Panels, roundtables and workshops

This panel seeks to bring together researchers interested in the 20th-century scholarly history of ethnology and folkloristics. We will discuss scholarly turns and concept alterations, but instead of documenting mere changes in research approaches, we will examine contextual factors behind the transformations that ethnology and folklore studies underwent in the Nordic countries. We will explore, for example, how ethnological knowledge was produced in projects, publications and lecture courses conducted at universities and in collaborative networks. Our methodological approach will here focus on the multiple practices used in relation to historical contextualization and knowledge production, constituting paradigms for understanding the subject of the study, relations of power, and personal advantages and hierarchies.

The panel also seeks to attend to the roles that ethnologists and folklorists took in support of the vernacular production of history culture, to national team building in research, colonial hegemonies and ethnonationalism, the changing epicenters of academic study in ethnology and folklore, and influences drawn from or imposed by political climates and geopolitical underpinnings, such as tensions in joint-Nordic cooperation. Here the impact of Cold War anxieties on the selection or rejection of research topics, theories, methodologies, contacts, and literary references is critical. We will also give floor to insights concerning the factors that potentially led to the demise of folkloristics as an independent academic discipline in most Nordic countries by the beginning of the new millennium (Sweden in 1972, Denmark in 2001, Norway in 2003, and the closing of the Nordic Institute of Folklore in 1997).

Convenors: Eija Stark (eija.stark@finlit.fi), Pertti Anttonen

Animals play a vital role in the making of nations, having symbolic as well as material capital. To understand how animals become imagined as forms of Nordic culture, the notion of exceptionalism may be used. Exceptionalism is a term generally used to critically refer to the belief or set of beliefs that someone or something has the quality of being unusually good, outstanding, or atypical. It is often applied to the Nordic region with regard to social, economic, and gender equality, the welfare state, and sustainable development, usually as part of the so-called “Nordic model.” However, the Nordic model or Nordic exceptionalism is today challenged by increasing social and economic disparities, high levels of material consumption, and complex colonial histories.

In this panel, we will discuss Nordic exceptionalism critically from the perspective of human-nonhuman animal relations, considering, for example, questions of animal welfare and animal rights. The Nordic relationship to nature and wild animals is often described as a special one although the natural resources are efficiently capitalized on. Moreover, it is commonly claimed that in Nordic countries, the welfare of animals used in food production is higher compared to the rest of the world. At the same time, contemporary Nordic consumption practices are among the most unsustainable on a global scale. In the panel, we welcome papers that deal with these human-nonhuman animal issues in contemporary as well as historical settings, covering a wide range of disciplines, such as cultural studies, social sciences, and human-animal studies.

Convenors: Taija Kaarlenkaski (taija.kaarlenkaski@uef.fi), Daniel Lees Fryer, Charlotte Kroløkke, Tobias Linné

Since the 16th century, the Farmer’s Almanac or Bondepraktikan, has been a source of advice for those seeking to predict both the weather and future hardships such as wars and epidemics, allowing them to plan their work- and family life accordingly. Today, war and disease looms larger over the Nordics than they have in a long time, and with climate change predicting weather patterns is once again key for society. It’s evident that the issues of Bondepraktikan are still relevant in the everyday life of many people in the Nordics, but what are the solutions? In this panel we invite you to consider the questions:

* What would a modern day Bondepraktika look like?
* What themes and advice would it contain?
* How do people in the Nordics handle issues of work, health, conflict, family and the climate today, and where do we turn for help in doing so?
* Who are the experts and credible sources of information in a time of AI and fake news?

We welcome papers comparing then and now, providing perspectives on issues of work, health, conflict, family and the climate in the Nordics. But we also encourage all participants to think creatively about how the topic of their paper would fit into a modern day Bondepraktika. What would your paper look like presented in verse form? How would it be illustrated? For each submitted paper we ask the authors to consider these questions and bring with them a verse or an image fitting for a Bondepraktikan 2.0.

Convenors: Alma Aspeborg (alma.aspeborg@kultur.lu.se), Jonas Bornsäter

Key words: cold landscapes, locality, climate changes, green transition, policy, justice

In the time of global warming, humanity experiences rapid temperature rise, unpredictable weather patterns, as well as other calamities are impacting local   communities. One area where this is particularly visible are those where cold and coldness for long have been shaping the human and non-human relations with landscapes – namely polar and subpolar areas, as well as extensive regions with alpine climate. Here coldness can be considered a spatial capital used and circulated in many ways. What if the cold disappears or reappears due to changing  sea streams? And in a more symbolic way; what if the promising heat of the new green industry fades away or simply fails?

We invite researchers interested in exploring relations between subjects and objects   in cold landscapes under stress. In particular, we encourage researchers focused on manifestations of cold, climate crisis, social and environmental justice, as well as on local consequences, hopes and pitfalls of the green transition. We are also interested in research on a sense of place, infrastructures, centre-periphery power relations, and other political and economic pressures having impact on cold landscapes.

Convenors: Maria Vallström (maria.vallstrom@sh.se), Hubert Wierciński

The Nordic region has been considered as a shining example of a welfare society, where healthcare and science-based medicine have a solid, hegemonic role in defining health and illness. The welfare society includes the notion of a certain kind of patient: in order to be cured, the individual must adopt the role of a patient that society recognizes and can thus heal.

However, well-being, health, and illness are complex concepts that evolve with time, social structures, communities, and individuals’ life situations. Well-being is sometimes defined from a narrow, biomedical perspective, ignoring diseases and illnesses that do not fit the presumed definitions. In this panel, we are interested in looking at well-being as a lived experience from the perspectives of individuals as well as communities. We are interested in how healers or patients working with different medical systems – whether they are biomedical, folk medicine, or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) – perceive well-being and agency.

We invite researchers to discuss

* What is well-being in a society? What are the borders of well-being and normalcy? How has the definition and experience of well-being changed – or has it?
* What health practices are valued or appreciated in today’s society? What is the value of the patient’s agency, what is expected from the patient? And also, what ways of treating health and illness are accepted or desired?
* How do we talk about health and well-being? How has media contributed to the ways we understand well-being?

Convenors: Iida Räty (iida.raty@utu.fi), Johanna Latva

Inspired by NEFK’s wish to ”reconnect with the roots of NEFK”, we suggest a panel entitled ”Conceptualising the Nordic”. The concept of the Nordic region as a distinct entity began to take shape in the late 19th century, as countries in Northern Europe—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden—started to emphasise shared historical, cultural and political bonds. Today, the Nordic region is often encapsulated in terms of certain common denominators relating to social equality, politics, economics and cultural identity. Cultural denominators that today may be taken for granted were once not so. Who contributed perspectives, ideas and practices about what ”the Nordic” could be, and how was it conceptualised? How and in what capacity did the emerging discipline of Folklore play a part?

