Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The way to acquire forest in Sweden from parents has been unequal, men were prioritized over women, which was the traditional inheritance pattern. Research has made this clearer by using gender, which “values” our stereotypes of sexes and can help us understand inheritance patterns. The gender determined who would inherit but also the form of ownership, praxis, property rights, regulations, power and work invested made by a sibling could influence. The purpose with my study was to find what conditions governed inheritance of forest on the properties I investigated and what influence gender had. Therefore 16 interviews were made with owners of farms that had been in the family for at least 3 generations in the areas of Skellefteå and Högsby in Sweden. The properties were owned by both single owners and several owners. My results showed that men in most cases acquired the forest. Women said that “their fathers will” governed their ownership while “interest” governed men´s. The interviewed persons were also of the opinion that they had put more effort in the farm than their siblings. These results show that in agriculture women are still governed by men´s “will” and that ownership by men is still the dominant form.