From the Lutheran house to the domestic sphere: privacy, power and surveillance in Sweden, 1750-1850

Research seminar with PhD and Research Director at ENIGMA – Museum of Post, Tele and Communication, Andreas Marklund.

'In this research presentation, I shall delve into issues of privacy in relation to family life in Sweden during the complex transitory period between the early modern and modern eras. The presentation is largely based on my doctoral dissertation In the Shadows of his House (EUI, 2002) and will revolve around the concept of the House (Hus, Hushåll, Husbondevälde, Den husliga sfären etc): a concept that was absolutely fundamental for social order during “the Old-Lutheran period”, but increasingly after 1800 was criticized as a relic from the l’ancien regime. However, as my current research focuses on privacy and secret state surveillance in relation to communications technologies, I shall also devote some time to developments within this related area and to the uneasy relationship between absolutist notions of secrecy and “the right to privacy” of the modern era.”'