Post-Doc, Department of History
About
My study National Relations focuses on the Swedish Institute for Cultural Exchange with Foreign Countries, 1945–1970. The study introduces and employs the analytical concept of national relations. The concept captures the international character of twentieth-century nationalism by employing the dual meaning of relation: narrative and connection. It postulates that identifying with and promoting a particular national identity in the post-war world has been a question of relating the nation to others – in both senses of the word. Relating the nation in this way has been necessary for maintaining the nation's legitimacy in the international world order. The concept of national relations leads me to engage with historical research on public diplomacy, the history of communication and the history of nationalism. Consequently, I analyse the actors and interests involved at the Swedish Institute, a semi-official body, as well as the ideas and rhetoric used and the narratives and representations of the nation consequently produced.
Currently I am working on a project that concerns the Swedish business sectors' analyses of and interpretations to decolonization in the twentieth century.