This panel welcomes contributions that investigate and reflect on the different ways beliefs, rituals, narratives and other cultural elements from the nineteenth century onwards were conceptualised as a specific Nordic entity.

Convenors: Ane Ohrvik (ane.ohrvik@gmail.com), Line Esborg

Gardening can be understood as a form of small-scale activism, where agency is shared by the gardener and the plants. In addition, plants and gardening play an important role in fostering biodiversity and human connection to nature. In Nordic countries there are vivid gardening cultures, museum gardens and other forms of heritage activities connected to living plants. Living with plants continually generates evolving, experience-based knowledge, memories, oral histories, and cultural heritage. This dynamic includes experimentation and failure, nurturing processes and rediscoveries, as well as aesthetic and sensory experiences.

In this panel we are interested in different ways of conducting ethnographic research with living plant heritage in Nordic region. Additionally, we are eager to explore long-term historical continuities and transformations, environmental histories of plants, gardens and gardening. We are particularly interested in addressing future challenges related to sustainability, biodiversity loss, and climate change, all of which intersect with living plant heritage in complex ways.

The panel will reflect on multispecies relationships and entanglements from diverse perspectives, focusing on both the nurturing care and the challenges posed by difficult or neglected plant relationships. What are the invisible, unseen or dark sides of plant heritage? How can ethnology, folklore and museum studies contribute to the growing field of plant studies? Furthermore, how can living plant heritage be incorporated into museum practices, such as recognising plants as part of living collections? We invite scholars, museum professionals, and archival practitioners engaged with living plant heritage and its various dimensions to contribute to this panel.

Convenors: Maija Mäki (maija.j.maki@utu.fi), Anna Rauhala, Silja Laine, Jaana Saarikoski

Contemporary times are filled with debates and discussions about changing conditions for the environment. It has been said that we live in the Anthropocene, an era where human actions have greatly influenced the design of nature. How do people artistically and practically respond to the transformations brought on by these changes? How do these shifts influence cultural patterns and aesthetic interpretations of the world? In what new ways are sounds, smells, appearances, tastes, and stories combined and arranged?

By emphasizing curating, we highlight the staging, managing, and controlling aspect of attending to environmental changes. We are seeking examples that illustrate how climate change and new environmental conditions impact and reshape aesthetic and cultural expressions of daily life. We welcome contributions that explore everything from the redesign of gardens and changing routines to or altered relationships with animals. How do shifting circumstances inspire or shape forms of representation, idioms and phrases, stories, and practical approaches. Of particular interest are aesthetic aspects of environmental work, such as the design of instructional signs, information leaflets, or traditionalized practices.

Convenors: Lars Kaijser (lars.kaijser@etnologi.su.se), Mattias Frihammar, Maja Lagerqvist

Death is managed in all cultures with beliefs and practices which yield continuity instead of annihilation. Nordic death cultures used to be strongly regulated by the Lutheran church, which provided a relatively uniform ritualisation and ideas of eternity. Today, views have secularised and diversified. There are customised memorial practices and views, drawing from various sources. Firm belief or unbelief can be replaced by metaphorical or even fictive images which feel momentarily valid and comforting. Generally, the emphasis of afterlife has shifted towards the material and social reality of the living. Continuity takes place in our interactions with the mental, material, or digital legacy of the deceased. Individualisation of afterlives have also led to unwillingness to be commemorated at all.

Our panel welcomes presentations on contemporary views and practices about afterlives, for example on the following questions: How do people envision their own or their dead loved ones’ afterlife? Where do contemporary afterlife images come from and how do they reflect values of our societies? What do people today think about digital forms of post-mortem social presence, or how do they use the digital affordances for continuity? The language of the panel is English.

Convenors: Kaarina Koski (kaakos@utu.fi), Enni Salo

I Norden finns en lång tradition av kulturhistoriska dokumentationer. Olika kulturfenomen, såväl materiella som immateriella, har samlats in till museer och arkiv av både ideella och professionella krafter. Samlingarna av berättelser, föremål, fotografier och andra avbildningar har legat till grund för omfattande bokverk, avhandlingar och andra akademiska verk, liksom utställningar och populärvetenskapliga framställningar. Nutida uppfattningar om vad som ska kategoriseras som kulturarv och vad som är av regional respektive nationell karaktär i insamlingar och dokumentationer har uppstått genom urval som gjordes för länge sedan. Samlingarna vi hanterar idag utgör därmed rester av övergivna vetenskapliga teoretiska grundvalar.

Vi välkomnar inlägg som utgår från samlingar i de nordiska länderna, som enskilda företeelser eller som samnordiska intressen, både som empiriska exempel och som utgångspunkt för metodologiska och teoretiska resonemang. Vilka källvärden kan tillmätas dokumentationer av kulturella fenomen som utfördes för 100 år sedan eller mer? Har våra företrädares urval av materiella och immateriella fenomen bidragit till att skapa och konservera uppfattningar om sådant som autenticitet, kulturarv och nationell identitet, och hur kan vi i så fall använda material i arkiv- och museisamlingar för ny forskning? Vilka metoder kan användas för att analysera och beskriva förhållanden i det förflutna utifrån källmaterial sammanbragt av tidigare generationer forskare, med andra värderingar och andra etiska överväganden än vad vi står för i modern forskning? De äldre insamlingarna liksom systemen för hur materialen skulle organiseras var ofta inspirerade av vad som gjordes i de nordiska grannländerna. Hur kan vi idag ta det arbetssättet in i framtiden?

Arrangörer: Anneli Palmsköld (anneli.palmskold@conservation.gu.se), Johanna Rosenqvist, Karin Gustavsson

This panel aims to show and discuss how ethnological and folkloristic approaches can contribute to research on education and learning. We do this by acknowledging that education and learning takes place in many arenas, not just pre-school, school and higher education, but also within for example museums, archives and organizations of various kinds. We welcome presentations and papers that focus on practices, relations, materiality and everyday life in relation to education and learning within all these arenas.

This could include for example presentations concerned with interpersonal relations (students/educators/parents etc) within educational and learning contexts such as schools and higher education as well as museums, archives and organizations, as well as papers discussing the role that objects and materiality may play in educational contexts and learning processes. The panel is also open to presentations that highlight the significance of the non-written within education and learning, related to for instance story-telling, narratives, folklore or tacit knowledge and to papers that in other ways want to use cultural perspectives to further the research on education and learning.

We also welcome method-oriented papers connected to for instance practice-based research, where the experiences, ideas and competence of teachers and educators are seen as vital in the research process, and discussions of what role ethnological and folkloristic research may play in this.

