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Success or failure? Swedish strategies of migration between 1860 and 1960
| Between 1860 and 1930, nearly 1.3 million Swedes came to America in search of a better life. The general opinion in both the scientific research as well as the popular literature seem to be that it was the successful immigrants that remained in the US and the failed that returned home, but is this true? I have already shown in my forthcoming thesis “Coming full circle? Return migration and the Dynamics of Social Mobility on the Bjäre Peninsula 1860-1930” that the returnees in general was successful especially compared to the non-emigrants. But what about the 1.1 million Swedish immigrants that settled permanently in the US and the many more second and third generation immigrants? No study on the success of the Swedish immigrants compared to those who returned or remained in Sweden has ever been done. Probably because of the previously so immense research problems that occurred trying to follow a diverse population over time, between two continents and countries. What I propose is a comparative study between those who remained in Sweden, those who emigrated but returned to Sweden and the emigrants who remained in the United States, in order to research which strategy that was the most successful for the individuals in their strife for a better life. I intend to follow the first, second and possibly third generations of immigrants through their lives, especially studying their Social Mobility, Political Activities and Occupational/Entrepreneurial activities. Bonus effects of this study will be movement patterns for first, second and third generation Swedish emigrants across the US and marriage patterns for the first and second generations amongst other things.
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