Scandinavian Exodus: Demography and Social Development of 19th Century Rural Communities

First published in 1987. During the last half of the nineteenth century, nearly two million Norwegians and Swedes migrated to the United States. Declining rates of emigration are moderately associated with the development of urban-industrialization in Scandinavia toward the end of the 19th century. Still, the major explanation of the decline of emigration is argued to be less a response to new urban opportunities than the end result of the transformation of rural, peasant classes and the decay of the diffusion process. In this volume economic change, agricultural development, and the course of the demographic transition are separately considered to isolate the causes underlying the emigration. The social historical context is examined with an eye toward casting the results of this study in a broader light. Those lessons learned in the study of Scandinavian experience are applicable to similar processes currently unfolding in contemporary developing countries.