Labour and workers in Sweden since approx. 1850
Session organizer/s: Fia Sundevall
Allmännyttan som arbetarbostad
Session: 3
Authors: Hannes Rolf
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: I detta paper argumenterar jag för att det finns en klasskampsdimension i allmännyttan. Sverige är ett särskilt angeläget fall för att studera denna typ av bostadspolitiska lösningar som friställer bostaden från den direkta produktionsrelationen. Utvecklingen är extra tydlig under efterkrigstiden.
Paid domestic work in Sweden 1890-1939
Session: 3
Authors: Sofi Vedin
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: This paper concerns empirical results from my dissertation Frun tillhanda: Avlönat hushållsarbete i Sverige 1890-1939, where I study the practices and hierarchies of paid domestic work. The dissertation is attached to a field of labour and gender history. Female domestic workers were at a point in time the largest female occupational group in Sweden, and the number of workers rose continuously between 1870 and 1930. Though the group has been studied by historians before, I draw from classic social history to explore the practices of domestic work in terms of “what did they do” and “who did what”. During the period studied here, the work was regulated by the Servant Act of 1833, which by the 1900’s in practice was obsolete. The Servant Act was abolished in 1926, making the occupation unregulated by law. The work, terms and conditions of the workers where thus up to the employers. Historians have pointed out that the work of domestics has been simplified and homogenized in statistics and researchers. My main source material is divided in two: work advertisements written for and by domestic workers from Dagens Nyheter, and questionnaire answers written in 1967 by domestic workers and former employers of them from the archive of Nordiska Museet. The advertisements have been broken down into categories concerning occupation title used by the advertiser, the work qualifications and work tasks mentioned, the personal traits and social background of the domestic worker, and so on. The questionnaire answers, on the other hand, tell stories and give testimonies to the everyday practices of the household and about domestic work. Through these different sources the work, practices and hierarchies of the household can be studied. My paper will mainly focus on empirical results from two chapters of my dissertation: one that concerns the occupational titles, their change over time, and their ties to the hierarchies of the household, and what work tasks were tied to each occupational title. Through this, the organization of the work performed in the home can be studied – simply put, who did what? I also discuss how the work performed affected the hierarchies of the home, in terms of class and gender differences. I use the concepts of horizontal and vertical hierarchies to discuss the (often informal) hierarchies within the group of domestic workers and horizontal hierarchies to discuss the (formal) hierarchies between the worker and the employers.
Varsel om stridsåtgärd
Session: 3
Authors: Jenny Jansson
Co-authors: Katrine Uba
Abstract: För sessionen Labor (Sundevall)
Ambivalent solidaritet? Nation, migration och rasifiering i Svenska kommunalarbetareförbundet 1972-2002
Session: 4
Authors: Daniel Stridh
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet är ett fackförbund som organiserar arbetare inom den offentliga omsorgssektorn och har som sådant befunnit sig i centrum för den svenska välfärdsmodellens konstruktion, förändringar och omformuleringar de senaste 50 åren. Inte minst organiserar förbundet arbetare inom den offentliga barnsomsorgen som på flera sätt haft en paradigmatisk betydelse för konstruktionen av Sverige som en modern, jämlik och jämställd nation. De senaste decenniernas rörelse från ett system med generell välfärd mot en ökad marknadisering av välfärdens omsorgstjänster har dock skett samtidigt som en differentierad arbetsmarknad längs etniska och rasmässiga linjer vuxit fram. I detta paper kommer jag att belysa hur Kommunal förstått, problematiserat och hanterat frågan om migrationen till Sverige under tidsperioden 1972–2002. Hur har relationen mellan mellan fackliga intresseformeringar, den svenska modellen och arbetsmarknadens rasifieringsprocesser sett ut? På vilka sätt har arbetet mot diskriminering gjorts till en facklig fråga?
En kamp om produktionen. Arbetare och rationaliseringspolitik i Sverige 1920–1950
Session: 4
Authors: Arvand Mirsafian
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: Min avhandling handlar om hur svenska metallarbetare tog sig an teknisk förändring under mellankrigstiden. Betydande tekniska och organisatoriska förändringar genomfördes inom den svenska industrin under mellankrigstiden som syftade till att införa nya maskiner samt implementera vetenskaplig arbetsledning i större skala. Genom att studera metallarbetare argumenterar jag för att den svenska fackföreningsrörelsen aktivt försökte påverka hur ny teknik implementerades på verkstadsgolven, och att denna kamp var en del av en kamp om arbetsprocessen. Jag menar också att konflikten mellan arbete och kapital om rationaliseringen under denna period är väsentlig för att förstå den efterföljande institutionaliseringen av den så kallade “svenska arbetsmarknadsmodellen” under 1930– och 1940–talet.
