well as internal po- that the theoretical and methodological tools he is litical crises. using are too ineffective for them to give more defi- Maybe it is the lack of a comparative approach nite or more profound answers about the questions which makes the conclusions of the book rather ten- of the popular conceptions of Swedishness, Sweden tative and limited in scope. Would a simple question and the Swedish from a historical point of view. have been able to lift the problematics of the book to What he is able to show is nonetheless, in spite of another analytical level? I am thinking about the these limitations, not uninteresting. question: What is Swedishness, what is Danishness? He is able to show that the anchorage of identity What connects, what separates them? An altogether has moved from an earlier more Christian to a later different approach to the Swedish–Danish border more decidedly Swedish one. He shares the opinion problematics is offered in the ethnologist Anders of earlier researchers that the process of nation Linde-Laursen’s Bordering. Identity Processes be- building should be seen as a central factor in the cre- tween the National and Personal (2010). In that ation of the imagined Swedishness he is discussing book Linde-Laursen used the double concept of bor- in his book. The early modern processes of Swedifi- der/bordering as an Archimedean fixed point which cation took place in the meeting between the ones made it possible for him to look at questions of na- with power and their subjects. As to the significance tional and personal identity, from a new and fresh of the processes he lists four, as he calls them, angle, since he placed border, not identity per se, or linked arguments for a different, new interpretation national, personal identity, at the centre of his study. Reviews 257

In this way he opened up the whole question of what the first centuries the author concentrates on the up- identity is by looking, in quite a postmodern way, at per classes, quite simply because this is where most something he listed as mainly three different modes of the evidence can be found. of space: space by prescription, space by negotiation The book is divided into seven chapters, each of and space by neglect. Strangely enough, that book is which deals with half a century. This might at first missing from the bibliography in Lerbom’s book. seem like a somewhat artificial division, but when Nor is the edited volume Den globala naionalismen one considers that the book is a study in cultural his- (1998, 2006) by the Swedish and Danish researchers tory, there is a point in letting eras in the history of Björn Hettne, Sverker Sörlin and Uffe Østergård in- style guide the presentation here. More and more cluded in the list. different cultural expressions coexisted in different Despite my reservations above, the overall im- settings over the centuries. It is only partially appro- pression of this book is that it is well written, based priate to speak of “pure” styles in the “right” period. on quite detailed, careful research and an interesting Each chapter begins with an outline of the gen- effort to reach further back in time when it comes to eral development of society, with changing trends understanding questions of ethnicity approached and social categories that set the norm. This is fol- from a historical point of view. lowed by descriptions of homes and fashions as well Sven-Erik Klinkmann, Vasa as interior decoration in different cultural settings – and finally in each chapter an account of the textiles of the period, mainly those of the living room, the Textiles Clothing the Danish Home bed, and the table, along with examples that were Louise Skak Nielsen, Det påklædte hjem. Tekstiler particularly typical of the time. Bed textiles com- og boligkultur i Danmark gennem 300 år. Forlaget prise quilts, sheets, pillows, bedspreads and bed cur- Historismus, Nørre Alslev 2017. 343 pp. Ill. ISBN tains; table textiles include table linen, cloths and 978-87-988849-9-6. napkins. Examples of living room textiles are wall coverings, furniture covers, cushions, window and  It has arrived – the book that shows, from the per- door curtains, carpets, tablecloths, embroidered pic- spective of ethnology and cultural history, how tex- tures, decorative textiles, etc. tiles have affected Danish domestic culture through While domestic culture in the homes of the pros- the recent centuries. This is a full and thorough sur- perous bourgeoisie and the peasantry is considered vey that fills a long-felt need. in the first chapters, the fulcrum of the book is the The book has two main themes: the general end of the nineteenth century, when norm-setting chronological history of more than 300 years of de- families of senior civil servants were overtaken by velopment, and the differences between people from the nouveau riche in finance, industry, and trade. different social strata and cultural environments. We Textiles were mass-produced and the clothed home are given a bird’s-eye view of the development of reached saturation point. The descriptions of the ex- society, while domestic culture and the use of tex- uberant historical styles at the end of the nineteenth tiles in