About the project
"Nordic Civil Societies: Global, Transnational and Regional Encounters since 1800" has examined the development of civil society in the Nordic countries from 1800 until today through historical, transnational, and comparative studies.
By looking at civil society - as a sphere between the state, the market, and the private sector - and its specific development in the Nordic region, the research group has provided new perspectives on political, social, and cultural ideas and practices that have been perceived as particularly Nordic.
Goals
The research group has investigated associations, organizations, and other voluntary activities in the Nordic region based on three key aspects that have shaped ideas about and experiences with the Nordic region and the "Nordic model" over time:
- The relationship between civil society and the state - which in the Nordic region has often been characterized by interaction and collaboration rather than conflict and distance.
- The widespread transnational Nordic cooperation and its development since the 19th century.
- The role of civil society in Nordic international engagement, as well as transnational political activism and encounters with the global arena Organization.
Organization
The research group consisted of around 30 researchers from the University of Oslo and other universities in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, representing disciplines such as history, law, political science, rhetoric, philosophy, sociology, and literary studies.
Led by Sunniva Engh, Ruth Hemstad, and Klaus Nathaus, the group was based at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation, and History and collaborated with the Centre for Development and the Environment and the Department of Public Law at the University of Oslo, as well as with the Copenhagen Business School.
Duration
February 2020 - December 2023
Events
2023
Nordic Civil Societies Concluding Conference - Global, Transnational and Regional Encounters since 1800
NCS concluding conference features keynote lectures by Mary Hilson and Jeroen van Zanten, five book panels, presentations of ongoing PhD projects and new research projects connected to NCS and a concluding panel discussion.
Time and place: Sep. 21, 2023 9:30 AM – Sep. 22, 2023 2:45 PM, Niels Treschows hus, 12th Floor
The concluding conference of the UiO:Nordic funded research group Nordic Civil Societies, 21-22 September 2023, offers keynote lectures by Mary Hilson (Aarhus University), on “What was Nordic about Nordic civil society?” and Jeroen van Zanten (University of Amsterdam), on “Citizens with or without solid ground? A comparison between civil society in the Netherlands and ‘Norden’ and the exploitation of natural resources”.
The event also features the Norwegian book launch of Alvin Jackson’s United Kingdoms: Multinational Union States in Europe and Beyond, 1800−1925 (Oxford University Press 2023) and presentations of the volume, Nordic Experiences of Pan-nationalisms: A Reappraisal and Comparison, 1840−1940 (edited by Ruth Hemstad and Peter Stadius, Routledge 2023) and four forthcoming edited volumes/issues, as well as of ongoing PhD projects and new research projects connected to NCS.
The conference ends with a concluding panel discussion on research on the history of Nordic civil societies and key aspects studied by the NCS project: The nexus between civil society and the state, the close Nordic transnational cooperation and civil society and international engagement.
Programme
21 September 09:30-16.30
- Welcome addresses: Welcome by the project leader group, Sunniva Engh (UiO), Klaus Nathaus (UiO) and Ruth Hemstad (UiO and National Library of Norway). From UiO:Norden to UiO:Democracy, by Director Tore Rem (UiO).
Session 1: Keynote lecture
- What was Nordic about Nordic civil society? Opening keynote lecture by Mary Hilson (Aarhus University), followed by discussion
Session 2: PhD project presentations
- Transnational solidarity with Chile in Norway. Ragnar Øvergaard Aas (UiO)
- The Tanzanian-Norwegian energy relationship, 1970−2020. Tyler Barrott (UiO)
Session 3: Book panels
- Presentation of Nordic Experiences of Pan-nationalisms: A Reappraisal and Comparison, 1840−1940 by Ruth Hemstad (UiO/NB), Peter Stadius (Helsinki University) and Niri Ragnvald Johnsen (Agder University), with comments by Mary Hilson (Aarhus University).