Convenors: Maria Zackariasson (maria.zackariasson@sh.se), Erika Lundell

Sessionen behandlar kulturella föreställningar kring landskap och sätter fokus på det föränderliga och förändrade nordiska landskapet. I landskapsbegreppet inkluderas även det maritima landskapet, då havet är något alla nordiska länder har en koppling till. Haven och vattnet har kraften att binda oss samman men även att skilja oss från varandra (jmf Ronström 2016). Vi ser därmed att det nordiska landskapet lika mycket består av hav som av land. Katarina Saltzman skriver att landskap skapas och verkar i lokala sammanhang men kan samtidigt ingå i större geografiska och sociala kontexter (2001:18). Ett landskaps förändring speglar och ger ingångar till att förstå hur människor i handlingar och tankar hanterar sin omvärld. Utgående från hur det nordiska landskapet/landskapen förändrats kan vi således synliggöra olika samhälleliga förändringar i de nordiska länderna men kanske även hur Norden i sig förändrats.

Vi vill ha in bidrag som på olika sätt tar avstamp i det materiella landskapet och dess förändring, både landskap som existerar idag och sådana som av olika anledningar försvunnit. Till exempel försvunna odlingslandskap eller hamnområden som gentrifierats. Vi välkomnar bidrag som behandlar samtiden, men även sådana som har ett historiskt fokus eller rör sig mellan samtid och förflutenhet.

Under sessionen vill vi diskutera frågor som: Finns det ett typiskt nordiskt landskap?  Hur ser det i så fall ut? Vad innehåller det? Hur har det sett ut historiskt? Bidragen behöver inte behandla dessa frågor direkt, men ska på något vis kunna bidra till diskussion om dessa frågeställningar.

Arrangörer: Kasper Westerlund (kasper.westerlund@abo.fi), Malin Stengård

Samtiden, även i Norden, präglas av globala överlappande kriser. Militarism, nationalism och högerextrema krafter har fått vind i seglen och den ekonomiska ojämlikheten mellan rika och fattiga eskalerar (Oxfam 2024). Detta sker även i en nordisk kontext, där särskilt Sverige placerar sig som ett av de länder där arbetet för jämlikhet går särskilt mycket bakåt (Oxfam, 2024).

Mot bakgrund av denna akuta kontext tilltar samtidigt människors vardagliga mobilisering för nya mer hoppfulla, solidariska och levbara världar. Exempel på detta kan bland annat ses i sociala rörelser kopplat till klimatkrisen och situationen i Gaza. Dessa rörelser alstrar nya och generationsöverskridande koalitioner, framtidsdrömmar och multipla former av aktivism.

Enligt den postkoloniala querteoretikern Juan Esteban Muñoz är det just i vardagen som hoppet och utopin finns (Munoz 2019).

Med utgångspunkt i vardagens hoppfullhet, och med den feministiska filosofen Judith Butlers diskussion om levbara liv, ställer sig denna panel frågan om hur etnologer och folklorister kan bidra med forskning som på allvar frågar sig hur nya och mer levbara samhällen kan ta form – där människor, såväl som mer än mänskliga livsformer och kretslopp, inte bara lyckas överleva dagen utan även förmår trivas, skapa relationer, blomstra/återuppblomstra och ha framtidsutsikter (Butler 2022). Hur står folk ut? Vad kämpar de för? Vad drömmer de om? Vilka nya gemenskaper skapas i tider av kris? Vilka teoretiska och metodologiska strategier har vi för att hitta och studera hopp och hur kan vi utveckla dessa vidare?

Arrangörer: Emma Eleonorasdotter (emma.eleonorasdotter@abo.fi), Signe Bremer

Kvinnors berättelser erbjuder en inblick i de kulturella, sociala och politiska strukturer som både formar och utmanas av deras erfarenheter. Genom att sätta fokus på kvinnors berättelser, deras livsvägar, relationer och positioner i samhället, vill denna panel belysa förståelser av att vara kvinna som både en levd verklighet och en kulturellt betingad kategori.

Vad innebär det att vara kvinna i Norden?  Hur kan kvinnors livsvägar studeras och vilka specifika problem står kvinnor inför i ett Norden präglat av samhälleliga faktorer som exempelvis en nedåtgående nativitet, ökat fokus på traditionella värderingar och familj inom högerpopulistiska kretsar eller ett individfokuserat och kapitalistiskt samhälle?

I panelen diskuteras kvinnors liv i Norden med utgångspunkt i att kvinnors liv ser olika ut och inte kan förstås som en gemensam erfarenhet utan påverkas av många överlappande positioner – klass, etnicitet, ålder, sexualitet, funktionsvariation och/eller andra tänkbara positioner. Samtidigt lever kvinnan kvar som en kulturellt meningsbärande kategori och personer som identifierar sig eller identifieras som kvinnor står inför utmaningar och möjligheter relaterade till denna kvinnlighet. Hur ser samtiden, framtiden eller det förflutna ut ur ett perspektiv som fokuserar på kvinnliga erfarenheter? Hur speglar och ifrågasätter dessa berättelser samtida normer, och vilka alternativ synliggörs? Hur berättar kvinnor om sina liv?

Arrangörer: Sofia Wanström (sofia.wanstrom@abo.fi), Lina Metsämäki

Contemporary culture is beset by a multiplicity of crises; for the climate; the environment; the economy; for democracy and for truth itself. With its roots in the Greek word krisis, the concept refers to a decisive point, meaning that it encompasses a threat as well as the possibility for change. While the Nordic countries have been spared radical upheaval in the post-WWII era, Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reified many forms of risk that will affect future culture and politics in the region and beyond. Both events have demonstrated how societal vulnerabilities can proliferate through the complex, networked infrastructure of late modernity, traveling along the lines of logistics, energy, and economics, in addition to information and affective expression spreading on digital social arenas. In these ways, a local crisis can transcend national borders and be felt regionally or even globally, but it can also expand through the temporal dimension, as the present is given meaning in the light of past actions and future imaginaries. Conversely, a crisis can establish new boundaries, redrawing the lines in the political and cultural landscapes.

We invite papers that explore novel concepts and ways of analyzing the experience or anticipation of everyday life during a crisis. What forms of dystopian thought or utopian aspiration emerge? How is agency – or its absence – expressed? How are affects like nostalgia or hope invoked in the face of vulnerability? Of particular interest are the spatial and temporal dimensions of navigating sociocultural landscapes marked by risk and uncertainty.

Convenors: Elias Mellander (elias.mellander@gu.se), Caroline Reinhammar, Federico Vernarelli

The role of practitioners of magic in Nordic societies and discourses has been ambivalent. Even if ritual specialists or the so-called ‘wise folk’ have been valued members of their communities, in legend tradition they are often pictured as other and suspicious and compared with discriminated groups such as Sami and Roma people. Even today, practitioners of contemporary witchcraft face public contempt and even hate speech. The ambivalent view on magic users and incantations has spanned also to academic circles, where researchers in Nordic folklore studies and ethnology have seen magic simultaneously as superstitious remnants of a heathen past and desirable pieces of information on the mythic times of the forebears.

