Sweden in the Eighteenth-Century World: Provincial Cosmopolitans

by Göran Rydén

Overview

Eighteenth-century Sweden was deeply involved in the process of globalisation: ships leaving Sweden’s central ports exported bar iron that would drive the Industrial Revolution, whilst arriving ships would bring not only exotic goods and commodities to Swedish consumers, but also new ideas and cultural practices with them. At the same time, Sweden was an agricultural country to a large extent governed by self-subsistence, and - for most - wealth was created within this structure. This volume brings together a group of scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who seek to present a more nuanced and elaborated picture of the Swedish cosmopolitan eighteenth century. Together they paint a picture of Sweden that is more like the one eighteenth-century intellectuals imagined, and help to situate Sweden in histories of cosmopolitanism of the wider world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409465904
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	09/28/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	12 MB
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About the Author

Göran Rydén is Professor of Economic History at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Table of Contents

Contents: Provincial cosmopolitanism: an introduction, Göran Rydén; Where in the world was Sweden? A brief guide for foreigners, Chris Evans. Language: The language of cosmos: the cosmopolitan endeavour of universal languages, David Dunér. Cultivation: Swedish agriculture in the cosmopolitan 18th century, Mats Morell. Taste: Travelling and the formation of taste: the European journey of Bengt Ferrner and Jean Lefebure, 1758-1763, Lars Berglund. Liberty: Eskiltuna Fristad: the beginnings of an urban experiment, Göran Rydén. Image: Prints and attraction in 18th-century Stockholm, Sonya Petersson. Faith: In defence of freedom: Christianity and the pursuit of human happiness in Anders Chydenius’ world, Carola Nordbäck. Peace: Sweden’s neutrality and the 18th-century inter-state system, Leos Müller. Colour: Runaway colours: recognisability and categorization in Sweden and early America, 1750-1820, Karin Sennefelt. Manners: When Sweden harboured idlers: gender and luxury in public debates, c. 1760-1830, Karin Hassan Jansson. Slavery: A divided space: subjects and others in the Swedish West Indies during the late 18th century, Holger Weiss. Compassion: A world of fiction: Bengt Lidner and global compassion in 18th-century Sweden, Anna Cullhed; Sveaborg and the end of the Swedish cosmopolitan 18th century: an epilogue, Göran Rydén and Holger Weiss; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

’The diversity of areas covered means that the reader receives a lot of interesting and useful information. The authors also show that individuals and institutions in Sweden were affected by international circumstances... emphasis on the importance of international ties for Swedish developments in the eighteenth century makes the book an important contribution to the ongoing discussion about globalization in the early modern world.’ Economic History Review

From the Publisher