The Humanities and the Modern Politics of Knowledge: The Impact and Organization of the Humanities in Sweden, 1850-2020

The humanities' changing status is explored through a national case study spanning two centuries, highlighting their societal function and impact. The book challenges assumptions about impact and intellectual organization, offering critical comparisons with global literature. In Sweden, the humanities played a significant role in modern societal institutions, political movements, and professional education in the 19th century, but their relevance shifted to science and medicine in the 20th century. The book explores the complex and ambiguous relationship between the humanities and society, with their state and connections to society being of a complex and ambiguous character.

Format: Hardback
Length: 294 pages
Publication date: 25 July 2022
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

The book explores the changing status of the humanities through a national case study spanning two centuries, examining the societal function of the humanities from the perspective of knowledge politics to historicize notions of impact and intellectual organization. The focus on modern Sweden allows for an extended but empirically coherent historical analysis, offering critical comparisons with the growing literature on the history of the humanities from around the world. In the Swedish case, the humanities played a crucial role in the construction of modern societal institutions, political movements, and professional education in the second half of the 19th century. However, in the 20th century, the sense of future-making shifted towards science and medicine, and later technology and economy, putting the rationale of the humanities under pressure and requiring novel negotiations. The book's contributions explore the many faces and places of the modern humanities, highlighting the complex and ambiguous character of their state and connections to society.

Weight: 638g
Dimension: 162 x 240 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789463728867