”The children are like migratory birds” : A qualitative case study of a peasant family’s letter collection from the 1800s

The purpose of this essay was to study how people could react to the changes of the society and modernization during the 1800s. The study is based on a qualitative method and the material for this study has been letters that belong to a peasantry family from Sunne, Värmland in Sweden. The purpose with this case studie has been to find out what the letter says about peoples experiences and conditions during the modernization. In this studie the theory of modernization has been limited to geographical mobility and individualism in purpose to see how the correspondent writes about these modern phenomenon. The results show a collectivistic character, but also how the modernization and geographical mobility challenge this concept. The letters also show a interaction between the character of the peasant society and modernization