ABSTRACT
In Sweden large segments of the working class speak of themselves and the bourgeoisie as two easily identifiable social strata, but many both among the workers and within the bourgeoisie dislike idea of dividing people in this way according to their social and economic background. Many Swedes on principle consider it to be ‘undemocratic’ to divide people into groups that are looked upon as hierarchically arranged. It is frequently noticed that Swedes live in an unusually monolithic society, and that there exists some kind of uniform Swedish culture. Peasant culture in Swedish society, with its centuries old traditions and its strong material anchorage in farming environment and in important economic activities, has in practice become wedded to the bourgeois finkultur. The working environments in ‘free-time society’, for those working in offices and factories much more effectively separated from people’s leisure-time milieux than they were and are for agricultural workers and skilled tradesmen where work and leisure are closely linked.
