De-Centering Eighteenth-Century Political Economy: Rethinking Growth, Wealth and Welfare in the Swedish Empire

Project Information

DEPE

Grant agreement ID: 101088549

DOI

10.3030/101088549

EC signature date 3 April 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 964 710,00

EU contribution

€ 1 964 710,00

Coordinated by

JYVASKYLAN YLIOPISTO
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DEPE (De-Centering Eighteenth-Century Political Economy: Rethinking Growth, Wealth and Welfare in the Swedish Empire)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2026-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Historians of political economy have traditionally concentrated on the genesis of modern economics, tracing the emergence of economic models, methods and ideas that are today recognized as 'economics', from 'classical political economy', neo-classicism and on to the present.

Our new departure treats political economy as a discourse oriented to the improvement of conditions for human life and, as such, one of the Enlightenment’s key contributions to Western thought. However, any direct association of Enlightenment discourse with political economy requires qualification. Therefore, this project explores a very extensive contemporary literature about growth, wealth and welfare that has not fitted easily into the conventional retrospective history. Instead of converting past arguments into modern arguments about methods and models, the project investigates eighteenth-century political economy in terms of practical concerns, as measures and policies for betterment and improvement. The Swedish empire – considered by contemporaries as the stronghold of 'oeconomia' – functions as the primary case study, but is constantly compared with other cases, broadening the applicability of the findings.

The aim of the project is to study the ways in which the key concepts of improvement – wealth, growth and welfare – were articulated in the main sites of discursive production: the University, the Diet, local and colonial governments, and academic journals. The study of the five institutions is based on the hypothesis that in each of them activities were directed towards improving the organisation of state and society and the living conditions of the people. This project represents a well-founded reassessment of the rise to predominance of economic argument during the eighteenth century.

The project is particularly timely because it not only has an academic impact, but also a societal one. Today, more urgently than ever before, we need to understand what the long history of political economy and economics really was about. By examining a crucial, though hitherto neglected, aspect of political economy the project offers an entirely novel perspective, not only on the history of economic and political thought but also on the importance and unique character of the early-modern period in history. The project has opened up new horizons and opportunities for research in subfields of history, political science and economics.

Focusing on the neglected Swedish case, the project argues that standard canonical histories have long dominated the history of economic thought. By adopting a collaborative research methodology and engaging in joint data collection the project has been able to generate new knowledge of how eighteenth-century political economy was shaped. The project suggests that the history of political economy must be understood in terms of the institutions in which the discourse was embedded. Drawn together, the five work packages have demonstrated decisively the significance of the measures and practices of improvement to eighteenth century political economy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The DEPE ERC project has advanced its aim of offering a new understanding of how economic thinking developed in eighteenth century Europe. It shows that ideas about improvement, welfare, and public benefit were shaped by a wide range of institutions, including universities, representative assemblies, local administrations, printed media, and colonial authorities. The research carried out so far provides a clearer picture than hithero of how economic knowledge emerged and circulated in both Swedish and wider European contexts.

Research in the first part of the project has examined how different academic fields contributed to early economic thought. By studying materials from major universities, the project shows that the concept of improvement guided teaching and research across several disciplines. Comparative work between Swedish and Central European academic traditions further reveals how knowledge travelled across borders and how Swedish economic thinking drew on international models. These findings deepen our understanding of the shared European foundations of early economic reasoning.
The second part of the project studies the work of the Swedish Diet, the main representative institution of the period. A large body of speeches has now been analysed using digital tools. The results show that concepts linked to improvement, utility, and welfare were used regularly by all social Estates. These ideas remained important even during periods previously thought to be politically less active. This work highlights the Diet as an important arena where economic arguments were shaped, debated, and adapted to changing political circumstances.

The third part of the project explores how ideas about public order and governance—known at the time under the broad term “police”—supported wider discussions of improvement. The team has mapped legislation from across the Swedish Empire and compared it with similar materials from northern Germany. The findings demonstrate that Swedish officials were part of a broader European exchange of administrative and economic ideas. A key result shows how governing principles shifted during the eighteenth century from narrower concerns with state order toward broader discussions of international political and economic relations.
The fourth part of the project investigates the role of the periodical press in explaining, promoting, and questioning improvement policies. Research has identified writers from different professions who addressed the public on economic questions. Studying these individuals helps to explain how ideas about improvement were communicated, adapted, and made meaningful for broader audiences. This work also advances the project’s aim of understanding how economic knowledge circulates beyond academic and governmental settings.

The fifth area of research focuses on Sweden’s colonial activities and their relationship to improvement thinking. Archival work shows that improvement rhetoric was important in colonial contexts but was often directed primarily toward metropolitan interests. Research also reveals that Swedish scientific studies of human difference, including anatomical work linked to European networks involved in the slave trade, began earlier than previously recognised. A major published result demonstrates how this scientific activity intersected with broader political and economic ambitions.

Taken together, the project’s findings provide new evidence on how improvement became a key idea in shaping economic thought in Sweden and its wider European and global environments. The project has generated new materials, comparative analyses, and publications that contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how early economic reasoning developed across institutions and borders. These results support a more comprehensive picture of the origins of modern economic ideas and their connections to governance, public debate, and international entanglements.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has provided new knowledge about the impact of improvement culture on Swedish economic thought and practice. It transforms our understanding of the development of political economy in the eighteenth century. The project has questioned prevailing assumptions regarding the evolution of modern economic and political discourse, especially the tendency to overemphasize canonical texts in our understanding of the role and development of political economy. As the project demonstrates, the discourse of improvement was not a particular speciality of England and Britain, nor of Sweden. During the eighteenth century especially, the culture of improvement was a broad European phenomenon, and it remained influential in the nineteenth century.