Stadsgemenskapens resurser och villkor : Samhällssyn och välfärdsstrategier i Linköping 1600-1620

Sammanfattning: This dissertation studies early seventeenth century local government, both the secular and religious, in order to investigate that period’s concepts of ”the good society”, and the strategies that were used to achieve and retain this ideal. The goal of the investigation is to give a broader understanding of early modern society at the local level. Order and balance appear to have been the overriding goal for the local institutions in Linköping. Justice and well-being were not a question of individual rights, but rather were found in corporative associations in which differences together created a hierarchical harmony and order. People who stood outside these were threatened by marginalization. For those who were “on the inside” resources were available. In the town were found material resources such as wells and gristmills, the community of the parish and the rådsturätt. Local authorities do not express any concept of development or a utopia of change. It did not seek to redistribute material resources or systematize support for specific vulnerable groups. A fundamental welfare strategy was to fit people into households within which they could support themselves. In the same way the religious punishments, can be seen as an important welfare strategy. To recreate order was also a way of appeasing God. If God liked what he saw, then perhaps he would rest his hand over the congregation. In summary it can thus be said that the local government tried to formulate the conditions for welfare by creating the premises for two important spheres—the home and the parish.