the home is described and analysed from the century are an excellent demonstration of how inter- classical ethnological dimensions: time, place, and ior decoration was a carefully choreographed at- social class – and cultural identity. Key words in the mospheric tableau (p. 188). One can easily picture descriptions are need and availability, that is to say, it! Also the “cleansing process” that necessarily had the possibilities and limitations that people had to to follow. acquire and integrate different types of domestic At the end of the nineteenth century the author textiles in the home. The author also focuses on talks of a certain levelling of the differences be- fashion and style, and the prestige associated with tween rural and urban settings, although there were domestic culture. major social divisions and sharp cultural profiles The main foundation for the monograph, besides long into the twentieth century. Farmers’ homes, for the author’s own studies from the Præstø region, example, where they aimed for or communicated ur- consists of other scholars’ research on textiles and ban culture through interior decoration and textiles, domestic culture. The geographical focus is on east- could have been mentioned since there are ethno- ern Denmark, Sjælland and urban culture. And for logical studies of these cultural processes, such as 258 Reviews

P. O. Christiansen’s “Peasant Adaptation to Bour- future in collaboration with post-war furniture de- geois Culture?” in Ethnologia Scandinavica 1978. signers. But the size of the book naturally sets limits to how The book is a splendid volume with exquisite col- thoroughly the individual topics can be examined. our pictures of individual textiles and complete in- The author’s special ethnological gaze is evident, teriors, whether drawn, painted, or photographed. for instance, in photographs and memoirs of The notes and references are exhaustive, testifying “wrong” interiors from reality which are not particu- that this monograph is in fact the first concerted sur- larly influenced by one style. She admits that homes vey of the topic. which are supposedly typical of their time can easily This is a weighty book, quite literally as well, become an abstract construction and that the home making it difficult to manoeuvre in it, since source in reality is a composite entity with varied refer- references for both the picture captions and the ences to the inhabitant’s own lives. The photograph well-chosen quotations are placed at the end of the on page 281 exudes cosiness, making one curious to book. This applies to the notes and the list of techni- hear the life story behind the material expressions. cal terms as well. That, however, would be beyond the scope of the The book is well written and easy to read, al- book. But as we see from the concluding chapter though there are a few repetitions. On the other about the supposedly more individualized homes of hand, the chapters can be read separately, with the recent years, the desire to get behind signals and in-built repetitions of stylistic features and customs symbols in the home is far from being alien: “The in domestic culture. home was no longer just a lifestyle project but had The book will make pleasant reading for cultural been expanded to become an identity project as historians, designers, and practising craft artists, and well, where communication directed inwards, also for any interested readers both inside and out- self-reflection, came to play a crucial part. […] It is side the museum world. It can be warmly recom- considered valuable that the things you surround mended and ought to lie open on any coffee table, yourself with have a history” (p. 316). preferably on a white cloth from one of Fyn’s The English Arts & Crafts movement, which was damask weavers! brought to Scandinavia via Carl Larsson and others Mette Eriksen Havsteen-Mikkelsen, Ærø and became one of the most important twentieth- century models for interior decoration and domestic culture, is mentioned several times. So too are the Thinking through Narrated Communities later revitalizations, for example, in the Country style. The indigenous Skønvirke style, which spread and Individual Life Stories all over the country in the early twentieth century Ulf Palmenfelt, Berättade gemenskaper. Individuel- among the art-interested bourgeoisie and through la livshistorier och kollektiva tankefigurer. Carlsson the folk high schools and the crafts movement, Bokförlag, Stockholm 2017. 352 pp. ISBN 978-91- could also have been interesting to see illuminated 7331-809-9. more, for example, with reference to Kirsten Ry- kind-Eriksen’s Griffe, hejrer og ulve: Nyt syn på de- What is folklore and what is not? In this new and sign og møbelindustri 1830‒1930 (2015). quite intriguing book on narrated communities, indi- The book gives a good survey of a detailed field vidual life stories and collective thought figures, the with a great amount of names and textile types. Swedish folklorist Ulf Palmenfelt advocates for a There is an interesting account of functionalism as a conception of the folkloristic field which leaves simple and actually rather textile-less style in the older signposts such as anonymous informant, oral homes of the upper social-liberal stratum, while tradition and narrated variants aside and instead simultaneously in the 1930s and 1940s countless looks, in this case, at life stories collected on tape of household textiles were woven and embroidered 132 inhabitants of the Gotlandic city of Visby, from with inspiration from Danish folk culture. Times of the point of view of narrative analysis. The persons scarcity actually promoted luxuriant decorative art interviewed in 1995 were all pensioners, born be- among Danish weavers, fabric printers, and textile tween 1901 and 1932, a large portion of them born designers, which would then prove fruitful in the in Visby, with an almost even distribution by sex, Reviews 259

