Alva Myrdal, UNESCO and Cold War International Social Science

Research project This project is concerned with the international organisation of the social sciences during the early Cold War era, 1945-1960.

Empirically the project is focused on UNESCO's Social Science Department (SSD) and Alva Myrdal's period as its Director, 1951-1955. The aim is to analyse the ideas and practices that characterised the activities and the organisation of the SSD, and thereby to evaluate Myrdal's importance during this formative stage, but also to discuss the SSD in broader organisational and geopolitical context.

Head of project

Per Wisselgren Associate professor

+46 90 786 55 17

Project overview

Project period:

2013-01-01 – 2015-12-31

Funding

The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences

Participating departments and units at Umeå University

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences

Research subject

Sociology

Project members

External project members

Annika Nordin, professor, programchef
Hjalmar Laudon, professor, SLU
Tomas Lundmark, professor, SLU
Annika Mossing, kommunikatör
Urban Nilsson, professor, SLU
Petter Axelsson, postdoktor, SLU
Karin Beland Lindahl, SLU
Mats Berlin, Skogforsk
Kevin Bishop, gästprofessor, SLU
Christer Björkman, SLU
Johanna Boberg, SLU
David Ellison
Gustaf Egnell, SLU
Kristina Espmark, SLU
Nils Fahlvik, SLU
Adam Felton, SLU
Niklas Forshell, IIASA
Sabine Fuss, IIASA
Martyn Futter, SLU
Johanna Johansson, postdoktor
Lars Lundqvist
Artti Juutinen
Georg Kindermann,
Maartje J. Klapwijk
Florian Kraxner
Rolf Lidskog
Anders Lundström,
Tomas Lämås
Eva-Maria Nordström,
Thomas Ranius
Eva Ring
Lucy Rist
Jean-Michel Roberge
Daniel Sjödin
Johan Sonesson
Jan Stenlid
Kristina Wallertz
Camilla Widmark
Anneli Ågren
Lars Östlund

Project description

This project is concerned with the international organisation of the social sciences during the early Cold War era, 1945-1960. The topic is motivated by the fact that the current status, the societal importance and the global imbalances of today's international social science to a large extent can be understood against the background of the rapid expansion, the social impact and the new organisational structures that characterised the development of the social sciences after the Second World War. Empirically the project is focused on UNESCO's Social Science Department (SSD) and Alva Myrdal's period as its Director, 1951-1955. The aim is to analyse the ideas and practices that characterised the activities and the organisation of the SSD, and thereby to evaluate Myrdal's importance during this formative stage, but also to discuss the SSD in broader organisational and geopolitical context. Attention will for example be devoted to the SSD's relations to other contemporary international social science organisations, such as the International Social Science Council, the International Sociological Association and l'Institut International de Sociologie, as well as a couple of the most important North American private research foundations. In this way the project intend to contribute to a deeper historical understanding of the organisational structures and global imbalances that to a large degree still characterise contemporary international social science.