The Labour Movement Archives and Library in Stockholm (Arbetarrörelsens arkiv och bibliotek, or ARAB) has been and still is one of the more important nodes of labor history in Sweden.Footnote ¹ It is well known among academics as well as activists who aim to write movement history. ARAB is financed not only by the Swedish state but also the labor movement to generate new ideas for public labor history.Footnote ² Although there are many units and higher education institutions in Sweden that played a vital role during the 1970s and 1980s, it was probably the research agendas developed by ARAB through seminars and publications that kept the field of labor history a vibrant area of scholarship. The main difference between ARAB and similar institutions is its steady attempt to create spaces where academics—such as historians and social scientists—and activists can meet in order to produce and promote new approaches to labor history. The results and even the success of this work have been built on two institutions at ARAB: the journal Arbetarhistoria, published since 1977, and the research council at ARAB, established in the early 1980s.

The Arbetarhistoria: Giving a Voice to Academics and Activists

The development of different attempts to balance popularization and academic research is mirrored in the Arbetarhistoria. The initiative for a new Swedish labor history journal was an expression of the resurgent interest in labor history in Sweden during the 1970s.Footnote ³ It differs from other more research-oriented labor history journals in that theory or methodology has seldom been the focus; the articles are rather short, in many cases with few or no footnotes; and illustrations (frequently from the ARAB archives) are many. In its appearance the journal resembles Labour's Heritage, but the content is quite different.

The Arbetarhistoria has long been (and still is) used as study material for both university classes and for the labor movement's own study groups. Its readers can be found among historians as well as labor activists. As it is published only in Swedish (with the exception of only one issue so far), the majority of its readers are located in Sweden and the other Nordic countries. The same is true of its authors, although some articles have been translated from other languages.

The public history character of the journal is tightly connected to the development of ARAB, an institution that was founded more than a hundred years ago by the labor movement and obviously very conscious of its own history.Footnote ⁴ When the Arbetarhistoria was started in 1977, it was still called what could be translated as “Bulletin from the Labour Movement's Archives and Library” (Meddelande från Arbetarrörelsens arkiv och bibliotek). It was inspired by the journals of the archive's sister institutions in Oslo (Arbeiderbevegelsens arkiv och bibliotek) and Copenhagen (Arbejderbevægelsens arkiv och bibliotek) but also demanded by Swedish scholars.Footnote ⁵ While the Swedish and the Norwegian archives have their own publications, the Danish journal is published by the Danish Labour History Association (Selskabet til Forskning i Arbejderbevægelsens Historie) in close cooperation with the Danish Archive and Museum.Footnote ⁶

The journal's original ambitions, as shown in the introduction of the first issue, differed from what the reality of publishing for more than thirty years has brought about. In this first issue the editors expressed themselves clearly about their plans: The bulletin would publish materials preserved in the collections of ARAB and provide an overview of the current state of research. It was intended to measure, as well as illustrate, how the materials in the archives and the library were used by scholars and various university departments.

The idea to start the bulletin was also the result of an historical change at ARAB where, during the 1970s, libraries and archives were professionalized and a new institutional structure was created.Footnote ⁷ The bulletin was intended as a platform for the archives and the library. As a consequence, the first articles were authored by the archivists and librarians employed at the institution and dealt with ARAB's own history: It developed from a workers’ library into the labor movement's archive and library.Footnote ⁸ The original plan also included the Swedish Labour History Association (Arbetarnas Kulturhistoriska Sällskap, AKS). AKS was supposed to publish the results of academic research, which was and still is the case. However, things did not turn out exactly as planned. Beginning with its second issue, the periodical has been filled with articles dealing with research in the field of labor history. Only a small part of what has been published can be regarded as pure information from the archives.

