Go to main navigation Navigation menu Skip navigation Home page Search

Martin Gustavsson

I am an associate professor in Economic History and a researcher at Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University) and SEC (Sociology of Education and Culture, Uppsala University). A central theme in my research has been the interplay between economics, politics and culture in a historical perspective. I have studied different markets, all deeply embedded in social, political and cultural settings: e.g. the art market in Stockholm 1920–1960, the market for exclusive furniture in Sweden 1935–1955, the Swedish market for media technology 1973–2000, the personal insurance market in Sweden 1995–2010 and the market for local shopping centers in the suburbs of Stockholm 1943–2000.

I am an associate professor in Economic History and a researcher at Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University http://www.score.su.se/english/about-us) and SEC (Sociology of Education and Culture, Uppsala University http://www.skeptron.uu.se/broady/sec/pre.htm). A central theme in my research has been the interplay between economics, politics and culture in a historical perspective. I have studied different markets, all deeply embedded in social, political and cultural settings: e.g. the art market in Stockholm 1920–1960, the market for exclusive furniture in Sweden 1935–1955, the Swedish market for media technology 1973–2000, the personal insurance market in Sweden 1995–2010 and the market for local shopping centers in the suburbs of Stockholm 1943–2000.

The meeting between actors from different social spheres – government, business, civil society and the domestic sphere – is another theme in my studies. In a study on cultural funding I show, for example, how the Swedish state art museums during the past fifty years has been financed by a mix of state tax revenues (which mainly went to rent and salaries), large corporate sponsorship (which funded part of the exhibitions), donations of charitable foundations (money for the purchase of art) and gifts (to the art collections) from individuals.

Current research projects

Within the project “Study loans, wage and wealth within higher education. Social groups and their study financing, 1998–2006”, funded by the Swedish Research Council, we study the role of financial resources (loans, salary, wealth) for higher education and how this interacts with educational assets (grades, etc.), and how this has changed during the period 1998 to 2006.

Within a project on “The Royal Society of Pro Patria 1766–2016” I make a sub-study of how this society, which has been a central actor in the civil society, has funded their activities. I examine the donated capital’s social roots (what occupational groups who donated funds), the size of the capital, if it was earmarked or free, and the changes and shifts that can be observed over time.

Within the project “Strategic governance and members’ role in the Swedish agricultural cooperation” I study the individuals’ – the owners and the members – different channels of influence in the cooperative company during the period 1990–2010: meeting participation, informal conversations with elected representatives and officials and writing motions, to name a few.

Publications

Books

Gustavsson, Martin, Mikael Börjesson and Marta Edling (eds) (2012), Konstens omvända ekonomi. Tillgångar inom utbildningar och fält 1938–2008 [The Reversed Economy of Art. Assets Valid within Education in the Fine Arts and the Field of Art 1938–2008], Göteborg: Daidalos.

Gustavsson, Martin (2002), Makt och konstsmak. Sociala och politiska motsättningar på den svenska konstmarknaden 1920–1960 [Power and Taste in Art. Social and Political Conflicts on the Swedish Art Market 1920–1960], Dissertation in Economic History, Stockholm University. Stockholm: Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen.

Articles and book chapters

Gustavsson, Martin & Yvonne Svanström (2013), ‘En bred palett av metoder för historievetenskaperna. Inledning tema metod’, Historisk tidskrift, (3), 323–334.

Bengtsson, Mattias, Mikael Börjesson, Martin Gustavsson and Magnus Hörnqvist (2012), ‘Klassamhället i den officiella statistiken’, Fronesis, (40-41), 136–157.

Bengtsson, Mattias, Martin Gustavsson and Magnus Hörnqvist (2012), ‘Att tänka klass på nytt med hjälp av klassiker’, Fronesis, (40-41), 22–32.

Gustavsson, Martin (2012), ‘Privata välgörare i den svenska staten. En slitstark men komplex historia’, in Filip Wijkström (ed.), Civilsamhället i samhällskontraktet. En antologi om vad som står på spel, Stockholm: European Civil Society Press, pp. 123–150.

Gustavsson, Martin (2012), ‘Stor ära, små belopp. Konstakademiens stipendier och stipendiater 1945–2006’, in Martin Gustavsson, Mikael Börjesson and Marta Edling (eds), Konstens omvända ekonomi. Tillgångar inom utbildningar och fält 1938–2008, Göteborg: Daidalos, pp. 245–277.

Gustavsson, Martin (2012), ‘Privata intressen i staten. Om förhållandet mellan inköpta och donerade konstverk i Moderna Museets samling 1958–2009’, in Martin Gustavsson, Mikael Börjesson and Marta Edling (eds), Konstens omvända ekonomi. Tillgångar inom utbildningar och fält 1938–2008, Göteborg: Daidalos, pp. 189–243.

