Umeå University's logo

The present dissertation examines various aspects of church organization in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries. In Sweden, as in many other European countries, the Christian religion and the organization of the Church comprised the dominant ideological power structure. Through the process of state-building and the Protestant Reformation, these structures were charged with new energy. In the present dissertation, the fact that nations were dependent on and exploited ideological power structures in order to control their respective populations and survive the international struggle of the state system has grown to become a central theme.

The fundamental questions of this dissertation concerning how and why social institutions were reproduced, and the theoretical context of these questions, has been based in the fact that both church and state are social institutions whose construction must include structures for a constant recreation of their forms and functions. The contribution of the present author has been to construct and apply a general model for understanding the organization and reproduction of institutional structures from a materialistic and structural basis. From a discussion of Louis Althusser's theory of the oppressive state apparatus and the ideological state apparatus, I have developed fundamental concepts with the purpose of constructing a theoretical model of the reproduction of an ideological state apparatus. I have dubbed this model the "competitive system", designating a system of material and symbolic structures and processes which, through competition between individuals, produces and maintains the functionaries of said state apparatus.

In one subsidiary study, the involvement of the repressive state apparatus in the creation of new church dioceses (so-called "superintendant dioceses") in Sweden during the first half of the 17th century is studied. This study showed that the creation of superintendant dioceses was a government-initiated project whose actual motive was the ambition of the repressive state to conquer and secure borders and central regions in the realm.

In another subsidiary study, some of the structures which reproduced the church and the educational system in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries are examined. This study indicated how the system of promotion constructed after the Reformation resulted in an overproduction of clerical labour during the 17th and 18th centuries. At the same time, through the agency of the crown the educational system expanded enormously during the 17th century and, by providing the opportunity for teachers to move into careers in the church, competition in the church apparatus became even keener.

In a final subsidiary study, the reproduction of diocesans (bishops and superintendents) in Sweden during the period 1580-1800 is analyzed. At the beginning of the period under investigation, careers in the normal competitive system of the church comprised the dominant form of qualification. The court and royal chaplain ministries available there were of great significance for recruitment. By the latter half of the 17th century, the role of the educational system in the reproduction of diocesans increased. In accordance with the Swedish central government´s increasing need to formalize its central competitive system, the educational system was expanded and reinforced, which had reprecussions on the competitive system of the ideological state apparatus of the church and its reproduction of diocesans.

Keywords: ideological state apparatus, repressive state apparatus, reproduction, church organization, educational system, competitive system, clergy, superintendent, bishop, superintendant dioceses, state building, 17th century, 18th century, Sweden.