The labour and the economy: Social enterprise in Eskifjörður from 1925 to 1937

• Main Author: Kjartansson, Helgi Skúli
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Félagsfræðingafélag Íslands 2023
• Subjects: Eskifjörður; millistríðsár; atvinnusaga; félagshyggja; samvinnuhreyfing; verkalýðshreyfing; bankaþjónusta; An Eastern Iceland fishing village; inter-war industrial strategies; left-wing local politics; co-operation; organised labour; banking services; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/tf/article/view/3915

Throughout the inter-war period Icelandic fishing industry faced a constant struggle with unsustainable debt as well as repeated external shocks. The article focuses on a particularly hard-hit fishing village, Eskifjörður in Eastern Iceland, and its heroic attempts, largely lead by the local bank filial as well as its labour and co-operative movements, to reverse the inexorable decline of its fishing industry. Rakin er atvinnusaga Eskifjarðar á millistríðsárunum, einkum frá 1925 til 1937. Hún birtir óvenju skýrt dæmi um hinn almenna rekstrarvanda sjávarútvegsins sem í senn glímdi við skuldabyrði, ósjálfbæra vegna óhæfilegra raunvaxta, og við endurtekin áföll af ýmsu tagi, ekki síst eftir að heimskreppan skall á. Dæmi Eskfirðinga sýnir líka óvenju margvísleg úrræði sem gripið var til í atvinnumálum, mest fyrir forgöngu sveitarfélagsins, verkamannafélagsins og Landsbankaútibúsins og jafnan í anda félagshyggju eða vinstri afla.