Brukssamhälle i brytningstid : Paternalismen i Robertsfors 1920-1940

Sammanfattning: This study examines paternalism in the northern Swedish company town of Robertsfors between 1920-1940. The company Robertsfors AB (RAB) was the sole employer and constructed a paternalistic relationship with its workers. Seth M Kempe (CEO 1897-1928), the first patriarch, built a comprehensive paternalistic relationship as part of a larger strategy of company independence. This stretched from corporate housing to funding of various initiatives and organizations. Erik Kempe (CEO 1928-1948) changed strategy towards profitability and during his reign the paternalistic relationship began to dismantle. Larger societal and economic forces, such as the 1930s recession, also impacted the historical trajectory of RAB. Two labor unions, a cultural organization and two local municipalities are studied. The results show that the company dismantled the paternalistic relationship beginning in the early 1930s and gave more responsibility over to the municipality. Interestingly, the worker’s fought to hinder the company’s efforts to dismantle the system, showing that they wanted to preserve the paternalistic relationship. This empirical study has theoretical implications showing that the dismantling of the system did not come from the worker’s movement, but rather through a change in company policy. Lastly, this study shows that industrial paternalism survived in Sweden well into the nineteen thirties.