Hur bör själen kultiveras? : en studie i stånds- och tvåkammarriksdagens ställning till latinfrågan i läroverket 1844-1867

Sammanfattning: How Should the Soul be Cultivated? a Study in the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates and Bicameral Riksdag's stance toward the Question of Latin Studies in Swedish Higher Education 1844-1867 The purpose of this study has been to investigate the Swedish Riksdag’s stance towards the learning of Latin in the elite education system during the nineteenth century. More specifically, the purpose has been to study why this was a controversial topic during the politics of education of this time. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate how this question corresponds to dif-ferent interests specific to distinguishable ideals about education within Swedish society and the groups which supported them. This question will be explored by using theories proposed by the anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu and the sociologist Margaret Archer, two well-known social theorists concerned with what role the educational system plays and has played in society. The theory of this study is a combination of these theorists in order to analyze the debate in regard to the reproduction of power through the educational system and strategies used to dismantle the church’s monopoly over this system. This study has shown that the learning of Latin was a controversial topic due to the fact that it was critical for a classic educational ideal, which during this time was challenged by an-other ideal centered around practical studies in modern languages and natural science. The op-posing group, the proponents of practical education, were aiming to increase the legitimacy of these subjects. The established group, however, strived for holding on to their educational ideal and composed primarily of the intertwined relationship of the church and the elite schools – what Archer describes as ‘Mono-integration’. The priesthood, followers of the classical ap-proach, had good reasons for defending the school which they themselves controlled, even though their defense of the classic-humanistic educational ideal could partly be described to al-truistic motives, one can also relate this stance to purely egoistic motives. The defenders of the study of Latin in the elite schools wanted to withhold status quo as they extracted both material wealth and social status from the current situation. Particularly, Latin is seen as the basis for this educational organization as it made up what Bourdieu refers to as ‘Cultural Capital’ – a socially determined value. Furthermore, the status of Latin was conditioned by the mono-integrated rela-tionship between the Church and the elite educational system, as Swedish historian Esbjörn Larsson theorized. The opposing group, the educational reformists, consisted especially of members from the emerging bourgeoisie in an age of exponential industrial development, could challenge what one using Bourdieu’s terminology could refer to as a ‘Field of Education’. By doing so, the growing bourgeoisie could benefit by creating their own cultural capital through practical educational degrees, which in turn strengthened their economic capital even further. The debate about Latin education therefore became a struggle between two distinct groups and the pedagogical ideals which drove them, connected to large societal changes during the 19th century.