Leaving the Archives …

The development of the Arbetarhistoria can be divided into three phases that coincide with the professionalization of Swedish labor history research. First, study groups were documented and a close relationship with archives in Stockholm, as well as with social movement archives all over the country, was initiated. This was also the period when the “Dig where you stand” movement, initiated by Gunnar Sillén, Sven Lindqvist, and others, was established and spread widely all over Sweden. “Dig where you stand” was basically a grassroots movement of amateur historians, often a group of activists in local trade union branches or groups within other confederations close to the labor movement. The Swedish Workers Educational Association (Arbetarnas Bildningsförbund, ABF) served as an umbrella organization and financed these projects as long as they received state subsidies.Footnote ⁹ This tradition (similar to history workshops or the German Geschichtswerkstätten) was very strong during the 1970s. More than ten thousand groups of grassroots researchers started to study the history of their jobs and workplaces in Sweden.

During this phase, journal articles illustrated the vibrant research being produced at the local level. Long lists of ongoing research projects were published. Panels on labor history were documented and sometimes sources were published to inspire readers to visit the archives and start their own research. Local social movement archives were discussed in order to reach even more remote readers and interested groups. However, at the beginning of the 1980s there was a loss of interest in grassroots research on the labor movement. Unions were encouraged to employ professional historians to document their history. During this early second phase, oral history was discussed and presented extensively as a means to connect researchers and activists in order to produce a more adequate movement history. The content of the journal also presented a discussion of the expected results the exchange between the amateur and the professional historian could bring.

Thus, during the second phase a more scholarly approach was emerging. The number of amateur study groups decreased after criticism of the “dig where you stand” movement's lack of objectivity regarding the subjects of its research. This opened up new and more “independent” academic studies of the Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO) as well as communism and syndicalism. In 1984 the journal changed its name, indicating the transition to a new phase. From then on, according to the editors, the publication would be a history journal, albeit one about and for the labor movement.Footnote ¹⁰ In the introduction the editors apologized for the new academic approach of the articles which might make them more difficult to read, while simultaneously emphasizing the value of labor history scholarship for the daily work of unions. In 1988 a double issue was published on women and gender history, one of the few publications in Sweden on the subject at that time.Footnote ¹¹ Another example of the collaboration between practitioners and academic researchers was the documentation of a conference on Social Democratic Party programs and the writing of such programs.Footnote ¹²

During the third phase, from the beginning of the 1990s on, traditional Swedish labor organization studies started to decrease and focus shifted to contemporary history, leaving the origins of the Swedish labor movement behind. Instead, different forms of both political and labor migration became important subjects for the journal and played a pioneering role in Swedish academic research on migration. Moreover, a shift in Swedish labor history from traditional research on the origins of labor movement organizations toward research on work, working life, and worker's culture took place during this period. This also opened up new space for a renewal of research areas such as the role of religion and churches in the labor movement. To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the ARAB, which also marked one hundred years of labor history in Sweden, a special issue was published as a book, using a more popular approach.Footnote ¹³

Most of the Arbetarhistoria’s issues are thematic. One of the advantages of this approach is that the issues are often used in study groups and university classes and often reflect the newest in Swedish research not yet available in the form of monographs. Not unimportant, a special issue of the journal can be a cheaper alternative to textbooks. Special issues were not only the result of a specific aim to document seminars and conferences, but were also conceived by the editors of the journal who solicited manuscripts from different authors, both inside and outside Sweden. This type of issue required a great deal of time and editing work and had to be planned far in advance. However, a testimony to its usefulness is that many of these special issues have been sold out and are no longer available.

One reason for the extensive number of articles published in the Arbetarhistoria by non-academics is probably the fact that there is no external review process comparable to that of other scholarly journals. This makes it difficult to receive financial support from the major funding organizations for Swedish academic research, but the Arbetarhistoria has received other kinds of subsidies from the state. The academic quality of the journals has never been questioned, and the fact that many researchers submit their articles for publication is an indication of how well regarded it is in academic circles. The argument for the journal's relatively high status among scholars is strengthened further by the fact that some of the articles have been reprinted in academic anthologies and textbooks and have also been translated into English and reprinted in other international academic publications. Another comment on the quality of articles published in the Arbetarhistoria is that they have turned out to be relevant for job applications at Swedish universities.

