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Environmental History in the 1960s? : An Unsuccessful Research Application and the Circulation of Environmental Knowledge

Larsson Heidenblad, David LU (2021) In History of Humanities 6(2). p.635-647
Abstract
This article explores how the Swedish historian Birgitta Odén (1921–2016) sought to launch an interdisciplinary environmental research program in the late 1960s. Odén’s objective was to make history useful for political decision making, yet the research program never received any substantial funding. This article argues that the analytical concept of circulation of knowledge offers a fruitful way to revisit and contextualize this kind of failed or abandoned knowledge. Based on Birgitta Odén’s bequeathed papers and interviews with her former students, the study covers the years 1967 to 1969, and demonstrates how Oden conceived of environmental history in a period were no such field existed internationally. Moreover, the study illustrates... (More)
This article explores how the Swedish historian Birgitta Odén (1921–2016) sought to launch an interdisciplinary environmental research program in the late 1960s. Odén’s objective was to make history useful for political decision making, yet the research program never received any substantial funding. This article argues that the analytical concept of circulation of knowledge offers a fruitful way to revisit and contextualize this kind of failed or abandoned knowledge. Based on Birgitta Odén’s bequeathed papers and interviews with her former students, the study covers the years 1967 to 1969, and demonstrates how Oden conceived of environmental history in a period were no such field existed internationally. Moreover, the study illustrates how the humanities was connected to the social sciences, the sciences, the military research complex, and leading politicians in Sweden during the late 1960s. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
History of Humanities
volume
6
issue
2
pages
13 pages
publisher
University of Chicago Press
ISSN
2379-3163
DOI
10.1086/715944
project
Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge
History of Knowledge: the Nordic Network
Kunskap och samhälle i Skandinavien, 1960- och 1970-talen
The History of Knowledge Cultures (funded by the Crafoord Foundation)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
56f66616-e1e6-4a62-a5c2-d55a97d668a6
date added to LUP
2021-11-18 12:26:12
date last changed
2022-02-07 11:06:47
@article{56f66616-e1e6-4a62-a5c2-d55a97d668a6,
  abstract     = {{This article explores how the Swedish historian Birgitta Odén (1921–2016) sought to launch an interdisciplinary environmental research program in the late 1960s. Odén’s objective was to make history useful for political decision making, yet the research program never received any substantial funding. This article argues that the analytical concept of circulation of knowledge offers a fruitful way to revisit and contextualize this kind of failed or abandoned knowledge. Based on Birgitta Odén’s bequeathed papers and interviews with her former students, the study covers the years 1967 to 1969, and demonstrates how Oden conceived of environmental history in a period were no such field existed internationally. Moreover, the study illustrates how the humanities was connected to the social sciences, the sciences, the military research complex, and leading politicians in Sweden during the late 1960s.}},
  author       = {{Larsson Heidenblad, David}},
  issn         = {{2379-3163}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{635--647}},
  publisher    = {{University of Chicago Press}},
  series       = {{History of Humanities}},
  title        = {{Environmental History in the 1960s? : An Unsuccessful Research Application and the Circulation of Environmental Knowledge}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/715944}},
  doi          = {{10.1086/715944}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}