- United Kingdoms: Multinational union states in Europe and beyond, 1800−1925. Norwegian book launch of Alvin Jackson’s (Edinburgh University) new book, with comments by Dag Michalsen (UiO)
- Bureaucratic voluntarism. Klaus Nathaus (UiO) and Haldor Byrkjeflot (UiO)
Session 4: New research projects connected to NCS
- Swedish international aid and popular education. Sofia Österborg Wiklund (Umeå University)
- Civil society without boundaries: Nordic humanitarianism facing the Biafra crisis. Norbert Götz (Södertörn University)
- Experiencing American democracy: Historical and contemporary perspectives (ExAm). Hilde Sandvik (UiO)
22 September, 10:00−14:45
Session 5: Keynote lecture
- Citizens with or without solid ground? A comparison between civil society in the Netherlands and ‘Norden’ and the exploitation of natural resources. Concluding keynote lecture by Jeroen van Zanten (Amsterdam University), followed by discussion
Session 6: Book panels
- Civil Society beyond the Nordics. Sunniva Engh (UiO), Tyler Barrot (UiO) Kristian Bjørkdal (UiO) and Melina Buns (University of Stavanger)
- Cooperation and Confrontation: Nordic Experiences of Civil Society since 1800. Sunniva Engh (UiO), Mads Mordhorst (CBS) and Ruth Hemstad (UiO/NB)
Session 7: New research projects connected to NCS
- Labor entanglements across the Atlantic: US–Scandinavian activism, networks and visions for society in the early twentieth century. Byron Rom-Jensen (UiO) and Eirik Wig Sundvall (UiO)
Session 8: Concluding panel
- Nordic Civil Societies: Global, transnational and regional encounters since 1800: What have we achieved and where do we go from here? Alvin Jackson (Edinburgh University), Inger-Johanne Sand (UiO), Norbert Götz (Södertörn University). Chair: Sunniva Engh
- Concluding remarks and goodbye. Sunniva Engh, Klaus Nathaus and Ruth Hemstad
NCS Concluding Conference is organised by Ruth Hemstad, Sunniva Engh and Klaus Nathaus.
2022
Bureaucratic Voluntarism: Historical and Sociological Studies on the Organisation of Associational Life in the Nordic Countries and Beyond
The workshop uses bureaucracy as a lens to explore the conformity, consensus, and collaborativeness that are held typical for voluntary associations in the Nordic region.
Time and place: Aug. 26, 2022 – Aug. 27, 2022, Copenhagen Business School
Workshop topic
Associational life in the North is often characterised by a high degree of conformity, consensus, and preparedness to cooperate with state authorities. This has been identified as a Nordic particularity and explained in reference to a political culture rooted in “values” and “traditions” reaching back centuries. The workshop suggests a different approach to the study of voluntary associations by focusing on organisational practices, especially manifestations of bureaucracy like statutes and minute books, annual reports and members’ lists, audits and accounts, seniority and statistics, officers and offices.
Starting from the observation that associations have developed bureaucratic traits to a greater extent than necessary for the mere pursuit of their stated purposes, the workshop asks how bureaucracy affected both the relations between members and the role of associations in society.
The workshop is mainly interested in contributions that shed light on the organisational practices of associations of all kind, from leisure clubs to advocacy groups, social movement associations and trade and industry bodies. Studies may focus on individual clubs and their members at the local level or at larger associations at the regional or (inter)national level, including committees at the interface of the voluntary sector and the state. Papers may present historical or contemporary case studies. We are also open for paper suggestions that approach bureaucracy in civil society or voluntary associations in a theoretical manner.
Organisers
- Klaus Nathaus (UiO)
- Haldor Byrkjeflot (UiO)
- Mads Mordhorst (CBS)
- Benjamin Ask Popp-Madsen (CBS)
Nordic Civil Societies Midway Seminar
The Organisation, Representation and Transnational Encounters of Nordic Civil Society since 1800.
Time and place: Aug. 25, 2022 10:00 AM – Aug. 26, 2022 1:00 PM, Copenhagen Business School
Programme
25 August 10.00-18.00
Session I: Welcome and presentations
- Welcome and introduction. Presentation of project research, activities, results etc.: Ass. Prof. Sunniva Engh, IAKH, University of Oslo, Prof. Klaus Nathaus, IAKH, UiO and Ass. Prof. Ruth Hemstad, IAKH, UiO/National Library of Norway
- Presentation of PhD projects connected to NCS.