Publishing Dig-Where-You-Stand Reports

Although the journal often managed to bring together academics and activists, the cooperation has not always been very smooth. The cooperation with the dig-where-you-stand movement illustrates this very well. The journal Arbetarhistoria was founded at the height of the dig-where-you-stand movement in Sweden. Arbetarhistoria even published its own Digging book with examples of how to work in study groups.Footnote ¹⁴ The Digging issue was edited in cooperation with Sven Lindqvist, as well as with other labor movement institutions. Lindqvist became famous internationally when he presented his project in Stockholm at a meeting of the International Association for Labour History Institutes in the beginning of the 1980s. His own Digging book has been translated into English and German, but the English translation has, as far as we know, not been published.Footnote ¹⁵

The Digging movement grew extensively during the 1970s and was closely connected to the economic transformation of the country. Many industries were closing down, especially in smaller towns, and Swedish unemployment was rising. Many of the Digging groups inspired interest in their projects by pointing out the risk of losing local industrial traditions. In this context several problems became visible: the knowledge of local traditions did not necessarily imply an understanding of the larger historical context, which was often neglected in explanations of a local historical development. It turned out that despite many positive examples, such as plays, exhibitions, smaller and larger printed contributions, and so on, it was difficult to find an adequate format to present the results of the Digging research to a larger public, at least a local one.

Cooperation with the Digging movement was difficult for the journal, and more could have done to support the movement and publish its research. However, resources, such as people and time, were never adequate to the task. One major problem was that the Digging groups were not able to present their own findings in a publishable form. Another reason was that the editors were not able to follow the movement closely enough. What was left were reports collected by ARAB, although these were far from complete. In any case, the Digging movement has continued to produce important work, including plays on local issues and books on the history of local unions. These products, plays, and chronicles are mainly the result of cooperation between professional writers and historians.

Between Academic Ivory Towers and Union Headquarters: ARAB's Research Council

The critique of the Digging movement illustrates a change in direction for Swedish labor history; it indicates the increased professionalization of the field. This professionalization made the interactions between academics and activists even more difficult, and this process did not stop in front of ARAB's entrance. Instead of leaving academics in the ivory towers and the activists outside, ARAB institutionalized a continuing conversation between these two groups. In the early 1980s an official research council was established with a professional historian employed to coordinate new research projects.

From the very beginning the research council consisted of both academics from such fields as history, political science, comparative literature, and economic history and representatives from the labor movement such as Members of Swedish Parliament, (former) cabinet ministers, and union activists. The chair of the council has never been a representative of academic research only, and the first one was the former Swedish LO economist, Dr. Rudolf Meidner. ARAB has also set up the Meidner Award for research on union history aimed primarily at recognizing younger scholars. Meidner was followed by former Minister of Culture Bengt Göransson and later by Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lena-Hjelm Wallén. Dr. Villy Bergström, earlier head of the Trade Union Institute for Economic Research and later vice chairman of the Riksbanken, the central bank of Sweden, has been chairing the council since 2007.Footnote ¹⁶ This combination has made it possible for ARAB to keep up contact with both worlds and has also made it a place where the two constituencies can exchange ideas and seek cooperation.

The research council has served as a hub for the development of new approaches to labor scholarship, but at the same time it has tried to make public history and academic history meet. If the council can be regarded as the hub, the first research coordinator initiated many projects and in the end took care of the practical details that saw them through to completion. The aim of the research council was, and still is, to follow up on new developments in labor history and initiate new research of interest and relevance to both academic research and the labor movement. Research on subjects discussed in seminars or conferences attended by both academic researchers and an interested public (often trade union officials) from the labor movement were often published, mainly in the Arbetarhistoria. These publications were later used in seminars at universities, and the subjects were often controversial. Even in cases where the topics were not too controversial, this balancing act between academics on the one side and activists on the other has not necessarily led to results where both sides agreed. One of the major difficulties was the lack of trust between academics and those representing the labor movement. Trying to build bridges between critical historical research and organizations with members who claim the right to their own history is still a basic task for the research council as well as the journal.

