Fabriken som kulturarv : Frågan om industrilandskapets bevarande i Norrköping 1950-1985

Abstract: This PhD dissertstion deals with the interest on preserving the heritage from the industrial society which arouse in Sweden during the 1970s.The remains from the industrial scoiety initially had difficulties in asserting themselves as objects of value, due to a number of inhibiting factors which excluded industry as a cultural heritage. In the 1970s, however, several factors can be distinguished which changed this situation. These factors included a new post-industrial era, the radicalisation of the cultural and political climate, extensive demolition in the heart of the Swedish cities, the influence of industrial archeology in England and a growing interest on the part of the antiquarian profession. In the long term, this meant that the discourse about cultural heritage changed so that industry could be included as a part of it.In Norrköping the old textile industries in the middle of the city were transformed from an outdated factory area to an attractive industrial landscape during the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the reasons, analysed in the dissertation, can be summarised as follows. First, the industrial area was "discovered" by pioneers who had been influenced by the industrial movement in England. Second, the industrial area had architecturally valuable buildings so that it could be regarded as an area worth preserving even according to traditional selection criteria. Third, the opening of the Museum of Work in the area influenced the survival of the industrial landscape. Through the Museum of Work, the expanding social movement "gräv där du står-rörelsen" ("the digging movement") also exerted an indirect influence on the process. Hence, it was a combination of different factors which resulted in the preservation of the industrial landscape in Norrköping.