Makt och vanmakt i fadersväldet : Studentpolitik i Uppsala 1780-1850

From the end of the 18th century, the view that youth had a political role to play spread among students in Europe. This view was directly opposed to the paternalistic authoritarian regimes governing the old universities like that at Uppsala, which had been organised as patriarchal corporations for some two hundred years. The thesis deals with the attempts of Uppsala students, despite their lack of formal power, to influence society and their own university. It focuses on the political culture manifested by the students, i.e., the forms that their political action took and the values that were involved. With a view to broadening the perception of student politics, the thesis examines student political action in relation to the prevailing distribution of power and the social settings within the university. The phenomenon of students participating in politics challanged the traditional patriarchal view of the social role appropriate for the young. Overt student politics were pursued principally from the base provided by the new student societies. The thesis includes a prosopographical study of the students involved in such societies. The overt opposition and organisational endeavours were, however, just the tip of the student political iceberg. Within the patriarchy, students were obliged to resort to covert politics, such as creating a commotion outside professors’ homes, failure to perform acts of courtesy and other anonymous or ambiguous actions. The mid 19th century saw a greater participation of students in open political interaction. At the same time, the need to comment and explain their political actions in the press inevitably deprived students of opportunities for surreptitious political action, and the phenomenon of covert student politics petered out. The conflict between the old university and the new student organisations was thus reflected in the relation between open and covert student politics, and shaped the development of these two spheres of activity