ABSTRACT
The inter-war years were a tumultuous period in Norwegian history, as was the case internationally as well. Governments came and went, resulting in political instability and inadequate long-term planning. As a whole, the years from 1920 to 1940 saw considerable economic growth, but the development came in fits and bursts and did not by any means alleviate the widespread social hardships and financial fluctuations. Individual industries went boom and bust, resulting in insecure job markets, massive unemployment, frequent and dramatic strikes and lockouts, and a radicalized labour movement. At the same time, the period is also characterized by an extensive modernization of society: a process where design and technology was key. Electricity became a common good, first bringing electric lighting into most people’s homes and later also the electric stove. For the more affluent, the telephone, the automobile and the radio became important signifiers of modernity in the 1930s. These pro - nounced polarizations were articulated in the sharp class conflicts which very much char acterized the period. Although it never came to armed conflict, the confrontations were often hard. The Labour Party government elected in 1935 brought new stability to the political landscape, and won two crucial victories that paved the way for the so-called Nordic Model: first, new agreements between labour unions and the em - ployers’ organizations were brokered and turned enemies into partners; and second, the first important steps towards the welfare state were made with the introduction of universal basic social benefits.1