and they were also chosen to represent all kinds of and also possibly the most problematic as to his con- living milieus in Visby as well as consisting of per- ception of life stories and life-story tellers. The sons from different social groups. They were expli- storytellers’ way of forming their life stories is citly not chosen for their possible skill as story- shaped, he notes, both by linguistic conventions, not tellers; instead they were supposed to give the inter- least established narrative patterns, and by collective viewers a summary of their lives and also give their cognitive structures. views on the way society had developed during their This resonates quite well with a view of folklore lifetime. as a formal mechanism under the control of a given What Palmenfelt is doing in his book is a pains- community (in contrast to the rules of literature of a taking close reading of these life stories, often with more conventional type where the formal freedom rather extensive and quite interesting outtakes (tran- of the writer/storyteller is much greater). In the folk- scriptions) from them. The method he applies to his loristic storytelling format, if we follow the lin- study is an analysis of oral narratives mainly taken guists/folklorists Roman Jakobson and Petr Boga- from the sociolinguist William Labov’s model of tyrev in their take on folklore as a special form of elementary building blocks in life stories, which he creation, the restrictions on the storyteller are meant has combined with the approach Katharine Gallo- to serve the preservation – or constant re-creation – way Young has chosen in her work on what she of certain traditional forms of storytelling, simple calls taleworlds and storyrealms, i.e. what happens forms such as those identified by the literary scholar on a microlevel phenomenologically in oral story- André Jolles (legend, saga, myth, riddle, saying, telling. Young is concerned with how storytellers case, memorabile, fairy tale and joke). frame their stories, how they can move in the realm Palmenfelt goes on to propose that the narrative of conversation to the taleworlds and then mentally patterns and the thought figures seem to have an move further into a kind of in-betweenness between agency of their own. They pop up in the life stories these two realms into a third realm, the storyrealm almost beyond the storyteller’s control. But there is which is really where the story of the teller is taking at the same time a certain difference in scale in- place. But there are other important inspirations the- volved, he maintains. Certain narrative structures oretically here, e.g. the concepts of keying and fram- and thought figures seem to have force fields which ing in conjunction with storytelling, something we are so strong that they propose themselves even with associate with the folklorist Erving Goffman. individuals who in their lives have not been directly Another inspiration for Palmenfelt is the folk- touched by them. lorist Sandra Dolby Stahl’s insight that the dualism But what are these thought figures so eminent in of tradition and innovation need not be absolute in his Visby material, how frequent are they, how these kinds of stories, but should be seen as a con- many in numbers? If one follows Asplund’s original stant re-negotiation of traditional elements and inno- conception of thought figure there is not an infinite vations in the performance situations. number of them. Instead they tend to be rather few An important move Palmenfelt makes as to his and also especially insistent as to their power to hold theory and methodology is to introduce two con- attention. He names some of these thought figures in cepts: One concerns the point of view of the story- his essay “Utkast till en heuristisk modell för teller, the positionings of the storyteller in relation idékritisk forskning” (Draft of a heuristic model for to his or her life story or different parts of the story. idea-critical research) from 1979 in which he intro- The other concept is a kind of middle ground con- duced the concept. Among Asplund’s chosen cept between the storytelling event, the linguistic thought figures, especially pertinent ones are the level, and the mental structures being activated. The idea of childhood, individuality, madness and second one he calls thought figures, a concept he catastrophe, also the seven lean and the seven fat has picked up from the sociologist Johan Asplund. years of Genesis, the great chain of being, mundus Both concepts make the analysis more fine-grained. senescens (the ageing world) and the idea of pro- Especially the question of positioning is of great gress. Asplund’s view is that the number of thought help in Palmenfelt’s able hands. figures during a certain epoch is limited. In com- But it is the second one, the question of thought parison with the countless number of ideas on the figures, that I find the most intriguing in the book discursive level the thought figures are few, some- 260 Reviews

