Borgerskap och burskap : Om näringsprivilegier och borgerskapets institutioner i Stockholm 1820-1846

Sammanfattning: In 1846 the guilds were abolished in Sweden. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the abolishment of guilds and guild-like institutions was due to a de facto breakdown of the guild system in Stockholm during the period 1820 to 1846. Previous research has claimed that the new trade legislation that followed the abolishment of guilds more or less codified an already established fact. The findings in this study contradict this conclusion. The guild system was apparently working in accordance with the law. The legal abolishment of the guilds therefore was a major institutional innovation in Swedish society, and not an already established fact. The central argument in explaining the persistence of the guild system is that the city burghers, a privileged group with special rights to exercise trade and handicrafts in the Swedish towns, had gradually strengthened their political power both on the national and local level. They were able to exercise control over local institutions to protect their privileges. Since their privileges were granted to them by the King as a collective, cooperation and moderation within the community were necessary to achieve the collective benefits. The burghers' incentives to defend their privileges are analyzed based on a contractarian perspective and using a method of institutional analysis. The burghers' strong influence over local institutions made it possible for them to stop any breakdown of the guild system, which therefore remained intact until its formal abolishment in 1846.