NORWAY
SOCIOCULTURAL
EVOLUTION
IN NORWAY
MOVEMENT INTO THE
PASTORAL/
HORTICULTURAL ERA
THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD
(4000-1800 BCE)
 First farming started around 4000 BCE,
roughly 5,000 years after it first developed in
the Middle East.
 The first farmers scorched off the forest,
sowed corn in the ashes and harvested it until
the soil was completely exhausted. Then they
moved on to new settlements.
 Initially, animal farming was more important
than crop growing.
 Sealing, hunting, and fishing continued to be
more important than farming.
THE AGRICULTURAL ERA
IN NORWAY
Rock carvings, appearing in the Bronze Age
(1800-500 BCE), promoted fertility in the
fields and in animals and human beings.
IRON AGE
(500 BCE – 800 CE)
 Gradually, as population grew, so did the
need for common rules: Iron production
was sufficiently labor intensive to
require a supervisory authority.
 Chieftains functioned as priests during
the feasts for gods like Njord and
Froya. Farmers would hand over produce
as sacrifices to the chieftains.
IRON AGE
(500 BCE – 800 CE)
 A Warrior class enabled a chieftain to
increase his power over his tribe as well
as subjugate other tribes.
 Requiring greater defense, simple
fortifications were built (inc. hill forts)
where people could seek refuge in times
of turmoil.
 Luxury goods came from opulent trading
centers along the North Sea.
PAGAN RELIGIOUS
PRACTICES
 Sacrifices and various rituals were
carried out in special groves, in the
fields, on burial mounds or stone altars,
and in houses containing idols.
 Large feasts were held several times a
year in honor of the gods. Leading men
and women from the chieftain clan would
act as sacrificial priests.
THE VIKING AGE
(800-1030 CE)
CHRISTIANITY COMES
TO NORWAY
RELIGIOUS
TRANSFORMATION
 Yuletide celebrations continued but were
now celebrated in the names of Jesus
and Mary
 Mass replaced sacrifice
 Though people understood little of what
went on, they became part of a new
brotherhood focused on a sermon in
Latin, beautiful pictures, and strange
fragrances
 Right from the start, the king was the
head of the church since the church
needed the king for Christianity to take
hold properly.
 The King derived great benefit from the
organization of the church since the King
“derived his power directly from God”.
 During the Viking period, farmers owned
their own land. 300 years later, the
majority of farmers had become tenants
of the king. Together, the church and
aristocracy owned 70% of the land.
CHURCH WEALTH
 The farmer could continue to work his
land but now only as a tenant.
 At the same time, it was common for
ordinary farmers as well as kings and
noblemen to give land to the church so
that priests would pay for their souls.
Such gifts helped to make the church
Norway’s largest landholder.
CHURCH AND KING
 The king did not decide everything alone.
To give his pronouncements greater
force, he consulted noblemen and
bishops.
 From the 1280s, these “good men”
functioned as a Privy Council, for which
the bishops, who knew Latin and were
schooled in theology and law, were
obvious candidates.
Together with the king’s local and
central administration, the church’s allpervasive power held the state of
Norway together.
Painting by 20th-century
artist Theodor
Kittelsen
Superstition had it that
plague traveled the
country in the shape
of an old hag
(“Pesta”). If she
carried a broom,
everyone in the
community would die;
a rake, a few would
be spared.
But the church did better: Though its
revenues also fell, it was still the
country’s biggest landowner. In the
Late Middle Ages, people’s fear of
death was greater than ever, so locals
gave the church land for the good of
their souls. The Archbishop of
Nidaros became Norway’s most
powerful man.
PEASANT SOCIETY
 Between 1500 and 1800, the population
of Norway increased from about 150,000
to 900,000; nine out of ten people were
still tied to the land.
 As late as the 18th century, nearly a
quarter of all infants died within a year
of birth.
 With no health service to cure or
prevent disease, people were easy prey
to epidemics and starvation.