We invite papers examining magic, its users, and discourses on the diverse phenomena in the Nordics. We encourage approaching the theme from various perspectives: the papers can examine different areas, times, and source materials, from ethnographic fieldwork to digitized newspapers. We welcome papers from researchers of every career phase and field.

Convenors: Tuukka Karlsson (tuukka.karlsson@helsinki.fi ), Karolina Kouvola, Siria Kohonen, Roope Kotiniemi

The transport of plants, animals, minerals, and other natural substances has played an important part in creating present day environmental problems such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. In this sense, we might say that moving nature characterizes the present environmental situation often referred to as the Anthropocene.

From the late 18th century to the present, Nordic nature has been variously mobilized as state-making inventory and tied to particular technologies and goals for societal development. Examples of such nature mobilizations are increased production and transport of energy, transport of plants and animals for consumption, and transformation of landscapes for agriculture, infrastructure or urban development. This period in history aligns to a large degree with measures that eventually led to the development, consolidation, and current enactment of the Nordic welfare states. Does this mean that the Anthropocene takes on a specific form in the Nordic region? If so, what specifies such a Nordic Anthropocene? And in what ways have practices of moving, relocating, or restraining animals, plants, minerals, and other natural substances in the Nordic countries been entwined in trans-local networks?

In this panel, we invite papers that investigate how plants, animals, masses, and natural resources move and are moved from place to place. Through exploring practices of and technologies for moving nature, we hope to trace the emergence of a Nordic Anthropocene. We welcome both ethnographic and historical papers.

Convenors: Kyrre Kverndokk (kyrre.kverndokk@uib.no), Marit Ruge Bjærke, Frida Hastrup

The aim of the panel is to explore how various groups and boundaries are constructed and enacted through everyday discourses of sameness and difference – especially amidst current geopolitical and social tensions and the rise of populist sentiments. This panel will focus on the ways these discourses unfold within Nordic national contexts, while also considering the transnational dynamics of social and cultural bordering processes.

Examining dynamics of sameness and difference draws attention to boundary-drawing practices and processes that contribute to unique forms of inclusion and exclusion. This can include situationally changing dynamics of emphasizing and/or downplaying belongingness to ethnic, linguistic, racial, religious, gender or sexual minorities depending on power structures within different social and societal contexts. Such processes affect a wide range of people and their everyday struggles, ranging, for example, from efforts to hide differences in order to present transnational family life as acceptable to minoritarian attempts to appropriate difference and distinctiveness for identity and community building.

We invite scholars to share their insights into these processes and the contexts in which they take place, welcoming diverse empirical, theoretical and methodological contributions that deepen our understanding of the dynamics, strategies and everyday experiences of sameness and difference. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, boundary-drawing between and within majorities and minorities, the impact of othering and ”migrantisation” on immigrants and citizens, and the reinforcement and contestation of stereotypes in media, cultural expressions, political rhetoric and activism.

The working language of the panel is English.

Convenors: Nina Carlsson (nina.o.carlsson@ibf.uu.se), Tuire Liimatainen, Pihla Maria Siim

Presently, one may observe a new wave of interest in supernatural beings in and from the Nordic region. Whether a matter of retelling stories of legendary creatures in film, gaming, tourism, and popular culture, of sharing local legends on social media or in other everyday conversations, or of organizing study groups in local history- and folklore societies; the monstrous, mysterious and more than human creatures of the Nordic lineages are in vogue in the Nordic countries and beyond.

We take it that the Nordic imagined communities extends even to its varied and ever-changing population of supernatural beings. Whether speaking of local monsters, or of migratory legends spread across the region, or modern-day renderings of Norse mythology, our supernatural co-habitants are part of our cultural repertoires and identities. Furthermore, this collective heritage also plays a part in constructing popular imaginations of the Nordics, spanning the boundaries of histories and states, within and outside the region. Because of this, we appeal to folklore researchers to (re)turn to the study of how we manage our co-existence with our persistent but ever-changing supernatural neighbours. We invite to a panel of both overarching discussions and case-studies; from the past as well as from the present; from archives to social media; from ritual to narrative; from the smallest gnome to the greatest giant.

Convenors: Ida Tolgensbakk (ida.tolgensbakk@norskfolkemuseum.no), Audun Kjus, Jakob Löfgren

Despite regional varieties, the Nordic region is perceived as defined by four distinct seasons, such as cold and snowy winters. Due to climate change these seasonal understandings are challenged. Autumn is arriving later, winter is getting warmer and the snow season shorter. How does this affect people’s everyday lives?

In this panel we seek to explore climate change, seasons and everyday life in the Nordic region from cultural perspectives. For example meanings, perceptions, practices, identities and rituals relating to seasons, weather and climate in the past, present and future. The focus is everyday life in a broad sense, including — but not limited to — leisure time, work life, places, tourism, and media representations.

Questions we seek to discuss: How is climate change lived and experienced through seasons? How does seasons matter? What new practices emerge? Which are abandoned? How are (national) identities negotiated? How is seasons anticipated, remembered and/or mourned? How does climate change affect the images and understandings of the Nordic countries and “the Nordic”?

Convenors: Matilda Marshall (matilda.marshall@umu.se), Erika Lundell

In recent decades, the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as Europe in general, have had heated discussions about the possible threat of immigrants to their national unity, including culture and heritage. Recently, this has been examined, for example, through the prism of Nordic Whiteness, a field of implicit norms and claims about what it means to be Nordic, which excludes those who are unable to fulfill the norms. Researchers have shown how memory processes, through which identities are created, questioned, and confirmed, and various phenomena conceived as cultural heritage have produced and maintained a hegemonic whiteness, often discussed in terms of nationality. However, the kinds of processes that include certain communities and practices and exclude others, while creating hierarchies and inequalities in society, predate the current population movements. Accordingly, this panel begins by conceiving of both heritage and memory as processes that have produced and continue to produce social and cultural cores and peripheries.

This panel asks where the boundaries and limits of Nordicness or national identities lie, and how they are negotiated in memory and heritage: defined and questioned, guarded and transgressed, maintained and denied. We invite papers that address both past and present moments and processes of memory and/or heritage at institutional and grassroots levels. We are particularly interested in unraveling national hegemonic views of heritage and memory, the frictions between them and their ‘others’ reflected and constructed through heritage, as well as contestations and struggles related to memory and heritage.

Convenors: Karina Lukin (karina.lukin@helsinki.fi), Ulla Savolainen, Heidi Henriikka Mäkelä

Denna session fokuserar sanatoriemiljön i ett brett kulturhistoriskt perspektiv. Sanatorierna utgjorde under perioden 1850–c:a 1950 ett slags samhällen i samhället. Här skapades en livsform med specifika livsvillkor, behandlingsformer, ritualer och kulturella aktiviteter. Även den fysiska miljön var betydelsebärande.