- Mikkel Witt Syberg, CBS/IAKH, UiO: Civil Society organisations and Migration Governance in Interwar Denmark/Norden.
- Ragnar Øvergaard Aas, IAKH, UiO: Transnational Solidarity with Chile in Norway.
- Tyler Barrott, SUM/IAKH, UiO: The Tanzanian-Norwegian Energy Relationship, 1970-2020.
- Presentation of new research projects connected to NCS:
- Prof. Norbert Götz, Södertörn University: Civil Society without Boundaries: Nordic Humanitarianism Facing the Biafra Crisis.
- Presentation of Center for Civil Society Studies, CBS: Ass. Prof. Mads Mordhorst, Prof. Lars Bo Kaspersen, Prof. Anker Brink Lund, Ass. Prof. Mathias Hein Jessen, Ass. Prof. Anders Sevelsted and post.doc Benjamin Ask Popp-Madsen.
Session II: Keynote lecture
- Keynote lecture: Professor Norbert Götz, Södertörn University: Synergies and Clashes of Civil Society: National, Regional, and Global
- Questions and discussion
Session III: Paper presentations and discussions related to NCS concluding book project: The organisation, representations and transnational encounters of Nordic civil society since 1800
- Paper presentations:19th century Nordic civil society experiences
- Archivist Margrét Gunnarsdottir, National Archive of Iceland, Phd candidate Iceland University: A failed attempt at democracy at the beginning of the 19th century: The Icelandic Society and its part in the abortive revolution of 1809
- Ass. Prof. Sidsel Eriksen, University of Copenhagen: Transnational temperance in the age of nation building
- Prof. Odd Arvid Storsveen, IAKH, UiO: Sharp shooting – a typical Nordic pasttime?
26 August 10:00 – 12.00
Session IV: Paper presentations and discussions
- Paper presentations: 20th century Nordic civil society experiences
- Post doc, Melina Antonia Buns, University of Stavanger/KTH Royal Institute of Technology: Challenging Nuclear Utopias: Anti-Nuclear Movements in the Nordic Countries.
- Ass. Prof. Suze van der Poll, University of Amsterdam: (Trans-)national encounters – Sami literature as peaceful protest against the exclusive and marginalising national practices within the Norwegian and Swedish welfare states.
- Concluding discussions and way forward
Connected, parallell workshops: 26‒27 August 2022, CBS, Copenhagen
- Bureaucratic Voluntarism: Historical and Sociological Studies on the Organisation of Associational Life in the Nordic Countries and Beyond (Organised by Klaus Nathaus, Mads Mordhorst and Benjamin Ask Popp-Madsen)
- Nordic Foreign Politics in Popular Culture (Organised by Sunniva Engh and Kristian Bjørkdahl)
NCS Midway Seminar is organised by Ruth Hemstad, Sunniva Engh, Klaus Nathaus and Mads Mordhorst.
NCS Pillar III Workshop
The workshop «A Nordic worldview? The Nordics in the world» explores new research ideas of Nordic international engagement.
Time and place: May 5, 2022 – May 6, 2022, Lysebu
Workshop topic
The Nordics are often assumed to pursue similar foreign policies and are regularly categorized as ‘middle powers’ or ‘like-minded nations’ in the international sphere. An important part of this image is the participation of civil society actors, such as voluntary associations or NGOs, who play a significant role in Nordic international engagement. However, is there such a thing as a Nordic view of the world? If there is, what is the place of the Nordics in this image, and how does it affect the Nordic countries’ role internationally?
The workshop «A Nordic worldview? The Nordics in the world» aims to explore new research ideas and build and extend networks of scholars of Nordic international engagement, looking beyond the traditional focus on the state as a main actor, and beyond the familiar national and regional narratives. Encouraging study of civil societies’ international engagement, we question the idea of a ‘Nordic worldview’, i.e. a shared understanding of the world and the Nordics’ place within it, and in turn how such an idea affects the Nordic countries in an increasingly globalized system. The topic thus encompasses national, regional and global levels of analysis, and encourages the inclusion of transnational perspectives in the debate.