Fackets roll i prekariseringen: LOs förhandlingar om anställningtryggheten 1990-2020
Session: 4
Authors: Thea Holmlund
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: Fackets roll i prekariseringen: LOs förhandlingar om anställningtryggheten 1990-2020 Thea Holmlund, Stockholms universitet
Abstract svenska: Sedan 1990-talet har osäkra anställningar blivit allt vanligare i Sverige. Många menar att avregleringar av anställningsskyddet varit en central förutsättning för att arbetslivet prekariserats i många länder. Mellan I Sverige genomfördes bland annat lagstiftade förändringar under 1990- och 2000-talet som avreglerade personaluthyrning och skapade större möjligheter att anställda på visstid. LO har historiskt sett haft stort inflytande över den svenska arbetsmarknadens regleringar och organiserat förbund i branscher där arbetare har drabbats av osäkra anställningar. Att studera LOs handlingar och reaktioner i relation till anställningsskyddets uppluckring kan därmed bidra till förståelsen av arbetslivets prekarisering de senaste decennierna. Tidigare forskning har i stor utsträckning beskrivit LO som en homogen aktör och tagit dess intressen för givna. Samtidigt har andra forskare noterat att huruvida fackföreningar agerar inkluderande gentemot arbetare med icke-standardiserade anställningar eller ej beror på i vilken utsträckning de identifierar gemensamma intressen med dessa arbetare. Det finns därför ett behov av att få mer kunskap om hur LO:s intressen har skapats, vilka skillnader som har funnits mellan dess medlemsförbund och på vilka sätt dominerande perspektiv getts företräde. Avhandlingen syfte är att studera vilka problembilder av prekarisering och synsätt på lösningar på arbetsplatser, branschnivå och nationell nivå som format LOs förhållningssätt till uppluckringen av anställningsskyddet och otrygga anställningar.
Abstract English: The Role of Trade Unions in Precarisation: LO’s Negotiations on Employment Security 1990-2020 Since the 1990s, precarious employment has become increasingly common in Sweden. Many argue that the deregulation of employment protection has been a central precondition for the precarisation of the labour market in many countries. In Sweden, legislative changes were made during the 1990s och 2000s that deregulated agency work and created greater opportunities to use fixed-term employment. Historically, The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) has had significant influence over the regulations of the Swedish labour market and has organised unions in industries where workers have been affected by precarious employment. Studying LO’s actions and reactions in relation to the liberalisation of employment protection can therefore contribute to understanding the precarisation of the labour market in recent decades. Previous research has largely described LO as a homogeneous actor and taken its’ interests for granted. However, other researchers have noted that whether trade unions act inclusively towards workers with non-standardised employment or not depends on the extent to which they identify common interests with these workers. Therefore, there is a need to gain knowledge about how LO’s interests have been created, what differences have existed between its member unions, and in what ways dominant perspectives have been given priority. The aim of the dissertation is to examine what problem formulations of precarisation and perspectives on solutions at the workplace-, industry- and national level that have shaped LO’s approach to insecure employment and the deregulation of employment protection.
What do and don’t the censuses tell us about married women’s work?
Session: 4
Authors: Kelsey Marleen Mol
Co-authors: NA
Abstract: Previous research has stressed the limitations of using the historical censuses’ enumeration on women’s work, mainly concerning the fact that married women were by and large solely defined as housewives and their labor force participation was concealed. This consideration is primarily based off of research on the enumerations of main occupations, which was the most common occupational rubric in the national censuses. A few censuses, however, were particularly detailed, containing rubrics that may supplement our knowledge about women’s work. Such a census is the Swedish national census of 1930. It contains relatively hard to come by information on sideline occupations, income, and wealth, which can provide information on income-oriented work, beyond the housewife title. By analyzing the particularly rich information in the 1930 census in the general context of censuses’ typical limitations and objectives, this study explores “what do and don’t the censuses tell us about married women’s work?”. Answers to this question will rely on descriptive statistics that summarize the occupational and income enumerations, as well as methods that investigate the ways individual characteristics (e.g., socio-economic background, geographical background, educational level, age, etc.) were associated with having received various details on labor force participation. The paper contributes to existing research by nuancing the narrative of the censuses’ inadequate enumeration, by providing insight into the 1930 Swedish census and women’s work around 1930, and by enlightening future studies if having an occupation or income, or, rather, having this enumerated, was more typical for married women with certain characteristics.