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Review: Axel Hörstedt. Latin Dissertations and Disputations in the Early Modern Swedish Gymnasium: A Study of a Latin School Tradition c. 1620–c. 1820. Göteborgs universitet (PhD diss.), 2018, 502 pp.

Denna uppsats är en studie av Blåsmarks bönhusförenings nedläggning och överlåtelsen avbönhuset till Blåsmarks DUF år 1947. Studien är begränsad till tidsperioden 1945–1948 föratt undersöka föreningarna innan och efter den händelse som är i fokus i uppsatsen och ärbaserad på de mötesprotokoll bägge föreningar förde under tidsperioden 1945-1948. Iuppsatsen undersöks föreningarnas arbete innan bönhusföreningens nedläggning 1947 samtorsakerna bakom dess nedläggning och vilka följder det fick för Blåsmarks DUF. Skeendetundersöks ur ett processperspektiv och följer den analytiskt-rationella modellen. Studiensresultat visade att bönhusföreningens nedläggning och överlåtelse av bönhus till BlåsmarksDUF var ett beslut taget främst på grund av att båda föreningarna bestod av samma medlemmar och arbetet med bönhuset redan till stor del utfördes av Blåsmarks DUF. Vidarevisade även studien att arbetet för Blåsmarks DUF föreföll sig detsamma efter övertagandetav bönhuset men att det utökades till att omfatta frågor gällande skötseln av bönhuset. Detframkom även i studien hur Blåsmarks DUF glädjes av att få ett eget bönhus och att beslutetfrån båda föreningar varit enhälligt och utan opposition.  This thesis offers a study of the closure of the Blåsmarks bönhusförenings and the transfer ofthe prayer house to Blåsmarks DUF in 1947. The study is limited to the period 1945-1948 toexamine the associations before and after the events in question and is based on the protocolswritten during both associations’ meetings between 1945-1948. The essay examines theassociations’ work before Blåsmarks bönhusförenings closure in 1947, the reasons behind itsclosure and what consequences it had for Blåsmarks DUF. The event is examined from a process perspective and follows the analytical-rational model. The results of the study showedthat Blåsmarks bönhusförenings closure and the transfer of the prayer house was a decisionmade mainly because both associations consisted of the same members and the work with theprayer house was already largely carried out by Blåsmarks DUF. Furthermore, the study alsoshowed that the work for Blåsmarks DUF is pleased to have its own prayer house and that thedecision to transfer it to them was unanimous and without opposition. 

The purpose of this study is to examine what intentions teachers in history have with their teaching about the Interwar period, approximately the years from 1920 to 1939. This was done with five interviews. With the question; “what can we learn from history?” the study tries to see how historical consciousness is expressed in the teachers intentions. The result shows that the teachers are mostly on the same page of what they think is important to teach. It’s about Germany, and it’s not only about Germany. The teachers intention is to show that not all of the Germans where supporters of the Nazi-party, but also most importantly; that the Nazi-party was given power thru a democratic election. This can be seen as how the teachers want the pupils to cherish the democracy we have today, and not to take it for granted. In the other hand the teachers want to explore the structures and the context where the Nazi-party arose. For example the teachers speak of the development of racial biology that spread all over Europe, and not only in Germany. The given broad perspective can help pupils to understand Germany and what kind of mindset Europe had that made the fascistic movements grow. The conclusion is that historical consciousness is widely represented in the teachers intentions of their teaching of the Interwar-period. If this actually develop historical consciousness or not is another study to make. But the results shows reason to believe that it can be done, and that the Interwar-period is a historical period that can help pupils to understand the meaning of living in a democracy, and to give them a meaningful education to guide them today, and in the future.

