Histories of Knowledge in Postwar Scandinavia Histories of Knowledge in Postwar Scandinavia uses case studies to explore how knowledge circulated in the different public arenas that shaped politics, economics, and cultural life in and across postwar Scandinavia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. This book focuses on a period when the term “knowledge society” was coined and rapidly found traction. In Scandinavia, society’s relationship to rational forms of knowledge became vital to the self-understanding and political ambitions of the era. Taking advantage of contemporary discussions about the circulation, arenas, forms, applications, and actors of knowledge, contributors examine various forms of knowledge – economic, environmental, humanistic, religious, political, and sexual – that provide insight into the making and functioning of postwar Scandinavian societies and offer innovative studies that contribute to the development of the history of knowledge at large. The concentration on knowledge rather than the welfare state, the Cold War, or the new social and political movements, which to date have attracted the lion’s share of scholarly attention, ensures the book makes a historiographical intervention in postwar Scandinavian historiography. Offering a stimulating point of departure for those interested in the history of knowledge and the circulation of knowledge, this is a vital resource for students and scholars of postwar Scandinavia that provides fresh perspectives and new methodologies for exploration. Johan Östling is a Wallenberg Academy Fellow and the director of the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK). Östling’s research encompasses the history of knowledge and modern European history. His recent publications include Humboldt and the Modern German University, Circulation of Knowledge, and Forms of Knowledge. Niklas Olsen is an associate professor at the Saxo Institute and Chair of the Centre of Modern European Studies, University of Copenhagen. His research interests address European history in the twentieth century. His recent publications include The Sovereign Consumer: A New Intellectual History of Neoliberalism. David Larsson Heidenblad is an associate professor and a deputy director of the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK). He has an interest in the societal relevance of various forms of knowledge. His publications include Circulation of Knowledge and Forms of Knowledge. Knowledge Societies in History Series Editors: Sven Dupré Utrecht University and University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Wijnand Mijnhardt Utrecht University, Netherlands The expertise of the history of knowledge is essential in tackling the issues and concerns surrounding present-day global knowledge society. Books in this series historicize and critically engage with the concept of knowledge society, with conceptual and methodological contributions enabling the historian to analyse and compare the origins, formation and development of knowledge societies. In this series: Knowledge and the Early Modern City A History of Entanglements Edited by Bert De Munck & Antonella Romano Histories of Knowledge in Postwar Scandinavia Actors, Arenas, and Aspirations Edited by Johan Östling, Niklas Olsen, and David Larsson Heidenblad For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/ Knowledge-Societies-in-History/book-series/KSHIS Histories of Knowledge in Postwar Scandinavia Actors, Arenas, and Aspirations Edited by Johan Östling, Niklas Olsen, and David Larsson Heidenblad First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Johan Östling, Niklas Olsen and David Larsson Heidenblad; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Johan Östling, Niklas Olsen and David Larsson Heidenblad to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Östling, Johan, 1978- editor. | Olsen, Niklas, 1975- editor. | Heidenblad, David Larsson, 1983- editor. Title: Histories of knowledge in postwar Scandinavia : actors, arenas, and aspirations / edited by Johan Östling, Niklas Olsen and David Larsson Heidenblad. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, [2020] | Series: Knowledge societies in history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020005617 (print) | LCCN 2020005618 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367894559 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003019275 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Scandinavia—Intellectual life—20th century. | Scandinavia—Civilization—20th century, | Learning and scholarship—Scandinavia—History—20th century. | Knowledge, Sociology of. Classification: LCC DL87 .H57 2020 (print) | LCC DL87 (ebook) | DDC 948.06/3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020005617 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020005618 ISBN: 978-0-367-89455-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-01927-5 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of contributors viii Acknowledgements xi Introduction: histories of knowledge in postwar Scandinavia 1 JOHAN ÖSTLING, NIKLAS OLSEN, AND DAVID LARSSON HEIDENBLAD PART I The environment and global crises 19 1 Nuclear fallout as risk: Denmark and the thermonuclear revolution 21 CASPER SYLVEST 2 Georg Borgström and the population-food dilemma: reception and consequences in Norwegian public debate in the 1950s and 1960s 39 SUNNIVA ENGH 3 The emergence of environmental journalism in 1960s Sweden: methodological reflections on working with digitalised newspapers 59 DAVID LARSSON HEIDENBLAD 4 “Revolt from the center”: socio-environmental protest from idea to praxis in Denmark, 1978–1993 74 BO FRITZBØGER vi Contents PART II Economy, politics, and the welfare state 91 5 The Galbraithian moment: affluence and critique of growth in Scandinavia, 1958–1972 93 BJÖRN LUNDBERG 6 Welfare state criticism as elite criticism in 1970s Denmark 111 NIKLAS OLSEN 7 The entrepreneur’s dream: credit card history between PR and academic research 127 ORSI HUSZ 8 State feminism revisited as knowledge history: the case of Norway 152 EIRINN LARSEN PART III Education, culture, and the humanities 171 9 The city, the church, and the 1960s: on secularisation theory and the Swedish translation of Harvey Cox’s The Secular City 173 ANTON JANSSON 10 Sex education and the state: Norwegian schools as arenas of knowledge in the 1970s 191 KARI HERNÆS NORDBERG 11 Mobilising the outsider: crises and histories of the humanities in the 1970s Scandinavian welfare states 208 HAMPUS ÖSTH GUSTAFSSON 12 Revolting against the established book market: book cafes as key actors within the counterpublic of the Scandinavian New Left 225 RAGNI SVENSSON Contents vii Epilogue 243 Scandinavia: a corporatist model of knowledge? 245 JOHAN STRANG Index 257 Contributors Sunniva Engh is an associate professor at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo. Her research interests include Nordic foreign policy and development aid, the international his- tory of aid and development, with a focus on population and health policies in South Asia, and India’s foreign and security policy. Her recent publica- tions include “Rockefeller Foundation og etableringen av Statens institutt for folkehelsen” in Michael (2019) and “Silk Road Diplomacy” in South Asia and the Great Powers (2017). Bo Fritzbøger is an associate professor in early modern history at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen. His research mainly focuses on Danish history but embraces all aspects of the relationships between nature and soci- ety from the Middle Ages until today. His books include Vandets veje (2009), Mellem land og by (2015), and Vildt vejr (2019). Orsi Husz is an associate professor and senior lecturer at the Department of Economic History, Uppsala University. Her research spans different areas of the cultural history of economic life in the twentieth century, such as con- sumer culture, everyday finances, and the market of education. Her recent publications include “Bank Identity” in Enterprise & Society (2018), “Between Human Capital and Human Worth” in Scandinavian Journal of History (2019), and “Money Cards and Identity Cards” in Journal of Cultural Economy (2020). Anton Jansson is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of History, Lund University. In his research in the fields of intellectual history and the history of knowledge, he has a particular interest in questions of religion and secularization in modern society. He has also done work on both German and Swedish history. His recent publications include “A Swedish Voltaire” in Secularism and Nonreligion (2018) and “Things Are Different Elsewhere” in Global Intellectual History (2019). Eirinn Larsen is a professor of history at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University