The workshop will take place at Lysebu Hotel in Oslo. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered. Should restrictions on travel and events make it impossible to meet physically, the workshop may be moved to a digital platform.
Organizer
Nordic Civil Societies
- Sunniva Engh, Project leader and associate Professor in History.
- Tyler Barrott, Doctoral Research Fellow at Center for Development and Environment.
The Workshop is funded by Nordforsk through ReNEW and UiO:Nordic.
2021
NCS Virtual Colloquium: Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries - the Impact on Civil Society
Professor Andreas Önnerfors, affiliated with the University of Erfurt, Germany, presents the new, multi-authored volume Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries.
Time and place: Nov. 17, 2021 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM, Zoom
New book
Andreas Önnerfors introduces the discussion with a presentation based on the multi-authored volume Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries (Routledge 2021).
The authors treat the historical development of conspiracy theories in the Nordic countries and their contemporary impact in society, particularly during the pandemic where across the Nordic countries the emergence of a ”dark side” of civil society could be observed.
Comments by Associate Professor Elisabetta Cassina Wolff, IAKH, University of Oslo.
NCS Virtual Colloquium: Civil Society: Between Concepts and Empirical Grounds
Associate Professor Liv Egholm and Professor Lars Bo Kaspersen, Copenhagen Business School, present their new book Civil Society: Between Concepts and Empirical Grounds.
Time and place: Oct. 13, 2021 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM, Zoom
New book
Liv Egholm and Lars Bo Kaspersen introduce the discussion with a presentation based on their new edited volume Civil Society: Between Concepts and Empirical Grounds (Routledge 2021).
The book is based on the project Civil Society in the Shadow of the State, and examines the historical and social trajectories involved in the continuous development of civil society. Through empirical studies focusing primarily on Denmark and covering the period from 1849 to the present day, it analyses the manner in which civil society has been practised and transformed over time.
Comments by Professor Klaus Nathaus, IAKH, University of Oslo.
NCS Virtual Colloquium: The Tanzanian-Norwegian Energy Relationship, 1970-2020
PhD fellow Tyler Barrott, SUM, University of Oslo, presents his doctoral project Big Oil and Troubled Waters: The Tanzanian-Norwegian Energy Relationship, 1970-2020
Time and place: Sep. 22, 2021 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM, Zoom
Big Oil and Troubled Waters
For over half a century, energy has played a defining role in the relationship between Norway and Tanzania. From large-scale hydropower projects to the discovery of massive offshore gas reserves, the Tanzanian-Norwegian energy relationship has been marked by optimistic cooperation and protracted conflict, as well as resource speculation and promises of development.
Tyler Barrott’s doctoral project will explore how Tanzanian and Norwegian actors employed rhetoric and influenced discourses to facilitate collaboration and further their own interests. In his presentation, Barrott will focus particularly on how constellations of influence – rapidly evolving agglomerations of business interests and civil society organizations – shaped a discursive space where sustainability was weaponized and development canonized.
NCS Virtual Colloquium: The Historical Study of ‘Models’: How and to what End?
Professor Christiane Eisenberg and Associate Professor Mads Mordhorst discuss the potential and challenges to comparative research and different approaches to the historical study of ‘models’.
Time and place: 7. juni 2021 12:15 – 13:30, Zoom
Understanding the past
In the early 1970s, German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler called the comparative method a ‘Königsweg’ for historical research, the privileged path to an understanding of the past.
Few historians would dispute that comparisons can be a useful tool, though historical comparisons have provoked considerable critique since historians like Wehler adapted the method from the social sciences.
According to its critics, comparisons overlook transfers and entanglements as they isolate units for comparisons. Comparisons are further accused of maintaining methodological nationalism, establishing teleologies and creating ideal paths of developments.
Apparently, comparisons need to be handled with care. In turn, this poses questions to anyone who studies ‘Nordic models’, which is a concept never far from current historical research on modern Scandinavia, including our Nordic civil societies project.
Discussion
To discuss the potential and challenges to comparative research and different approaches to the historical study of ‘models’, we have invited Professor Christiane Eisenberg (Humboldt-University Berlin) and Associate Professor Mads Mordhorst (Copenhagen Business School) to discuss their experience with this topic.