thing he thinks that research on the history of ideas Palmenfelt’s view they might be using idiomatic will be able to show empirically. words, dialect and general narrative structures and But if we follow Palmenfelt’s research on the life other collective patterns and thus positioning them- stories of these Visby dwellers the picture looks selves with their stories of their lives in Visby of the quite different. The thought figures abound in num- twentieth century (mainly before 1965), using a bers. Palmenfelt makes a summary of recurring wide array of thought figures. The stories in Pal- thought figures in his material, something which he menfelt’s view have created certain thought figures calls a subjective, rhapsodic and non-comprehensive and at same time the storytellers have been able to enumeration which he has grasped when listening position themselves in relation to these thought fig- several times to the tapes. The list of thought figures ures. is several pages long, with separate paragraphs on But what remains as something of a mystery in children and young people, working life, household, the book is the question of community concerning social care, infrastructure, leisure time, money and the stories and storytellers Palmenfelt is referencing. prices, violence, and, as a kind of summary of this Are there not, as the philosopher Avishai Margalit summary of thought figures, the idea among the would have it, at least three main types of communi- life-story tellers of a general ambiguity concerning ties when we think of the communities of memory past times. This most prominent of all his thought which Palmenfelt is dealing with here? There is a figures is the one about earlier times being both bet- difference between a collective memory, a shared ter and worse than today: work was hard, painstak- memory and a common memory, a difference be- ing and was performed in difficult circumstances. tween an open community and a closed one, and But at the same time it was equal for all, people there is something which might be called an encom- helped each other and work was meaningful. passing community, that is, a community which will As for the rest of the extensive list of Palmen- make claims to identity formations of different sorts. felt’s thought figures, in my opinion they should But the question of these different kinds of commu- rather be seen as discursive orientations steering the nities, how much they might be already given and/or transport of yesterday to now in the memory work constantly renegotiated, re-invented is crucial here of these Visby dwellers, rather than as thought fig- and unfortunately also very difficult to get a grip of. ures in Asplund’s sense. It is not therefore really surprising that Palmen- And what about Visby and the place it holds in felt’s well researched, extensive and quite sympa- these life stories? Since a key concern for Palmen- thetic take on these life stories will end on a rather felt seems to be to find a navigating point between tautological note. He concludes by saying that with the individual and the collective, and between the stories we are able to give form to our memories and specific and the general, the question of place and make our experiences tangible. Stories can help us sense of place is in his own meta-storytelling some- understand abstract concepts such as time and place thing which pretty much conforms with what the and community. Stories can give meaning to our geographer Doreen Massey has called a double ar- own lives and the lives of others. By writing the ticulation, a kind of two-way street between the gen- book he finds that he has taken some steps towards eral and the explicit, in which places like villages or an understanding of how all of this is possible. Such cities by way of social, economic and cultural pro- an admirably unassuming notion is an apt endnote to cesses are produced as communities, or senses of this book which is so full of interesting and moving, communities. In this way a place includes, besides also sometimes shocking stories, stories everyone its physical extension, also social and temporal rela- who has shared something of the “period’s eye”, so tions and subject positions, as the folklorist Seppo to speak, is able to relate to. Theoretically speaking Knuuttila has noted when discussing Massey’s con- the book might not break that much new ground, but cept. This is also quite obvious in Palmenfelt’s an- it is methodologically sound and quite well written. alysis, which focuses on the embedded character of It is a book full of life stories both extraordinary and the tendencies in these stories of also being counter- quite common, a book which this reader found both narratives which give their speakers an option of charming and an excellent focal point for trying to different positionings on a multidimensional map. think through the central concepts referred to above. When these Visby dwellers tell their life stories, in Sven-Erik Klinkmann,Vasa Reviews 261