Among the many issues discussed at seminars and conferences some examples should be mentioned. The themes of new corporatism, working-class literature, peace movements, social democracy, and social change in Sweden, party programs, immigration, collective wage agreements, industrial welfare, the Nordic and the international labor movement, and gender perspectives on labor history stand out. Moreover, seminars on the life stories of well-known politicians, trade unionists, activists, and writers have been held and have led to the production of a large number of biographies.Footnote ¹⁷ Sometimes, as in the case of the biography of Sweden's former Prime Minister Göran Persson, a seminar has been held in connection with the publication. Academics and journalists were invited to comment on the results and its consequences for Swedish historiography.Footnote ¹⁸

Another project worth mentioning is a book on the first one hundred years of Swedish social democracy.Footnote ¹⁹ This publication is used as a textbook at Swedish universities, but it is also read by labor movement activists. Both the book's quality and an international interest in Swedish social democracy have led to its translation into not only English but also into Russian.Footnote ²⁰

The work on this book illustrates the special position of ARAB and the research coordination of ARAB, the journal, and the research council. As the one hundredth anniversary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (in 1989) approached, the research council arranged a large conference on central themes of Swedish social democratic history. Papers and summaries of discussions from this conference were published in 1986 in the Arbetarhistoria.Footnote ²¹ The intention of both the conference and the publication was to initiate a larger research project, and this was successful. The project was in the end funded by the Swedish Bank's Tercentenary Foundation, one of the largest funding organizations of Swedish academic research. Thirteen researchers were chosen, each an expert in his or her area, without regard for party membership or political sympathies. Every contribution was discussed several times. The research council was formally leading the project, but in practice editors of the book took over the responsibility for the project. The volume was edited by ARAB's research coordinator, himself an academic historian, together with two historians from Stockholm University. The aims were clear: it should be a book characterized by its critical approach, far from panegyric, even though it was published by a party-owned publisher. However, the majority of reviewers in papers and journals, and not only the social democratic ones, as well as radio and TV commentators, were skeptical about the authors’ degree of independence.

The research council and the journal have both made a commitment to addressing the demand for critical union history from academics and the unionists’ demand for the right to their own history. In 1999, together with partners from museums and universities, ARAB developed a model that has come to be used more frequently in recent years and arranged a conference that dealt extensively with the problems of trade union historiography. Union chroniclers and academics met to comment on each other's texts, which resulted in an exciting discussion and showed how much the two groups could learn from each other.

The discussion has not been limited to Sweden; examples from the other Nordic countries have formed a natural part of the conversation, which has included a broad range of themes, including aims and intentions, theoretical and methodological matters, as well as questions of reaching different audiences and attracting funding. Perspectives that had been neglected for a long time, such as gender analysis, were also introduced into the discussion. The results were published in the very same year and have been the basis of discussions at seminars at Swedish universities. One could indeed say that ARAB's role was most important in this area, connecting universities with discussions among activists and initiating new research among academics.

All these projects have been coordinated not only at ARAB but have also been documented at ARAB and led to a number of publications, mostly in issues of the Arbetarhistoria. Here the double position of the research coordinator as secretary of the research council as well as editor of the journal has been of major importance, especially when interest in popular labor history ebbed during the 1980s and 1990s. Documenting seminars held at ARAB allowed for a continuing debate between academia and the labor movement. The success of this balancing act between academic research and popular labor history is largely due to the work of the research council and its combination of activists and academics. Input from different areas of the Swedish labor movement as well as from academia has proven to be fruitful for the development of labor history. Publications, especially the journal, have made it possible to document this work and to transfer discussions, impulses, and sometimes even results to both study groups and universities. And in the end many discussions turned out to be of such interest that they led to the initiation of new research projects financed by major funding organizations of Swedish academic research.