This master thesis aims to show how a qualitative approach to early modern medical practitioners’ perspectives can provide a basis for a better understanding of the disease of dysentery. The focus is on: 1) How the disease of dysentery was described and how the challenge of dysentery was perceived. 2) What individual measure and commitments were taken for the patients and why. 3) How the cause of the disease was understood and explained. 4) How perspectives differed between physicians and surgeons.Of particular interest when it comes to the disease of dysentery is how the disease and its cause were perceived.Eleven texts written by mainly British medical practitioners from primary sources such as reports, logbooks and letters on dysentery written during the years 1740 - 1800 have been used for close readings and a qualitative analysis was performed on the collected data.The analysis showed (i) that medical practitioners expressed considerable interest in dysentery and in trying to understand it as a great suffering for individuals, for society and for humanity as a whole. (ii) Medical practitioners took treatment measures based on how they understood the cause of the disease outbreak. Either the dysentery was referred to internal causes, as sickness in organs, especially the organs that produced bodily fluids, or it was referred to external causes, as a sickness caused by heat, cold, weather, winds, air, climate, seasons, lunar position, etc. (iii) The cause of the disease was understood and explained both as an infection and as a pre-disposition for imbalances in body fluids. (iv) Both physicians and surgeons understood that the disease of dysentery was a global phenomenon and that the disease often was connected to the climate and weather. This standpoint was based on the fact that dysentery distinguished itself as an autumnal disease. Its eruption usually began with a few scattered cases in July, then increased in August and culminated in September. Theories about the disease, its causes and treatment did not differ significantly between physicians and surgeons. However, the views of different physicians did differ.The thematic map of understanding related to disease of dysentery, shows that medical practitioners’ knowledge, theories and ideas behind the medical practice of dysentery, have an ambiguity in the view of both the dysentery and the treatment of it. This was probably due to interpretation based both on observable causes of diseases, and on a more theoretical abstract meaning, where diseases to a greater extent was understood on the basis of symptoms and signs.It is suggested that regardless of the knowledge base of the individual medical practitioner, no one represented an independent knowledge base for their treatment of dysentery; rather they participated actively with each other in a mutually constitutive way in order to shape their understanding of the dysentery. This theses’ qualitative approach, allows dysentery patients and their medical practitioners via the texts of the medical practitioners, to offer very personal accounts of a highly contagious disease.

School in the shadow: Private education in Stockholm 1735. During the early eighteenth century, private education was a more significant sector of the educational market than was public education, regarding the number of students and teachers, the presence of female students and teachers, the social background of the students, and the introduction of a more diverse and modern curriculum. Hitherto, little has been known of the actual scope or general conditions of private education, which has been over-shadowed by studies of public education. The article maps private education through the Stockholm Church Consistory’s (Stockholms stads konsistorium) thorough inventory of private teachers in the capital of Sweden during 1734–36, providing information of both suppliers and consumers within the private sector of the educational market, as well as of the practice and functions of private education in early modern time.

The aim of the essay is to investigate the use of history of the inventor and Nobel prize winner Gustaf Dalén between the years 1931–2020. The survey answers the question why Dalén has gone from being regarded as one of Sweden's most important people to being of local importance. By examining how different groups have used Dalén's memory over time and with different purposes, an explanation for this can be given to this question. The material that forms the basis of the study includes biographies, dissertations, popular science books, a poem, a movie, a theatre performance and Dalén's own museum. A qualitative method is used to examine the material, with historian Klas-Göran Karlsson's use of history classification as an analytical tool. The study results imply that Dalén's memory was used in conjunction with Sweden's industrialization to create unity. In addition, create cohesion around the political project that followed the build-up of the welfare state. This use was prominent until the 1960s, when the history of symbolic characters such as Dalén changed because of a different view of nationalism. The use of history of characters such as Dalén then became more of a local phenomenon. In addition, changed economic conditions in the countryside and a larger cultural history sector have also impacted they change of historical use of Dalén. The development and professionalisation of the subject of history has also had an impact on the use of history that surround Dalén. Målet med uppsatsen är att undersöka historiebruket kring uppfinnaren och nobelpristagaren Gustaf Dalén mellan åren 1931–2020. Undersökningen ger svar på frågan varför Dalén gått från att räknas som en av Sverige mest betydelsefulla personer till att vara en lokal historisk person. Genom att undersöka hur olika grupper brukat Daléns minne över tid och med olika syften kan en förklaring till detta ges. Materialet som ligger till grund för studien innefattar biografier, avhandlingar, populärvetenskapliga böcker, dikter, en film, en teaterföreställning och Daléns eget museum. En kvalitativ metod använd för att undersöka materialet, med historikern Klas-Göran Karlssons historiebruksindelning som analytiskt redskap. Studien resultat visar hur Daléns minne användes i samband med Sveriges industrialisering för att skapa sammanhållning i samhället. Dessutom legitimera politiken som följde i och med välfärdsstatens uppbyggnad. Detta bruk fortsatte till 1960-talet då historiebruket kring symbolpersoner som Dalén förändrades till följd av en annan syn på nationalism. Detta gjorde att historiebruket kring personer som Dalén förändrades till ett mer lokalt drivet bruk. Dessutom har ändrade ekonomiska förutsättningar på landsbygden och en större kulturhistorisk sektor också samverkat till ett större lokalt historiebruk av Dalén. Historieämnets utveckling och professionalisering har påverkat har sig haft inverkan på historiebruket kring Dalén.

