Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland
Legal restrictions on vagrancy and day labour in Iceland became increasingly strict in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, culminating with a decree in 1783 which prohibited any form of masterless labour and proscribed compulsory service on a yearly basis for most people over the age of eighte...
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Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2020
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Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547 https://doi.org/10.7557/4.5547 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/5547 2023-05-15T16:46:25+02:00 Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland Vilhelmsson, Vilhelm 2020-07-22 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547 https://doi.org/10.7557/4.5547 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547/5495 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547 doi:10.7557/4.5547 Copyright (c) 2020 Vilhelm Vilhelmsson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY 1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies; Vol. 17 (2020); 34-56 2001-9866 1652-4772 Árni Sveinsson vagrancy compulsory service labour coercion mobility social capital passports the labouring poor microhistory survival strategies info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed article 2020 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/4.5547 2023-01-12T00:03:06Z Legal restrictions on vagrancy and day labour in Iceland became increasingly strict in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, culminating with a decree in 1783 which prohibited any form of masterless labour and proscribed compulsory service on a yearly basis for most people over the age of eighteen. Despite strict regulations and the strenuous efforts of various state officials to uproot the problem, vagrancy and day labour remained relatively common and publicly acknowledged throughout the nineteenth century, thus highlighting the contrast between normative prescription (such as law) and everyday life and the ambiguity of power relations in rural Iceland, underscoring their contested nature. This article discusses how vagrants and illegal day labourers in Iceland in the early nineteenth century found ways to evade the authorities and make a living for themselves on the margins of society. It stresses the agency of the working poor and highlights some of the survival strategies employed, including passport fraud, the careful exploitation of cultural notions of hospitality and methods of earning social capital by providing useful services. The article builds on the case of a travelling healer and vagrant named Árni Sveinsson who was found guilty of vagrancy, forgery and quackery in 1821. His trial provides rare insights into the tactics employed by those on the margins of the law to get around undetected. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing 1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 17 34 56 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Árni Sveinsson vagrancy compulsory service labour coercion mobility social capital passports the labouring poor microhistory survival strategies |
spellingShingle |
Árni Sveinsson vagrancy compulsory service labour coercion mobility social capital passports the labouring poor microhistory survival strategies Vilhelmsson, Vilhelm Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
topic_facet |
Árni Sveinsson vagrancy compulsory service labour coercion mobility social capital passports the labouring poor microhistory survival strategies |
description |
Legal restrictions on vagrancy and day labour in Iceland became increasingly strict in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, culminating with a decree in 1783 which prohibited any form of masterless labour and proscribed compulsory service on a yearly basis for most people over the age of eighteen. Despite strict regulations and the strenuous efforts of various state officials to uproot the problem, vagrancy and day labour remained relatively common and publicly acknowledged throughout the nineteenth century, thus highlighting the contrast between normative prescription (such as law) and everyday life and the ambiguity of power relations in rural Iceland, underscoring their contested nature. This article discusses how vagrants and illegal day labourers in Iceland in the early nineteenth century found ways to evade the authorities and make a living for themselves on the margins of society. It stresses the agency of the working poor and highlights some of the survival strategies employed, including passport fraud, the careful exploitation of cultural notions of hospitality and methods of earning social capital by providing useful services. The article builds on the case of a travelling healer and vagrant named Árni Sveinsson who was found guilty of vagrancy, forgery and quackery in 1821. His trial provides rare insights into the tactics employed by those on the margins of the law to get around undetected. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vilhelmsson, Vilhelm |
author_facet |
Vilhelmsson, Vilhelm |
author_sort |
Vilhelmsson, Vilhelm |
title |
Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
title_short |
Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
title_full |
Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tactics of Evasion: The survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural Iceland |
title_sort |
tactics of evasion: the survival strategies of vagrants and day labourers in eighteenth and nineteenth century rural iceland |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547 https://doi.org/10.7557/4.5547 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies; Vol. 17 (2020); 34-56 2001-9866 1652-4772 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547/5495 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/1700/article/view/5547 doi:10.7557/4.5547 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2020 Vilhelm Vilhelmsson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/4.5547 |
container_title |
1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies |
container_volume |
17 |
container_start_page |
34 |
op_container_end_page |
56 |
_version_ |
1766036524864897024 |