Loving Your Job Petersson McIntyre continues and gathers with Magdalena Petersson McIntyre, Att älska sitt jobb – this book her long tradition of research in consump- Passion, entusiasm och nyliberal subjektivitet. Nor- tion, organization, employment and gender, as all dic Academic Press, Lund 2016. 281 pp. ISBN four are major factors in the analysis. The book is 978-91-88168-75-7. divided into four analytical chapters, based on ex- tensive fieldwork with observations in retail shops,  Loving your job is a common understanding of around 30 interviews with employees in different being a happy and successful person in a broader positions in four areas in the retail industry: fashion, perspective. It has become a requirement or an ex- beauty, consumer electronics and construction; a lit- pectation on the part of employer and employee erature study of books aimed at people working with alike. But how is it possible to make a statement selling or who would like to do so. And last but not about loving your job when you have bad working least a two-week self-ethnography where she was conditions such as insecure employment terms, working unpaid in a clothing store. The four chap- meagre possibilities to advance, scant personal de- ters address four themes which are of course inter- velopment, and little or no freedom to plan and or- leaved: (1) “Charisma and Job Satisfaction”; (2) ganize your time? Magdalena Petersson McIntyre at “Representation and Embodiment”; (3) “Passion”; Gothenburg University addresses exactly this ques- and (4) “Gender, Intersectionality and Calculation”. tion in her close study of the retail industry, Att äls- The theoretical framework of the analysis is built ka sitt jobb. She investigates why so many people in up around various theories concerning the concept this industry say that they love their jobs, why it of agency. As the one of the major theorists seems so important to do so and what it means and François Cooren helps us to understand how agency how it can be understood in relation to the actual de- and passion manage our actions. Laurant Berlant, as velopment on the labour market which she under- the other main theorist, helps in observing and ex- stands as being in a neo-liberal era. plaining the quest for emotional normality. Arlie The book gives people in this industry a voice to Hochschild is referred to for the term “emotional tell their version of what it is like to work in this part work” and for an understanding of real and false of the service economy, the requirements that apply, feelings. Petersson McIntyre questions this as she spoken and unspoken, as well as the meanings these thinks that all feelings have to be studied as real have for their view of their work. The retail industry even though they are commodified and required by is shown to be an excellent field to study the pro- the employer. Here Eva Illouz’s way of theorizing cesses which make us talk about loving our jobs, capitalism and feelings is a helpful approach. processes that concern us all and our attitude to and The gender aspect in the analysis is based on per- expectations of our working (professional) life. formance theory which builds partly on works by Moreover, the processes by which work and con- Judith Butler. sumption are increasingly interwoven are shown to The first chapter on “Charisma and Job Satisfac- be very clear in this domain. tion” analyses working conditions in the retail in- Magdalena Petersson McIntyre visualizes how dustry and the way the informants perceived their these processes are not just symptoms of the struc- employment. Through a close examination of the in- tural changes on the labour market – often explained terviews the author reveals the processes going on in from a structural perspective of neoliberalism – but the recruitment procedure and how the employees also reveal something about agency where subjec- define the requirements they have to meet to be a tivity, dreams about life and ways to feel successful successful salesperson: displaying your personality, and to be seen as such play a crucial role. Her analy- having an interest in the product and being convinc- sis shows that loving one’s job is a way to make ing are some of the competences which are articulat- sense for those who have a job with poor conditions ed – things you can’t learn but need to have. Fur- and no chance to affect them. Furthermore, it shows thermore, Petersson McIntyre demonstrates how how the flow of passion and practices has meanings feelings are an important part of the job as a sales- for work, consumption and selling and gives a cul- person and that these have to be true, not feigned, as tural understanding of what it implies to be a work- the customers have to be convinced. By examining ing subject. the feelings combined with the insecure and chaotic 262 Reviews