The history of California is in many ways a story about water, and the outsized effect that droughts, floods, and seasonal precipitation rates have had on the political and economic development of the state over the past 170 years. This thesis uses discourse analysis of historical and ongoing negotiations that have been presented in federal and state reports, narratives, case laws and legislation to explore how the discourse around water politics has been shaped in the state. From this, an antiessentialist environmental history develops around the relationship between overdrafted groundwater basins in the Central Valley and the agriculture industry located there. Finally, this thesis explores what the future of a waterscape built during the capitalization of modern society may look like as we move towards a new regime of nature.

This dissertation investigates the role played by Dutch experts in various enterprises and organisations managed or administered by the early modern Swedish state. The work demonstrates how and why Dutch experts were introduced to Sweden, in what manner they were employed by the Swedish state and how their knowledge was utilised in state-controlled organisations. The overall results challenge the impression of an uncomplicated introduction, steered by the state. Instead, the research suggests that the development was multifaceted, where the role and function of state structures, international politics, networks, as well as concepts, including opportunism and pragmatism all played a part in the process which led to the employment of Dutch experts and use of Dutch knowledge. Underlying analytical tools used to demonstrate this include concepts such as collective knowledge, institutional memory, change agents, as well as strategies to minimise uncertainties and knowledge asymmetries in the recruitment process. The investigation consists of four empirical chapters. The first chapter focuses on some of the key Dutch individuals who settled in Sweden during the second half of the sixteenth century. It shows why a Dutch settlement took place, but also how a specific interest in Dutch trade expertise was developed by the Swedish political leadership. The chapter concludes with an analysis of how Dutch expertise was utilised to develop advanced long-distance trade. The second chapter follows the use of Dutch experts in the naval shipbuilding organisation in the first half of the seventeenth century. It shows how an almost complete reliance on Dutch experts and technical knowledge was established during this period. The chapter details how the Dutch introduction and utilisation evolved, when the naval organisation changed from being single-handedly steered by the king, to a situation where it was administered by an independent Admiralty Board. The third chapter investigates the use of Dutch experts in the foreign administration as well as in the administration and management of trade and commercial undertakings. It details how agents and diplomatic networks facilitated exchange and brought knowledge and experts to Sweden. The chapter also challenges an established notion that many of the trade enterprises that were established in Sweden up until the mid-1630s were failures. The results instead demonstrate how successive proposals to develop commercial ventures by Dutch experts created a necessary knowledge base in Swedish society, which in the long run led to the successful formation of advanced commercial enterprises. The final chapter focuses on the establishment of commercial fishing operations. It follows the introduction and growth of a Dutch model for how to develop advanced fishing, and explains why the model only led to a functioning enterprise towards the very end of the period of investigation.