Kampen om allmänningarna  i fyra värmländska socknar under frihetstiden

This paper is about the dissolution and privatization of parish commons in 18:th century Sweden. The study focuses on four parishses (Hammarö, Väse, Ölme and Lungsund) all of them situated in the south of Värmland County. This is a region where ironworks were especially important for the eco-nomy of Sweden. The Ironworks required a lot of forest resources, of which there were a lot on the commons. This need resulted in a struggle for the resources between the ironworks and the peasants who needed it for their buildings, firewoods and pastures. With support of the state, the ironworks got parts of the commons for their supply of wood raw material. However, this also resulted in an increased pressure on the remaining parts of the commons which the peasants could continue to use for their individual needs. The competition among the peasants led to troubles and mismanagement of the forests in the commons. In this situation, peasants who were well - off (’skattebönder’), began to work for division and privatization of the commons. The primary aim of this study is to analyze how and why this process of privatization took place. Which were the driving forces, and which were the role of different actors – the state, the aristocracy, the industrialists and different groups among the peasants – in this process? Privatization of commonable lands in Sweden usually occurred in connection with the enclosure which in Sweden took place from the end of the 18:th century. However, In this study I have found that in at least two of the parishes, the division and privatization occurred about half a century before that enclosure, namely around 1742. In this paper I also point to the striking similarities between the problems that occurred in these parishes and problems that always arise in commons in all areas. This problem has been discussed by authors like Garret Hardin and Ellinor Ostrom, among many others. Problems that has given rise to the concept ‘the tragedy of the commons’.