conditions of a neoliberal labour market the author iour at work, leading to up-selling. Interest was finds them to produce an understanding among the found to be the main characteristic required by the employees of the working conditions as natural, employers. It was important as it leads to trust- which is why they are accepted. She thereby under- worthiness which again was indispensable for being stands the processes of individualizing and person- a successful salesperson. However, interest cannot alizing one’s success as a salesperson as a way to be be learned and it is not articulated in a specific way subordinated to capitalistic logics where the rela- by employers or sales training. Anyway, everyone tions on the labour market are natural and cannot be has to have it. The author uses the concept of agency or should not be challenged. If you fail, the problem to understand how important different feelings and is seen as individual, which leads to further subordi- characteristics, attached to interest and passion, are nation and even more experience of failure by the for inspiring a specific way of acting at work and individuals. how they create meanings for the employees – The second chapter, “Representation and Em- which again cause positive effects in the selling re- bodiment”, focuses on the relation between the em- lation to the customers. She is inspired here by bodiment and passion studied through norms of ap- Cooren’s upstream and downstream model and pearance and clothing. In the last few decades com- takes Hochschild’s analysis of the feelings in the panies have paid increasing attention to the emo- service economy one step further from being false tional commitment of their employees to the feelings to be real and productive. company goals, with the result that they are trans- The last analytical chapter, “Gender, Intersec- formed into the employees’ own personal goals. As tionality and Calculation”, analyses how gender and appearance plays an important role in many places intersectionality are used actively by the shops and in the retail industry, the author analyses the require- in the work as a salesperson. It discusses how no- ments of the employees to embody the organization, tions of gender, cultural background, age and even and she examines which meanings of a specific ap- body shape flow between employees, customers and pearance are mediated and justified. She uses Chris bosses. It is a system where power shifts between Warhurst’s concept of “aesthetic labour” and others the different agents and where some can have more to understand how the specific body work is done, advantages than others. The author shows how the especially in fashion shops, where the employees shops work actively with these mechanisms – espe- are expected to represent the organization through cially about gender (but also other prejudices and their appearance and body. The informants ex- notions). They are selling an aesthetic experience pressed their love of fashion which Petersson McIn- where, for example, bodies are commodified which tyre explains through a consumer logic which is is expected of the employee without being articulat- about loving fashion as a consumer and hence – by ed or paid for. working with fashion – the employees get close to Petersson McIntyre’s analysis of a world hidden fashion both as private persons and as working per- behind the shining shops, beautiful people and sons. This leads to a blurring of the borders between sparkling eyes of the salespersons we all meet in our work, spare time and consuming, which again re- daily life in capitalistic societies is – although not veals how the employees’ interests are interwoven completely surprising – very much eye opening. The with the employers’, thereby keeping up a feeling of way she analyses feelings as agents suddenly gives agency, free will and autonomy as a reason for a an understanding of how processes of affiliation and specific way of understanding labour. Summing up, loyalty to the employer are going on and are actively she finds that the shops set up requirements for their used in industries with bad working conditions to employees to identify themselves with the shop cause acceptance of these. brand and to be interested in their products, while Petersson McIntyre has a convincing showdown the employees describe their own free will as the with Hochschild’s understanding of real and unreal reason for this relation. feelings, which the people in the service economy In chapter three “Passion”, Petersson McIntyre could not keep apart. She instead explains how these investigates how interests, as a kind of passion, can feelings can be understood as real in all cases as be understood and how they are used in the retail in- they give meaning to the individual practices around dustry to inspire the employees to specific behav- the work. Reviews 263

