Paper short abstract:

This paper deals with the resilience and vulnerability of forest peasant communities by investigating the socio-economic consequences of wildfires in North Ostrobothnia during the 17th century, as well as the effects of Swedish legislation in the growing tar industry of the region.

Paper long abstract:

Notwithstanding harsh conditions such as war, a cold climate, and state control, the seventeenth century was a time of great economic transformation with direct consequences for people’s everyday life. In Finland (then a part of the Swedish realm), peasant communities began to produce large quantities of tar for the international market. The forests in which this production took place were owned as commons by peasant communities. With increased production followed increasing levels of forest exploitation which put pressure on the peasantry’s institutional structure as well as the forests themselves. This also resulted in increasing instances of wildfire breaking out due to the expanding tar industry. In this paper, I will demonstrate how these communities were affected by wildfires and discuss whether these communities were resilient enough to endure and recover from such disastrous events during the 17th century in North Ostrobothnia, Finland. The aim is to explain the socio-economic effects of wildfires from a bottom-up and top-down perspective. By using local district court protocols and Swedish legislation, I will explain how and why fires occurred, how they affected individuals and communities, and what help was available for those who suffered from wildfires. The legislation is used in order to make clear for what reasons they were implemented, what impact they had, as well as how cooperation strategies between state officials and rural populations functioned.