This thesis deals with children and young people who grew up in the Swedish countryside during 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and who embarked on an educational journey. It is about young people who, through the Young Cultivators and JUF, the Young Farmers' Association, changed theireveryday life and prepared for a future they expected. They were individuals who did not share the dark picture of the countryside that was predominant in the contemporary debate and in literature.
On the whole the dissertation shows that education was needed in Tengene for four reasons. Firstfy, there was the goal to better oneself as a human being, that is, the ideal to improve oneself by education. The concept is broadened here to also include the more entertainment-oriented elements. Secondfy, there was the objective of taking responsibility for collective development in a local, a national and even an international context, that is, an ideal directed towards citizenship. Thirdfy, another goal was to preserve and pass on the cultural heritage in a new humanistic spirit. Cultural heritage should be interpreted here ina broader sense, more than just that of "high society". In addition, there was another ideal: the importance of educating oneself, to improve one's skill in agriculture.
This dissertation has provided new and different perspectives on the modern Swedish democratic welfare state. The great eagerness of the Tengene youth to take part in the building of society was met by a purposeful and energetic state. Due to this interaction Swedish agriculture changed, and the countryside became linked to national economic and social development. This interaction consolidated a fragile democracy during the decades following the 1920s. A dualistic model never existed in Sweden with an underdeveloped and marginalized countryside. Many people moved to towns and larger cities, but many also had the opportunity to remain in the agrarian environment and at the same time become part of the modern welfare state.