Vem får bygga Folkets hus? : En konflikt mellan Karlstad syndikalistiska och socialdemokratiska fackföreningar 1938-1945

Sammanfattning

This essay lays its focus upon the Swedish labour movement and the conflicts therein, specifically the conflict regarding the building of a People’s house in Karlstad between the years 1938–1945. Within the construction sector there were competing unions of differing ideologies. Two of these were the more common social democrats and the more marginal syndicalists. They both had their own unions within the construction-sector and would often compete for the favour of the workers and the sole dominion over the workplace. The essay exclusively focuses upon the syndicalist perspective with the aim of looking at the labour movement from a novel perspective. The sources are protocols from the local syndicalist union in Karlstad which are then scoured for any events regarding conflicts with social democratic unions and the building of the People’s house. To understand the motives behind the various decisions that were made the essay uses the theoretical perspective of social capital. Ultimately the result was that this theoretical perspective could explain the motivation behind theses events with one notable exception regarding the building of the People’s house itself. The syndicalists were not allowed to participate in the construction of the People’s house and made the decision to break all contact with the People’s house and its associated organizations. Thus, diverging from what the theoretical perspective regards as the rational course of action.