European Professors as Public Intellectuals

Historically, European economists, compared to their American counterpart, were more involved in public discussions of policy. In this paper it is argued that this has likely changed. The chief reasons seem to involve the European imitation of the academic ethos that is more prevalent in America. Features of this academic ethos include a more formalist orientation in graduate programs and an academic incentive system wherein professional journal publication is paramount and public discourse is relatively devalued. I suggest there is an inescapable ideological dilemma in addressing the costs and benefits of professors’ neglect of public discourse. The ideological character of academics compared with our own political sensibilities affect whether we want academics to influence public discourse or not. I use the history of academics as public intellectuals in Sweden to substantiate the change, and I use new data on Swedish social science academics to see whether those who participate in public discourse tend to have certain political and social views.

The fiction of female dependence and the makeshift economy of soldiers,sailors, and their wives in eighteenth-century London

Using accounts from the Old Bailey Proceedings, this article examines the economic side of military marriages in eighteenth-century London, outlining a fundamental disjuncture in eighteenth-century attitudes to working wives. While all wives were expected to work, state and parish records of military wives repeatedly stress their total dependence on men's wages and bounty money. In actual fact, soldiers, sailors and their wives made use of a much wider range of survival strategies. By stealing, taking odd jobs, pawning goods, and accepting aid from kin or friends, both husbands and wives might significantly augment military pay and/or poor relief.     

瑞典的北极战略

在北极开发和竞争热潮的刺激下,作为北极八国中距离北极最为遥远的国家,瑞典也于2011年5月发布了《瑞典在北极的战略》文件,从历史联系、安全政策、经济纽带、环境与气候、调查研究和文化等六个方面,详细叙述了瑞典与北极之间的联系。该文件是瑞典政府在北极地区的第一个战略计划,也是瑞典在北极地区进一步发展的一个起点。该文件在着重强调瑞典与北极历史联系的同时,侧重关注气候与环境、经济发展和人文发展,其核心思想是着力强化与北极国家的合作来提升瑞典在北极的影响力。     

瑞典医疗保障制度对我国的启示和借鉴

瑞典完善的医疗保障制度是高福利国家的缩影。瑞典医疗保障具有医疗保障高福利性、公平性和适宜性三个特点。瑞典高福利下的医疗保障也面临高税收、老龄化、低效率、医疗福利诈骗等挑战。我国应从瑞典医疗保险制度中得到启示,坚持全民医保的目标,医疗保障水平的提高应选择循序渐进的路径。     

Families and households of the poor: The 19th-century Slovenian gostači

The present study examines the position of day laborers, a social category still awaiting comparative study by family historians. In 19th-century Slovenian sources these laborers, called gosta?i, were a very mobile group that did not own property; they could be married or single and could be involved in various occasional jobs, agricultural or industrial, skilled or unskilled. By comparing two communities (one agrarian, the other centered on iron production), the study shows that the living and working arrangements of gosta?i were profoundly affected by the economy and by natural resources. They therefore developed different residential patterns, though in neither case did their families constitute a part of the owner's sub-household in the Laslettian sense. The study concludes that in the 19th century this poor social group should not be treated as a homogenous workforce but as flexible and dynamic.     

The birth of population statistics in Sweden

In 1749, Sweden established a system for population statistics (Tabellverket) that annually presented data for important demographic events in the 2500 parishes of the country. Taxation records and church book registration were important antecedents, as were the temporal events of wars, famines, and raging epidemics. During a period of recovery, Sweden went through political changes. Influenced by international political arithmetic and mercantilism, the establishment of Tabellverket was part of a plan to increase and rationalize the population. The existence of a medical organization and a central administrative system helped, but even more important were the networks that included most of the influential people. Thus, clergy who were responsible for the compilation of data played a key role. By using the existing church organization, the project turned out to be realizable.     

Migration of rural families in 19th century southern Sweden. A longitudinal analysis of local migration patterns

Most research on historical migration patterns has focused on more long-range migration processes such as rural–urban, interregional, or intercontinental flows, neglecting the more local migration patterns, which could also have a profound impact on the rural preindustrial economy. This article analyzes the migration of rural families in 19th century southern Sweden using a longitudinal data set at the microlevel. The analysis shows a rather high mobility of families, the overwhelming majority of whom migrated very short distances. Factors determining the migration decision of these families included access to land and social networks and family composition as well as family type. The results clearly show that migration was an important part of the lives of preindustrial families and that the new migration pattern emerging in the second half of the 19th century, when rural–urban as well as international migration increased considerably, was not so much the result of higher mobility in general but rather a response to changing incentives making long distance migration more attractive.     

Prison Populations as Political Constructs: the Case of Finland,Holland and Sweden

Countries such as Finland, Holland and Sweden have witnessed similar economic and social developments and have been affected by similar crime trends. However, over the past 50 years, the daily prison populations in these three Northern European countries have developed very differently. An attempt is made here to discuss these diverse developments in the light of a perspective that treats daily prison populations as political constructs.1 ¹I am grateful to my translator, David Shannon, and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.      

Crime and Psychiatry in Problematic Coexistence: Four Domestic Homicides and the Nineteenth-Century Courts

Four domestic murder cases of a fairly similar character are described: a man killing his child or children, and in one case also his wife. They occurred in three neighbouring rural parishes in northern Sweden in the mid-nineteenth century within a period of about 20 years.

The four offenders showed all the signs of being seriously mentally deranged. Three of them made either unsuccessful attempts to commit suicide or expressed the intention of committing suicide. The motives of the offenders contain elements of a father's wanting to spare his children from social, economic, or religious suffering.

The key question is why the outcomes of the similar cases differed. Legal, religious, medical, and some popular, normative standards are considered. As well as elements used in the medico-legal examinations, other considerations obviously contributed to the different outcomes, such as the various backgrounds of the offenders and whether they showed regret or not in court.

The different outcomes illustrate a recurring problem, namely how to reconcile ideas emanating from various professional traditions and standards. This is of current interest as evidenced by the number of recent cases where a legal way of thinking is sometimes contrary to prevalent medical ones.