| Summary: | The aim of this thesis is to explain the relationship between industrialisation and demographic development in a mining region of northern Sweden at the turn of the twenties century. The analysis addresses the interaction between migration, family and fertility patterns at the community level. The areas of investigation are two mining communities situated in the province of Norrbotten, Kiruna and Malmberget. Most theoretical models aiming at explaining the demographic changes in Western Europe and North America during the period from early 19th to mid-20th century, have focused on key factors related to industrialisation and economic development. Local variations in family and fertility patterns have also been related to differences in industrial structure. The assumed relationship between local labour markets and demographic development in mining environments are founded on an interaction between migration, marriage patterns and marital fertility, that taken together created preconditions for high rates of reproduction. This study is guided by an attempt to include also communicative factors in the analytic framework for the analyses of family structure and fertility. In line with this strategy the conceptual scheme of Jürgen Habermas have been applied. This approach gives an opportunity to study both the relations connecting the family to the local economic system, and also the interaction between the private and public spheres at community level. The results presented here suggests that the assumed relationship between local labour markets and demographic development stipulated in the above model, was of importance only during the early and dynamic period of industrialisation and population development. However, the rates of marital fertility in the communities declined rapidly and had in the 1920s dropped to levels indicating that deliberate fertility control was practised in the local population. Explanations for changes in fertility patterns discovered in this study suggest the importance of discussions ...
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