Swedish villagers organized self-funded associations to modernize rural hygiene.
Evidence
For example, in 1943 the women in the village formed a laundry association and raised money to construct a combined laundry and sauna house on an old common adjacent to the village centre. They gathered once a week, and sewed, crocheted and knitted products, which were sold at social gatherings (Pålsson Undated). They also asked for timber from the forestry company, applied for money from the municipality and arranged dances where the entry fees were donated to the construction (ibid). A few years earlier an intense public debate and awareness campaign concerning the poor standard of hygiene had been going on in Sweden. The national radio broadcasted a series of programs about “dirty Sweden”, which may have prompted the villagers to construct the combined laundry and sauna house. — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 46
Categorization
- XREF: Echoes the ‘Grafting & Growth’ article’s theme of rural commons and collective infrastructure built by villagers themselves. — connects to: Rural Swedish villages sustained social cohesion through many local associations. — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 47
- corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 46
Related
Broader Connections
- Rural Swedish villages sustained social cohesion through many local associations.
#corroborates(0.78) — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 47