Corporate paternalism on the rocks: a historical analysis of power relations in a mining town

Abstract

This article challenges a common position in research on company towns that corporate paternalism is relevant in the formative years, but then fades away due to urbanization, democratization and improved communications. But, paternalism, just as the phenomenon of company towns, lives on. Relating paternalistic practices to the company’s relation to the state, the worker collective, the built environment, community services, and to the affective and moral dimension, we trace corporate paternalism in the mining town of Kiruna, located in the Swedish Arctic, from the late 19th century when the mine and the town were established, through the critical phases when it is under most pressure. The article highlights how paternalism finds new ways and to some extent remains in effect, thus characterizing power relations between management and labor over time.