Nonetheless, in the absence of
plagues, numbers rose in the 18th
century; and population pressures
began to be felt.
THE INDUSTRIAL ERA
COMES TO NORWAY
This textile factory
was founded in 1849.
The majority of
workers were women.
The initial Industrial
Revolution was actually
manned by women.
Between 1850 and 1900,
Norwegian fish
exports increased
manyfold, initially
with considerable
conflict. Small boats
and steam trawlers
clashed as the
former feared that
the purse nets might
take their livelihoods
away.
WORLD WIDE CAPITAL FLOW
 This new industry required capital. A
large amount came from abroad, esp.
Great Britain. Foreigners wanted to
invest because Norway had natural
resources and cheap labor.
 By 1900, industry accounted for 28% of
GNP, and over a quarter of all workers
were employed in it.
 People from the rural areas streamed
into the cities to find work. 1870: 20%
lived in towns; 1900: well over 30%.
UPHEAVAL IN AGRICULTURE
 New tools made farming more efficient
 The need for small landholders and farm
workers declined
 Thousands therefore moved to the cities
or immigrated to America
 Emigration and exodus robbed the
countryside of labor
 So, many farmers began to start
rotating crops, applying artificial
fertilizers and using new-fangled
machines
UPHEAVAL IN INDUSTRY
 Remember, folks could no longer rely on
their own food production; they now
relied on the formal economy to meet
their needs.
 Like folks everywhere, Norway faced
falling prices and market problems from
1918 to 1920. Prices and monetary value
fluctuated.
 Workers used strikes as weapons;
employers responded with lock-outs.
A SCHISM
 The radicalization of the workers’
movement must be seen in the light of
greatly worsened conditions for the
great majority of people.
 In 1917, prices shot up while shortages,
black market trading and speculation
became everyday occurrences.
 Newly rich stockbrokers wallowed in
luxury while many fought for their daily
bread.
WELFARE AND STABILITY
 After the war, there was widespread
agreement that the class warfare and
want of inter-war years must not return.
 The new “Welfare State” benefited
society’s “losers”; everyone had the right
to support if they found themselves in a
situation of insecurity or poverty.
THE SAFETY NET
 Child Allowance – provided everyone under 15
with permanent monthly financial assistance
 Compulsory Health Insurance
 Social Services Departments did not aid just
the needy but insured that people could help
themselves
ON TO THE POSTINDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
IN NORWAY
OPPOSITION TO EU
 Many conservationists had great
antipathy toward the EU’s principle of
growth which violates the principles of a
Sustainable Environment.
 EU principles that dictated free
movement of goods, services, capital, and
labor across borders terrified some:
Especially, German businesses were likely
to dominate.
 To date, Norway has not joined the EU.
BLACK GOLD
In 1970, Phillips
Petroleum
established one of
the most
economically viable
oil fields in the
world – actually
amongst
the world’s ten
largest
ECONOMIC FREEDOM
 Oil reserves gave Norway wonderful
freedom of action in matters of national
economy.
 It used its greatest percentage of GNP
on public expenditure so had the highest
proportion of its workforce employed in
the public sector, esp. in health,
education, and social services.
IMMIGRATION WOES
 The high economic growth of the 1960s
led to a shortage of labor, and for the
first time in many years Norway had an
immigration surplus.
 The increasing stream of unskilled labor
from poor countries (southeastern
Europe, Asia, and Africa) forced
authorities to impose stricter
immigration controls in 1975.
IMMIGRANT WOES
 Immigrants from the Least
Industrialized Nations had trouble
finding work and suffered unemployment
more frequently than Norwegians. As a
rule, they had to accept low-status jobs
in industry and the service sector even
though many had higher education.
 In 2002, there were about 317,000
people with immigrant backgrounds in
Norway, representing 6.9% of pop.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The History of Norway
from the Ice Age to Today
Oivind Stenersen and
Ivar Libaek
2003