Från industriminne till industrisamhällets kulturarv – tankar kring ett betänkande

From industrial monument to industrial heritage In 1998 the Minister of Culture called on professor Erik Hofrén to propose government measures to further the protection of industrial heritage. From local initiatives to protect and preserve old industrial sites, notably related to mining and metallurgical installations, a true movement concerned with this history emerged and gained strength in the last decades of the 20th century. Within this movement the concept of industrial archæology has been adopted to include a wider environment than the isolated factory. This development constitutes the background to the government action.In 1999 Erik Hofrén’s proposal was published as a departmental report (SOU 1999:18) with the title Questions to the industrial society. This was an unusual approach to the task, which instead of offering a concrete programme, indicated areas and aspects of concern. A crucial shift in concepts was proposed: ’the heritage of industrial history’ should be replaced by ’the heritage of industrial society’. Thus the wider implica- tions of the introduction of industrial technology and production systems for societal change were stressed.As a result of the report a committee was set up by the Minister in 1999 to function for three years on behalf of the government with the aim of initiating research, supporting initiatives and stimulating interest and institutional cooperation in the field. The committee submitted a report on its activities in 2002, The cultural heritage of the industrial society (SOU 2002:67). An attempt is made in this article to review the two reports and evaluate their outcome. It is evident that industrial heritage is a complex and difficult field, full of controversial issues which make co-operation between industrialists, workers’ organisations, public institutions and the local citizens complicated. However, it is pointed out, local museums have a key role to play and their significance has not been sufficiently valued by the committee