- Eisenberg is a historian of Britain, which has long served as a model of Western liberal democracy. She is also among the first historians in Germany who took the ‘Königsweg’ with her PhD thesis on British and German trade unionism in the nineteenth century.
- Mordhorst works, among other topics, on nation branding and is co-editing a forthcoming volume on the global circulation of Nordic models.
- Professor Klaus Nathaus, University of Oslo, will introduce Eisenberg and Mordhorst and lead the conversation.
NCS Virtual Colloquium: The Moral Economy of Humanitarianism: From Bottom-up to Upside-down
Professor Norbert Götz, Södertörn University, presents his new book "Humanitarianism in the Modern World: The Moral Economy of Famine Relief".
Time and place: Apr. 26, 2021 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM, Zoom
New book
Norbert Götz presents his new book "Humanitarianism in the Modern World: The Moral Economy of Famine Relief", (CUP 2020, co-authored with Georgina Brewis and Steffen Werther), which introduces an original moral economy approach to shed new light on the forces and ideas that motivate and shape humanitarian action.
Aid appeals, aid allocation, and accounting for relief given – the future, present, and past of humanitarian action – are examined in three case studies on Great Irish Famine, the famine of 1921–1922 in Soviet Russia and the Ukraine, and the 1980s Ethiopian famine.
These episodes are considered as representative for three distinctive periods of humanitarianism, which are based on the moral economy approach: the time of elitist laissez-faire liberalism in the nineteenth century, which was one of ad hoc humanitarianism; that of Taylorism and mass society from c.1900–1970, which was one of organised humanitarianism; and the blend of individualised post-material lifestyles and neoliberal public management since 1970, which was one of expressive humanitarianism.
The book as a whole shifts the focus of the history of humanitarianism from the imperatives of crisis management to the pragmatic mechanisms of fundraising, relief efforts on the ground, and accounting.
Professor Daniel Maul, University of Oslo, will introduce Götz and lead the conversation.
NCS Virtual Colloquium: Voluntary Associations and the Market: A Complex Relationship
Associate Professor Anne Berg, Uppsala University, presents her ongoing work on voluntary associations and the market in nineteenth-century Sweden.
Time and place: 14. apr. 2021 12:15 – 13:30, Zoom
A complex relationship
How and why could voluntary associations survive in nineteenth-century Sweden?
Preliminary findings on workers’ and popular associations suggest that they developed a certain relation to the existent market economy. Commercial endeavours were an important part of the financing of associations, yet unlike firms, the surplus of various enterprises was used for non-profit goals.
In her talk, Anne Berg will discuss the issue of how associations financed themselves in relation to the historical economic context into which they were born.
New research
Berg is currently working on two civil society projects:
- Cost of freedom? The Material Conditions of the Emergence of Civil Society in Sweden during the 19th century’ (with Samuel Edquist).
- Bourgeois feminism or class solidarity? Working class women's actions and strategies in the bourgeois movement around the turn of the century 1900’ (with Johanna Ringarp).
Berg’s article "The market and “the making”: the economics of the first workers’ associations in nineteenth-century Sweden" in Social History (2020) is available Open Access.
Nordic Global History - Prospects and Pitfalls
Open Zoom Roundtable - all are welcome!
Time and place: Mar. 26, 2021 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM, Zoom
Participants:
- Mary Hilson, Aarhus University
- Aryo Makko, Stockholm University
- Sunniva Engh, University of Oslo
- Iver B. Neumann, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
Chair: Carl Marklund, Södertörn University
The event is part of the NOS-HS workshop series Scandinavian Internationalist Diplomacy, the 1920s-1970s, where Nordic Civil Societies researchers take part as co-organisers and panel participants.
Topics for the roundtable include:
- Why are global relations important to the contemporary history of the Nordic region, and why is the Nordic region important to the history of global relations?
- How do we avoid regionalist biases, and how do we avoid constructing Scandinavia/Norden into a singular global actor?
- What prospects and pitfalls can we see in the further development of Nordic global history?