Gustavsson, Martin (2012), ‘Det gäller att klass. Möbelkonsumenter hos Svenskt Tenn och Carl Malmsten, 1935–1955’, in Erling Bjurström, Martin Fredriksson, Ulf Olsson and Ann Werner (eds), Senmoderna reflexioner. Festskrift till Johan Fornäs, Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, pp. 147–165. http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:496579/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Ekelund, Alexander and Martin Gustavsson (2011), ‘Kritiska seminarier, 1967–1971’, Praktiske Grunde. Nordisk tidsskrift for kultur- og samfundsvidenskab, (4), 39–56. http://praktiskegrunde.dk/pg4-2011.html

Gustavsson, Martin (2011), ‘Med säkerhetspolisen hack i häl: Siri Derkerts samhällsvetenskapliga studier och politiska engagemang i freds- och kvinnorörelsen 1940–1955’, in Mats Rohdin and Annika Öhrner (eds), Att alltid göra och tänka det olika. Siri Derkert i 1900-talet, Stockholm: Kungliga Biblioteket, Acta Bibliothecae Regiae Stockholmiensis, pp. 135–181. http://www.kb.se/dokument/Aktuellt/audiovisuellt/Derkert/134-181SakerhetspolisenGustavsson.pdf

Gustavsson, Martin (2011), ‘”Konjunkturvågor måste studeras” – den politiskt engagerade Siri Derkerts anteckningar om ekonomisk historia och sociologi’, in Annika Öhrner (ed.), Siri Derkert, utst. kat., Stockholm: Moderna museet, pp. 79–103.

Gustavsson, Martin (2009), ‘Ta vara på tiden: På resa med C. Tarras Sällfors 1920–1960’, in Johan Fornäs and Tobias Harding (eds), Kulturellt: Reflektioner i Erling Bjurströms anda, Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, pp. 127–149. http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:234099/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Gustavsson, Martin, Orsi Husz and Johan Söderberg (2009) ‘Collapse of a Bourgeoisie? The Wealthy in Stockholm 1915–1965’, Scandinavian Economic History Review, 57 (1), 88–105.

Gustavsson, Martin (2008), ‘Money, Politics and the Public. Moderna Museet and the Government’, in Anna Tellgren, Martin Sundberg and Johan Rosell (eds), The History Book. On Moderna museet 1958–2008, Stockholm: Moderna museet, pp. 35–64.

Gustavsson, Martin and Mikael Börjesson (2008), ‘Historiska och sociologiska studier av konstnärliga utbildningar och konstens fält’, Praktiske Grunde. Nordisk tidsskrift for kultur- og samfundsvidenskab, (1), 9–17. http://praktiskegrunde.dk/pg1-2008.html

Gustavsson, Martin (2007), ‘Den tysta lilla borgarklassen och den högljudda stora medelklassen’, Fronesis, (24), 148–163.

Gustavsson, Martin (2006), ‘Ett individmoln från mellankrigstiden’, in Mikael Börjesson, Ingrid Heyman, Monica Langerth Zetterman, Esbjörn Larsson, Ida Lidegran and Mikael Palme (eds), Fältanteckningar. Utbildnings- och kultursociologiska texter tillägnade Donald Broady, Uppsala: SEC, Uppsala universitet, pp. 49–60. http://www.skeptron.uu.se/broady/sec/p-faltanteckningar-06.pdf

Gustavsson, Martin (2004), ‘Historikernas och etnografernas fält’, in Lena Gemzöe (ed.), Nutida etnografi. Reflektioner från mediekonsumtionens fält, Nora: Nya Doxa, pp. 97–118, 246–251.

Gustavsson, Martin (2003), ‘The Market in the State and the State in the Market’, Economic Sociology – European Electronic Newsletter, 5 (1), 3–16. http://econsoc.mpifg.de/archive/esoct03.pdf

Gustavsson, Martin (2002), ‘Mediemaskiner: Kommunikationens hårdvaror’, in Karin Becker, Erling Bjurström, Johan Fornäs and Hillevi Ganetz (eds), Medier och människor i konsumtionsrummet, Nora: Nya Doxa, pp. 17–53, 347–354.

Gustavsson, Martin (2001), ‘Carl G. Laurin vägrar abdikera. En traditionell hedonists sorgesång över den asketiska modernismens frammarsch’, in Peder Aléx and Johan Söderberg (eds), Förbjudna njutningar. Spår från konsumtionskulturens historia i Sverige, Stockholm: Podium, pp. 112–147, 287–297, 329–330.

Gustavsson, Martin (2001), ‘Markägare och mötesplatser’, in Karin Becker, Erling Bjurström, Johan Fornäs and Hillevi Ganetz (eds), Passager. Medier och kultur i ett köpcentrum, Nora: Nya Doxa, pp. 53–86, 405–413.