Vi välkomnar inlägg som ger kulturanalytiska, kulturhistoriska och folkloristiska perspektiv på sanatorielivet, som visar hur gemenskap uppstod, liksom maktförhållanden och hierarkier mellan personal och patienter, men även inom dessa grupper. Hur uppfattades sjukdomen tbc? Vilka behandlings- och terapiformer praktiserades? Hur upplevdes sanatorielivet till vardags och fest? Vilka värderingar och föreställningar skapades och hur tog de sig konkreta uttryck? Hur påverkades patienter och anställda av den fysiska miljön (sanatoriebyggnaderna, deras geografiska placering, omgivande trädgårdar och promenadstråk)? Vilken betydelse hade artefakter som spottflaskor, böcker, musikinstrument och radioapparater?

Vi riktar oss till forskare som är intresserade av att undersöka kulturella sammanhang och processer, hur gruppspecifika normer uppstår och hur dessa tar sig konkreta uttryck i läsning, skrivande, konstnärligt skapande och musikutövande samt den sociala samvaron i detta sammanhang. Även föreställningar om ”oss” och ”de andra” är av intresse. Hur såg patienter och personal på omgivningen och hur såg det omgivande samhället på sanatorierna och dem som bodde och arbetade där? Vilken sanatoriefolklore uppstod internt och externt och hur ser vi på sanatorieepoken idag?

Arrangörer: Birgitta Meurling (birgitta.meurling@etnologi.uu.se), Sanna Lillbroända-Annala, Maija Mäki, Britt-Inger Johansson, Kristina Öhman

The performance of heritage takes place in prestigious institutions such as museums and archives, in officially sanctioned spaces such as public monuments and homes, but also in ephemeral events such as rituals and celebrations, as well as more mundane cultural practices, from gardens and agriculture to sea swimming, forest bathing and social media memes. This session examines the performance of ritualized vernacular practices and identities in the shaping of the idea of “Norden” in diverse contexts in Scandinavia, West Nordic countries, North America, the Baltic, the Arctic and beyond.  It examines the importance of these places as sites and contact zones for performing, creating, repairing and preserving cultural and natural heritage. How are heritage institutions such as archives and museums perceived today, inside and out, compared to before? What is their role in times of increased human and more-than-human mobility and urgent ecological challenges, such as climatic collapse and rapid animal and critter extinction? Is there pressure for them to continually re-invent themselves and address these and other topical subjects of our times? How are heritage performances shaping regional and subregional identities? Do humor and ritualized play have a part in the engagement with cultural heritage?

Convenors: Lizette Gradén (lizette.graden@kultur.lu.se), Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch, Ave Goršič, Katla Kjartansdóttir, Kristinn Schram

Fram till 1960-talet pågick en omfattande etnologisk och folkloristisk insamlingsverksamhet i Norden där stora mängder empiri låg till grund för forskningsstudier. De senaste 50 åren har emellertid kvalitativ forskning kommit att baserats på relativt små materialmängder. Hur ser relationen mellan empiriskt omfång och kvalitativa studier ut i Norden 2.0?

De senare årens utveckling av nya digitala verktyg har skapat fler möjligheter att dela, samla och analysera både samtida och historiskt källor. Detta har i sin tur gjort det möjligt och allt vanligare att arbeta med större materialmängder. Vi ser det till exempel i karteringen av folkloristiskt material (till exempel sökverktyget Folke, ISOF och Nationella språkbanken i Sverige), i uppmaningar att delta i så kallad crowdsourcing, i netnografiska studier av sociala medier och i den mer allmänt ökade tillgången på digitaliserade historiska källor. Likaså har nya digitala analysverktyg givit möjligheter att hantera och bearbeta större kvantiteter empiri.

Panelens syfte är metodologiskt och välkomnar papers som med utgångspunkt i konkreta, kvalitativa undersökningar av stora källmaterial metodologiserar tillvägagångssätt och reflekterar över problem och möjligheter med att samla in och analysera stora materialmängder.

Panelen är ett initiativ inom ramen för det nordiska projektet Disrupted Temporalities som bland annat undersöker frågelistsvar om nutida och historiska samhällskriser.

Panelen genomförs på svenska/skandinaviska.

Arrangörer: Fredrik Nilsson (jtf.nilsson@abo.fi), Lars-Eric Jönsson, Elin von Unge, Rasmus Rask Poulsen

In contemporary societies, there are various options for placemaking – both online and face-to face (or face-to-place). AR, AI, art, different mobile applications, just to mention a few, create new possibilities for place attachment. On the other hand, increasing mobility and fear for environmental crises can lead to feelings of loss and fragmented experiences. Simultaneously, the temporality and history of places are present in the politicization and heritagization processes. Place attachment can be created in top-down actions but they are also evident in our everyday practices. We are interested in the ways these processes interact with one another and how they affect the uses and experiences of places.

We invite multidisciplinary discussion on the questions of contemporary placemaking. Topics can include but are not restricted to:

* emotional and affective attachments and disattachments to places

* the relationship between place experiences and planning

* naming and renaming places, e.g. in the context of migration and changing linguistic landscapes

* place-based art as a way of interacting with the landscape

* methodological and/or theoretical openings

The panel will end with a joint final discussion for which you can share a picture of your meaningful place via an online application to stimulate the discussion.

Convenors: Terhi Ainiala (terhi.ainiala@helsinki.fi), Pia Olsson, Tiina Äikäs

Various futures are integrated in everyday practices such as shopping, working, dating, health care, leisure activities, holiday, gardening, and family life, as well as in long-term projects like establishing a home, a family, pursuing education, or engaging in activism. However, societal crises and uncertainty may disrupt the future as a stable object for planning and during the co-present crises of climate, biodiversity, Ukraine and Gaza wars, economic decline, pandemics etc. preparing and caring for near and distant futures seem to be more complicated than ever. Generational position and culturally shared life ‘scripts’ shaping what we expect from different phases of our lives seem to affect how people try to plan, prepare and care for such elusive futures – also futures reaching beyond one’s own lifetime. How do people across generations navigate such disrupted futures? How do life phases affect the way we reimagine or revise our individual, family and collective planning, preparing and caring for near and far futures?

In the Nordic research project Disrupted Temporalities, we examine responses to folk-life archives’ questionnaires over the last five years—a period marked by societal crises and uncertainty. These accounts reveal a heightened sensitivity across generations to how anticipated futures, fears and hopes for futures can shift, evolve, or even be abandoned altogether in times of uncertainty. We welcome papers on everyday temporalities and futures, particularly papers exploring how life phases and generations are shaping practices of planning, preparing, and caring for elusive futures. The language of this panel is English.

