The Swedish Dream – appropriation of nature at the timber frontier in ‘Swedish America’, Norrland, 1850-1900

Abstract: This thesis provides a historiographical account of the multiple socio-ecological transformations that occurred in Västernorrland, Sweden, during the second half of the 19th century. By engaging with ecological Marxist thinking, such as the world-ecology framework proposed by Jason W. Moore, these transformations are conceptualised as part of a broader movement of commodity frontiers. Drawing upon a wide and varied range of sources, a synthesis is achieved that links the agrarian colonial project and its related modes of life, the institutionalisation of new property regimes through scientific programmes, the entrance of foreign capital and the switch to coal-based infrastructures. I argue that these processes are entangled and co-evolve, but are ultimately driven by the entry of capitalism and its inherent drive towards capital accumulation, with repercussions for how ‘natural resources’ and the forests are debated about and utilised today. In the context of the accelerating climate crisis, these considerations can help elucidate the borders of possibility implicated by our contemporary understandings of the crisis, and help critique and transcend them. Thus, the thesis contributes to the development of ecological Marxist theory by extending its empirical base, but also offers different explanations to a broadly studied era of modern Swedish history.