Farewell welfare : local manifestations of the welfare society in two rural Swedish towns

Abstract: In this master's thesis, I investigate the local manifestations of the welfare state through a case study of two Swedish small rural towns. Using local stories and narratives collected through in-depth interviews and observations, I follow the development of the towns from the 30's until today. I examine the development through the aspects of modernity, market driven marginalization, industrialization, administrative rationalization, extended communities and collective remembering through instant media. I use theoretical concepts such as place, identity and Anthony Giddens structuration theory to understand how the welfare society has affected the local acting space of people and the creation of the local places. I conclude that the national project the welfare state had and still have very situated and local effects, which differ much in my two different towns. Factors such as location, locality and the people of the local community impact on how structures coming from the outside are understood and used locally. The structures frame the local acting space, but they also become locally structured. The welfare society has had a large influence on the appearances and functions of today's towns. It has transformed them from small trivial villages to modern service centers, but also stripped away some of their functions through further rationalization and modernization, which locally is perceived as a marginalizing let down. Through protesting against this marginalization, the inhabitants of the town create new acting space and further affect the local place and development. Concluding, the welfare society is a national, structuring phenomenon. However, it is in the local setting that people meet it and understand its influence as either limiting or enabling. It is therefore the conditions of the local place that create the welfare society in which we actually live.