Convenors: Tine Damsholt (tinedam@hum.ku.dk), Marie Eberson Degnæs, Karin Sandell

Repair, as both a material and social practice, engages deeply with time. By extending and transforming the lives of different materialities, it reshapes our temporal relationships with the world while challenging the consumerist imperatives that drives capitalism. This panel interrogates the rhythms and temporalities of repair: what does it mean to “make time” for repair, and how is this time valued? Moving beyond functionality, we explore how repair intersects with notions of memory, decay, resilience, and care.

Repaired materialities, moving along diverse and often nonlinear trajectories, contest simplistic notions of durability and obsolescence. The time invested in repair embodies acts of care, resilience, and resistance to demands for continuous consumption. Conversely, “lack of time” for repair highlights structural pressures and competing temporal demands. From a planetary perspective, repair emerges as a critical response to ecological crises, engaging with the urgent temporality of climate change and questions of sustainability.

Key points of inquiry include:

* Temporal trajectories and biographical journeys of repaired items.
* Rhythms, rituals, and practices of repair.
* Opportunity costs and social value of repair time.
* Symbolic constructions: time as “investment” versus “waste.”
* Repair and ecological urgency: resistance or complicity?
* Temporal ethics and repair as care.
* Collective versus individual practices in time-bound repair work.
* Cultural narratives of obsolescence and continuity.
* Temporal fractures and memory work through repair.
* Social and economic pressures shaping repair timeframes.

Convenors: Sigrun Thorgrimsdottir (sigrun.thorgrimsdottir@conservation.gu.se), Ricardo Greene, Tenno Teidearu, Tomas Errazuriz

Hate speech, heated debate, sensitive issues, and emotionally challenging research material – as researchers, we often encounter topics that are difficult to navigate, either due to their content or because they sit at the heart of polarised discussions. How should we, as researchers, approach such sensitive topics? What steps should be taken when the subject matter affects us personally? As cultural researchers, we engage with people’s stories, which can be both moving and distressing. Investigating contentious subjects can be emotionally draining, and researchers themselves may become targets of online abuse when their work addresses sensitive topics or when they offer expert commentary in public discourse.

This panel seeks contributions that provide examples of research on sensitive topics and explores how researchers in the Nordics engage with various forms of sensitive material. What are the methodological challenges when studying issues marked by aggressive or polarised debate? What ethical considerations must be addressed when researching content that is harmful or offensive?

The panel aims to encourage a methodological discussion on the study of sensitive topics, with a special emphasis on cultural and linguistic identities. We invite research from fields such as ethnology, folkloristics, cultural studies, cultural geography, and gender studies. Interdisciplinary contributions are also welcome.

Convenors: Karin Sandell (karin.sandell@abo.fi), Evgenia Amey, Karin Creutz

Ethnological research on fashion has shed light on its pivotal role in shaping identities and everyday experiences, highlighting the intricate interplay between fashion, culture, and society. Over the past two decades, this field has increasingly intersected with fashion studies, prompting a re-evaluation of how we understand these dynamics. This panel seeks to assess the current state of ethnological fashion research and chart future directions for Nordic scholarship in this area.

Fashion is recognized as a complex phenomenon, with meanings that shift based on context, individual experience, and location. Scholars have explored fashion as part of daily life, traditions, history, and future trends, examining it through lenses of speed and sustainability, as well as craft and technology. The fluid boundaries of fashion challenge our definitions of what constitutes fashion versus dress. Theoretically, fashion is viewed through multiple frameworks—materiality and language, corporeality and signs—existing as an evolving process while simultaneously offering tangible sensory experiences tied to the body.

We invite contributions that engage with diverse topics related to cultures of fashion and dress, including, but not limited to, fashion in everyday life, technology and social media, sustainable consumption practices, museum studies and heritage, new methods for studying fashion, and the role of senses and emotions in fashion experiences. Join us in rethinking fashion within the Nordic 2.0 and beyond!

Convenors: Magdalena Petersson McIntyre (magdalena.petersson_mcintyre@kultur.lu.se), Pernilla Rasmussen, Marie Riegels Melchior, Mikkel Venborg Pedersen

Museums are buildings, activities, and organizations that can be described as both stable and constantly changing. Exhibitions come and go. Collections are renewed and expanded. Yet, the context often shifts as new perspectives replace older views and practices. Collections and objects that were once unproblematic – or even especially cherished – can, over time, take on a very different significance. This naturally includes recent criticism directed at objects and human remains acquired by museums on unclear or outright unjust grounds. Without diminishing the importance of this issue, the aim of this session is to broaden the discussion by highlighting other kinds of problematic collections, objects, and cultural heritage.

The immediate context is an examination of the values and ambitions that shaped the design of the so-called Trophy Hall when the Maritime Museum in Stockholm was built in 1938. What kinds of objects were considered suitable at the time to be placed in this museum’s most central room? And what has happened to both the space and the objects since then? From this starting point, the session invites participants to contribute, using their own examples, to a discussion on how museums and cultural heritage can be seen as societal and cultural phenomena encompassing both internal and external reassessments. This does not exclude contributions that also highlight the stable and comparatively unchanging aspects. What is it that causes certain objects and cultural heritage to appear untouched by the passage of time and societal transformation?

Convenors: Simon Ekström (simon.ekstrom@etnologi.su.se), Mirja Arnshav, Andreas Linderoth

Work and livelihoods in different forms have always been one of the research targets of ethnology. In the present-day society entrepreneurship and self-employment as ways to organize one’s work are issues that deserve more ethnological attention. Different types of entrepreneurship have been under scrutiny during the years and ethnologists have discussed what is the entrepreneurial life like when seen for example from the viewpoint of self-employed in rural areas or small communes (Trossholmen 2010; Heikkilä 2009) or in the wider circles of international business (Wiklund 2016). What kinds of challenges can we see when work is organized in the form of being entrepreneurial? Being a solo entrepreneur can be a way to fulfil one’s dream of a certain way of life but it can also be a choice that is not chosen voluntarily. All these different aspects get their expressions in the context of everyday life of entrepreneurs. We as ethnologists can take part into the discussion related to the many facets of entrepreneurship by using our methods and ways of presenting questions. The theme offers also many possibilities for multidisciplinary research cooperation (e.g. Elo & Hieta 2017).

