The Public Sphere and Freedom of Expression in the Nordic Countries, 1815-1900
Constitutionally protected freedom of expression and the development of a free and open public sphere during the 19th century are important historical preconditions for the open Nordic societies of today, consistently ranked at the top of the World Press Freedom Index.
The project aims to explore the gradual, uneven development within these fields in the Nordic region, through an interdisciplinary and comparative approach.
Foto: Nasjonalbiblioteket
About the group
The interdisciplinary research group is part of one of the university’s three main thematic initiatives, UiO:Nordic. The project will be hosted by the Department of Public and International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, in close cooperation with the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Theology, the National Library of Norway and the Storting Archives. The research group includes a number of participating and affiliated researchers, representing different regions and disciplines, such as law, history, theology, political science, literature and intellectual history.
About the project
The aim of the research project is to investigate the gradual and uneven development of the public sphere and freedom of expression in the Nordic countries from the beginning of the 19th century, through conflicts, setbacks and battles, to a gradually broader public participation in the public sphere towards the end of the century. The project will explore Nordic differences and interaction, in an international perspective and context, through a range of different, interrelated subprojects, focusing on historical, judicial, political, religious and cultural preconditions. The aim is to provide new knowledge on the five Nordic countries’ different paths to freedom of expression and a free and open public sphere.
Cooperating partners
The project comprises of participants from the following institutions:
- Department of Public and International Law & the research group Law, Society and Historical Change, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
- Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo
- Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo
- Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo
- National Library of Norway
- Storting Archives
Collaborative institutions and projects
- Department of Scandinavian Studies, University College London
- Nordeuropa-Institut, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Forum for politi, rett og historie
- Foreningen Norden
- Svensk-norska samarbetsfonden/Voksenåsen
- Letterstedtska föreningen
- Impacts of the Danish Defeat of 1814. Political and Cultural Spaces of Communication in the Eras of Reaction and Scandinavism
- Statsnatten i ny belysning: Politisk kultur i Finland ur ett transnationellt perspektiv 1809‒1863
- UiO:Nordic
