Conference proceedings by Vilhelm Vilhelmsson
Söguþing 2012: Ráðstefnurit, 2013
Historical writing on Icelandic immigrants in Canada has generally focused on model immigrants wh... more Historical writing on Icelandic immigrants in Canada has generally focused on model immigrants who accepted the liberal framework of Canadian society while ignoring or downplaying the significance of more troublesome elements within the Icelandic community in N-America. In recent years revisionist research has undermined this image of the model immigrant in favour of a more nuanced view of the history and culture of Icelandic immigrants in America. This paper will take a critical view at the historiography of Icelandic migration to Canada by examining the marginalization of Sigfús B. Benedictsson, poet, anarchist, freethinker and women’s rights advocate, in that historiography.
Söguþing 2012: Ráðstefnurit, 2013
Saga íslenskrar verkalýðshreyfingar er að miklu leyti samofin stjórnmálasögu tuttugustu aldar og ... more Saga íslenskrar verkalýðshreyfingar er að miklu leyti samofin stjórnmálasögu tuttugustu aldar og áhersla sagnfræðirannsókna hefur gjarnan verið á þau félög þar sem pólitísk átök voru hörðust, á þær persónur sem stóðu í forystu stríðandi fylkinga á landsvísu, og tengsl þeirra við erlend öfl. Á þriðja og fjórða áratug síðustu aldar voru hugmyndafræðilegar og pólitískar deilur innan íslenskrar verkalýðshreyfingar einna harðastar. En hver voru áhrif slíkra deilna á daglegt starf þeirra smávöxnu verkalýðsfélaga sem urðu til víða um land um svipað leyti? Hér verður horft til eins slíks, verkalýðsfélagsins Hvatar á Hvammstanga, og leitað svara við því hver áhrif þeirra deilna voru á starf félagsins. Með slíkri athugun má öðlast nýja innsýn í slík átök og áhrif þeirra á íslenska verkalýðshreyfingu utan valdamiðju hennar.
english:
In the 1920s and 1930s the Icelandic labour movement was ridden with ideological and political conflict. The historiography of the Icelandic labour movement has focused to a large degree on that conflict, its leading antagonists and their relations with „foreign powers“. But how did said conflict influence everyday activities within the many labour unions which were formed around the country at this time, organizations which were often miniscule in size? This paper looks at one such union, Hvöt from Hvammstangi, a tiny village in northwestern Iceland, to see how the conflict affected its activities. By tracing that conflict using a microhistorical perspective a more nuanced understanding of said conflict can be reached.
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Conference proceedings by Vilhelm Vilhelmsson
english:
In the 1920s and 1930s the Icelandic labour movement was ridden with ideological and political conflict. The historiography of the Icelandic labour movement has focused to a large degree on that conflict, its leading antagonists and their relations with „foreign powers“. But how did said conflict influence everyday activities within the many labour unions which were formed around the country at this time, organizations which were often miniscule in size? This paper looks at one such union, Hvöt from Hvammstangi, a tiny village in northwestern Iceland, to see how the conflict affected its activities. By tracing that conflict using a microhistorical perspective a more nuanced understanding of said conflict can be reached.