Convenors: Katariina Heikkilä (kaheik@utu.fi), Tytti Suominen

Researchers and scholars of ethnology, folklore and related fields are hereby invited to present on the significance of smell and smelling, in both senses of the word, in daily life in a panel that addresses the cultural, social and sensory dimensions of the olfactory. Smells are powerful, yet often subtle, influences that shape memories, identities and emotional states. This event seeks to deepen the understanding of how olfactory phenomena and experiences are embedded in everyday contexts and cultural practices.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, ethnographic studies of smell in specific communities, textual analyses of scent in literature, oral storytelling or historical texts, and examinations of smell in religious, ritualistic or culinary settings. Presentations might explore the role of smell in forming social connections, influencing spaces (such as urban environments or sacred places), and how scent is employed to communicate identity, belonging or spirituality. Also linguistic differences are worthy of attention, as in very few languages there is an abstract vocabulary for smells, and it appears that Finnish is fairly unique in that to urge someone to smell something is a standard form of extreme objection, comparable to ”f**k you” according to dictionaries.

Diverse methodologies are invited, including ethnographic research, textual criticism and historical approaches, to examine how smell functions within collective realms. Presentations addressing contemporary cultural shifts in how we understand and value olfactory experiences are particularly welcome.

Convenors: Antti-Ville Villén (antti-ville.villen@uniarts.fi)

Tillitspraktiker, såsom att lämna ytterdörren olåst, låta grannen ta hand om post, blommor och husdjur, eller lämna sina tillhörigheter obevakade i sovsalen, på tåget och kaféet, har sedan länge varit en självklar del av nordisk vardagskultur. Vi litar på varandra och varandras goda avsikter samt har en stark tradition av att lita på samhällsinstitutioner och välfärdssystem.

I och med de senaste årens ökade digitalisering, AI-användning och deep fake, eskalerande gängvåld och bedrägerier, säkerhetspolitisk och social oro, krig och konflikter samt ekonomisk kris, är villkoren för tillit mellan människor samt mellan samhälle och individ i förändring. I en svensk kontext, och här kan det finnas nationella skillnader inom Norden, tycks delar av samhällskontraktet krackelera.

Trots detta fortsätter vi att utöva ett slags mikrotillit i olika sammanhang, både mellan enskilda personer och i relationen samhälle-individ. Exempelvis handlar vi begagnade saker på nätet, och varor och pengar byter ägare i en tillitsprocess med fördröjning, och från myndigheternas håll förväntas vi bidra till samhällets beredskap för kris och krig. Samhället litar också på att vi förbereder oss såväl materiellt som socialt: med konserver, vattendunkar, batterier – och inte minst tillitsfulla relationer till våra grannar – och signalerar att vi inte längre kan lita på att bli räddade vid en kris, vilket har varit en allmän föreställning under flera decennier, åtminstone i Sverige.

Till panelen inbjuds abstracts inom olika forskningsfält och i olika stadier av forskningsprocessen, från idéutveckling till färdiga resultat. Välkommen att bidra med teoretiska, empiriska och metodologiska idéer kring tillit som fenomen och kunskapsfält!

Arrangörer: Karin S Lindelöf (karin.lindelof@uu.se), Annie Woube

Tänk dig att du och din partner planerar att gifta er men ni känner er osäkra på vilka traditioner som borde beaktas. Vill du döpa ditt barn eller arrangera en namngivningsfest? Hur förväntas man bete man sig när en anhörig dör och hur ska begravningen arrangeras? Vilken musik är central för en grupp? Vilka traditioner anser vi att är viktiga för att markera tillhörighet till en grupp (familj, lokal gemenskap, förening, livsstil, minoriteter)?

Vilket kulturellt stoff anser människor är viktigt att föra vidare till följande generation eller människor i sin näromgivning? Har traditionerna banaliserats, känner vi oss osäkra kring dem eller är det tvärtom så att traditioner är viktigare än någonsin i en värld fylld av konflikter? Spelar traditioner någon roll i en tid som kännetecknas av migration, klimatförändring och oro? Vilken effekt har sociala medier och populärkulturen på synen på vad som räknas som tradition? Behöver vi traditioner och i så fall till vad? Varför kan traditioner i vissa fall väcka starka reaktioner? Finns det traditioner som är nyskapande och nyskapade? Vilka traditioner tar fäste i vår vardag och vilka försvinner? Är traditioner en del av vårt immateriella kulturarv och vad innebär det i så fall? Går det att undersöka äldre arkivmaterial om traditioner på nya sätt?

Du är välkommen att lämna in ett förslag på föredrag på svenska/skandinaviska kring frågor om hur vi förstår traditioner i dagens kulturforskning i en nordisk kontext. Tanken är att utforska aktuella och innovativa metodologiska sätt att närma sig traditioner kulturanalytiskt.

Arrangörer: Lena Marander-Eklund (lmarande@abo.fi), Tove Fjell

In recent years, the labor market in the Nordic countries (and beyond) has been characterized by recession, war preparedness, pandemic and green transition. Working life issues are brought to the fore in public debate on several different themes. Discussions are underway about, for example, shortening working hours, EU-mandated daily rest, increased segregation and class divisions in working life, soft girl trends, AI, long-term sick leave, and hate and threats in the public sector. To understand both changes and continuity in working life, cultural perspectives offering contextualized interpretations of the human dimensions of working life are needed.

Ever since the discipline’s establishment, there has been ethnological research where people’s work and working life have been in focus. However, the direction this research has taken has varied over time. Whereas early ethnology had a cataloguing ambition outlining the tasks performed by different social groups, later studies considered critical perspectives on social class and other power structures, and their importance for the organization of working life and professional identities.

In this panel, we want to bring together researchers in ethnology and related disciplines to explore the whereabouts of present cultural research on working life. What questions and knowledge contributions can ethnology and other cultural sciences make to working life research? We welcome both empirical and theoretical contributions that in various ways want to contribute to a discussion about what we broadly refer to as Work-life Ethnology.

Convenors: Kim Silow Kallenberg (kim.silow.kallenberg@sh.se), Magnus Öhlander, Charlotte Engman

You should strive to submit your paper proposal to one of the existing panels, however, if you cannot find a suitable panel, you may submit it to the ‘open panel’ that will be convened by the committee organizing the conference. The organizing committee also maintains the right to move the paper to an existing panel.

Convenor: Emma Eleonorasdotter (emma.eleonorasdotter@abo.fi)

The classical ethnological and folkloristic research field medicine – health and illness, risk and cure – has recently undergone extensive changes. Digitalisation has had a major impact on not only the organisation of formal health care but also on care-seeking practices. Health advice are offered online, and medicines can be purchased from both authorised and unauthorised internet pharmacies, within and outside the Nordic countries.

People are increasingly expected to play an active part in their care-seeking, while at the same time the options for conventional and unconventional treatments multiply. How can we make sense of the search for remedies, cures, and healing in relation to the growing complexity of the field?

As medicine has evolved into a largely technology-based market, it is essential not to lose sight of patients as cultural beings and to draw on the contributions within ethnological and folkloristic research over time.