The book is a good starting point for further stu- published in Sweden during the studied period. Half dies of the retail industry or similar studies in other of the books are Swedish originals, the other half sectors/industries as it gives a lot of good insights translations. She focuses on the leading characters in into the industry and the emotional work that is done the books and concludes that almost a thousand of on the job. It also shows an interesting approach to these 1,600 girls’ books are about occupational understanding the processes and negotiations taking dreams and working life. place on a neoliberal labour market with a rare view The book is divided into different sections, with from an agency perspective. It shows the processes the first part presenting the girls’ books as a caval- around the changed working conditions which seek cade of occupations. Thirteen chapters consider the to maintain the loyalty of the employees while in- different occupations: in child care, housekeeping, spiring them to act in a profitable way for the com- teaching, office work, art, and many more. Health pany, while keeping an eye on the individual strate- care takes up a relatively large space, as the series gies for maintaining a meaningful life. about Sister Ann Barton (Helen D. Boylston) and Sabine Køhn Rohde, Copenhagen similar books were extremely popular reading among young girls. Theander’s explanation for the popularity of the nurse books is that the profession, To Work! the training, and the patients are portrayed with hu- Birgitta Theander, Till arbetet! Yrkesdrömmar och mour and engagement. What she does not bring up, arbetsliv i flickboken 1920–65. Makadam förlag, however, is why the nursing profession used to be a Göteborg/Stockholm 2017. 393 pp. Ill. ISBN 987- dream for many young girls. Here I think it was a 91-7061-243-5. romantic notion of the profession that impelled young girls to read about the hospital setting and  As a young reader who devoured books, I loved dream of a future as a nurse, rather than the descrip- to read about Anne of Green Gables, Girls in White, tion of the profession itself. The second part of the Kulla-Gulla, and the Lotta books by Merri Wik. book is about more general features of girls’ books, Studies show that I was far from being alone in hav- examined on the basis of the time, the occupational ing a special relationship to this type of books (see novel as a genre, and the personal characteristics as- e.g. Åsa Warnqvist (ed.), Besläktade själar: Läs- cribed to the protagonists. Work is portrayed as an upplevelser av Anne på Grönkulla, Lund 2009). At adventure for the young girls, and the work itself is that time the thought did not strike me that these of value. Theander also discusses the role of girls’ were girls’ books related to occupational life. This books as regards gender equality. In the concluding book, “To Work!”, brings out the relationship be- chapter the author relates to previous research in the tween girls’ books and occupational work. field. The literature scholar Birgitta Theander published While the book is impressive in its approach, as a her doctoral dissertation on girls’ books, Älskad och scholarly work it is somewhat problematic. This is förnekad: Flickboken i Sverige 1945–65, at Lund due to the absence of theoretical perspectives and University in 2010. There she showed that the protag- the failure to discuss central terms. The concept of onists in girls’ books were not passive girls indulging work is not problematized at all, nor is the genre of in dreams of romantic love; instead they did work of girl’s book. There is a very short discussion of the various kinds. In the book reviewed here, on “Occu- genre where the author says that a girl’s book is a pational Dreams and Working Life in Girls’ Books”, book that was regarded as a girl’s book in its own Theander has broadened the timespan to cover the time. The link between society’s visions as regards years 1920–1965 in an attempt to find the roots of the women’s education, what girls’ occupational descriptions of occupational life in the girls’ books. dreams actually looked like, and these particular She asks what kinds of work the heroines of girls’ girls’ books ought to have been problematized more. books did, and what phenomena in society the girls’ In the last chapter the author briefly presents her ob- books were inspired by. Did girls’ books follow the servations about the way society has developed, but trends of the time, and did they have an emancipatory to be able to study girls’ books as a mirror of their effect? This book is impressive in many ways. The time, this should have been done in greater detail author has analysed no less than 1,600 girls’ books and in a more problematizing tone. In this chapter 264 Reviews

she relates her study to previous research. This part The book is easy to read and richly illustrated, and ought to have come earlier, since it is not until page many readers will no doubt experience a sense of rec- 301 that we are told that Boel Westin arrived at the ognition. Besides the text itself there is an appendix same conclusion as Theander back in the 1990s, that where the 1,600 books in the study are presented al- Swedish girls’ books in the twentieth century were phabetically by author. This is an admirable achieve- full of working, studying, and writing women. There ment and a good starting point for future research. could also have been further discussion of how oc- Lena Marander-Eklund, Åbo cupational life is related to the surrounding notions of a woman’s place being in the home.