Gendered democratic experiences? Men and women in workers' organizations in mid–19th-century Sweden. Issue 4 (7th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Berg, Anne
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian journal of history. Volume 45:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 457
• Page End: 478
• Publication Date: 2020-08-07
• Subjects: Civil society -- democratic experiences -- gender; Scandinavia -- History -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 948
• DOI: 10.1080/03468755.2020.1761874
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0346-8755

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article analyses the democratic experiences of men and women engaged in early workers' organizations in Sweden in the mid–19th-century. The source materials were membership criteria for over 120 organizations and manuscripts from four workers' organizations. The article shows that engagement in the early workers' movement in Sweden was gendered. All organizations were open to men, but women's opportunities were limited. In addition, the democratic experiences of men and women in gender-mixed associations were somewhat different. Men were more likely than women to hold administrative positions. For that reason, the story of the association's function in stimulating democratization should be rewritten as a historical process that politically and economically marginalized men and women entered on different premises and at different stages during the 19th century.