This roundtable invites participants to discuss how ethnological and folkloristic approaches can address the past, present, and future medicine. What are the implications of technological advancements for everyday care-seeking? How can we grasp the discursive and practical field of health care when algorithms are as present as folk beliefs, magic and Big Pharma? We want to invite researchers who want to forefront an aspect of ethnological or folkloristic research on medicine that is in danger of being forgotten, or on the contrary, is on the rise as a new and important focus. Welcome to a roundtable on Nordic medicine 2.0.

Convenors: Rui Liu (rui.liu@kultur.lu.se), Emma Eleonorasdotter

This roundtable discusses the multifaceted topic of Viking identity in museums, focusing on the disconnect between academic interpretations and public perceptions. It further aims to discuss the romanticized version of Viking identity that prevails in public discourse, shaped by literature, film, and tourism, and how museums use these ideas in context with scholarly research to enhance their visitors’ experiences. This problematizes identity politics and heritage in the context of a changing Nordic identity. We will explore museum narratives to critically assess the narratives constructed or overlooked by museums, exploring the implications of using or avoiding the term “Viking” in exhibitions and educational materials. This inquiry reflects broader questions regarding how museums and cultural institutions navigate identity representation in a globalized world. The aim is to foster dialogue among experts from various backgrounds (i.e., German and Icelandic museums and universities), illuminating differing perspectives and raising critical questions about how Viking identities are constructed and represented. Engaging with this topic holds the potential to redefine narratives and promote a more inclusive examination of our complex historical past, ultimately contributing to the ongoing conversation about what Nordic identity means and how it evolves in contemporary society. The convenors will engage the audience with current debates about Viking identity according to their specialisms, which include museology, anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology. Through contemporary perspectives on cultural identities and representations within the Nordic context, and the theme of “Nordic 2.0 and beyond,” we aim to examine the intersection of heritage, Vikingness and historical narratives.

Convenors: Helga Vollertsen (helga.vollertsen@thjodminjasafn.is), Guðrún Dröfn Whitehead, Matthias Simon Toplak, Joe Wallace Walser

… but where is the fun in that? Fun and games are an important cultural element, but one that may be hard to grasp in retrospect. The celebrations of the year- and life cycles have abounded with games. Correspondingly, traditional games was one of the expressive genres carefully documented in the notebooks of folklore collectors in all of the Nordic countries (and beyond). Only some of them have survived in living tradition, and in reading the textual descriptions of the abandoned games, their attraction can sometimes be hard to grasp. However, contemporary gaming is similar: merely reading the rules, the point of the game can be hard to grasp. The game has to be played to be understood.

In this workshop, we explore historical games beyond mere reading, through embodied experience. Selecting some of the more peculiar games documented in different Nordic folklore archives, we will review what we know about the games and their social context. Then the participants of the workshop will attempt to play them and explore what may have been their attraction. The experience will probably be awkward, but it may also be fun. Afterwards, we 1) discuss how the attempts at playing the lost games contribute to our understanding of the social interactions in which they previously thrived; 2) make suggestions for how these games can be played better if we should try them a second time; and 3) ask: what insights do we get into how we might best document similar phenomena today?

Please submit a short statement (50-150 words) outlining your interest in games, archival material or embodied exploration, and mentioning any background or interests that you may have that are relevant. If you simply wish to attend because it appeals to you, out of curiosity or for fun, you will be very welcome. Pre-registration is preferred but not compulsory.

Convenors: Audun Kjus (audun.kjus@norskfolkemuseum.no), Ida Tolgensbakk, Clíona O’Carroll, Simon Poole, Jakob Löfgren, Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

Utmaningar i form av klimatförändring och biodiversitetsförlust kräver holistiska perspektiv genom samarbete över discipliner och gränser (IPBES 2019). I beslutsfattande betraktas naturens värde ofta genom ekonomiska och kvantitativa mått, samt som enkelriktade flöden av nyttor från natur till människa. Denna förenkling har kritiserats, vilket medfört en utveckling mot mer omfattande perspektiv. Inom natur- och samhällsvetenskaperna har t.ex. relationellt tänkande lyfts fram. Där betonas människans och mer-än-människans samhörighet som dynamiska och föränderliga processer, snarare än isolerade delar som påverkar varandra (bl.a. West et al. 2020). Att skapa merförståelse av världen genom att betona föränderliga, kontextuella processer är däremot inget nytt i humaniora (t.ex. Ingold 2004) och kan bl.a. studeras genom berättandet. Berättande innebär ett meningsskapande (Marander-Eklund 2022) som synliggör värderingar och möjliggör merförståelse av människans och övriga arters samhörighet (Bayer & Hettinger 2019; Nordström & Saltzman 2014). Workshoppen fokuserar på hur denna samhörighet värderas, synliggörs eller osynliggörs genom olika former av berättande. Det relationella tänkandet betonar även förkroppsligade (sinnliga) erfarenheter och etik i praktiken; teman som kan belysas genom berättande. Med avstamp i relationellt tänkande efterfrågar vi flervetenskapliga och kreativa perspektiv på berättelser om mellanartsliga relationer i Norden.

Skicka in abstrakt på max 300 ord senast den 7 januari 2025 som beskriver materialet, dess koppling till temat och inledande tankar kring värderingar av mer-än-människan. Deltagarna skickar senare in material i form av bild, video, ljud, ting (initialt bilder) och andra kreativa format. Workshoppen utgår från två sessioner; den första innefattar presentationer och diskussion och den andra en interaktiv resultatdiskussion och utställning av bidragen.

Arrangörer: Julia Öhman (julia.ohman@abo.fi), Jolanda Linsén

In a podcast on the topic “what’s for breakfast in Paris” hostess with guests discuss how café owners, running concepts like a bagel bakery or a shakshuka place, experience breaking new ground in a percieved conservative market. The episode touched subjects like portion sizes adjustments, changing of opening hours, menue alterantions and acknowledgments that what and when people eat certain things do not always align with the expected. Culture is not like carbon paper; it will not allow itself to be copied. E.g, it’s not possible to simply infuse American bagel culture into the heart of Parisians. Nevertheless, food is undoubtedly an important factor when it comes to national identity, where pastries often stand out. What is really the recipe of a nation?

By facilitating a story-sharing workshop, we intend to invite participants to talk about memories related to breads and buns, cookies and cakes. How do Norwegians feel about vafler? What do Swedes have to say about kanelbullar? In what way do the Finnish people relate to karjalanpiirakka and the Danes to wienerbrøds? What we seek to uncover, or at least get some ideas about, is what make certain arefacts so connected to a specific culture. We also aim for acloser understanding how these findings can be used to explore what role food can play in integration and how (national) belonging is created through such things as pastries. Gathering around this topic we will co-create and collect data that can hopefully be used in future research on intercultural understanding.

Convenor: Sandra Kvist (sandra@brindille.se)