The Controversy Around Agricultural Rationalization and Rural Communities in Post Second World War Sweden

This paper explores explanations, interpretations,perceptions and valuations of post war agricultural rationalization and the interlinked ruraltransformation and urbanization processes in Sweden.Both political and market driven factors areconsidered. Specifically, the local government reforms of the 1950s and 1960s are highlighted as they tended to put an end to the autonomy of rural communities. Political protests against these developments, driven by the Peasant/Center party arestudied using all issues of the party’s monthly politicalmagazine 1960-1980. The paper ends in a reflectionon the rural and agricultural side of the major, sometimes open, sometimes latent political-ideological conflict in Sweden in much of the 20th century, between the Peasant/Center party and the Social Democrats