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  • 1.
    Af Geijerstam, Jan
    KTH, Superseded Departments (pre-2005), Industrial Economics and Management. KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Landscapes of Technology Transfer: Swedish Ironmakers in India 1860–18642004Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other scientific)
    Abstract [en]

    In the early 1860s three Swedes, Nils Wilhelm Mitander,Julius Ramsay and Gustaf Wittenström, were engaged by theBritish to build and run charcoal-based ironworks in India.These works, the Burwai Iron Works of the British Government inthe case of Mitander and the privately owned Kumaon Iron Worksin the case of Ramsay and Wittenström, were both to bebased on the most modern European technology. The projects werepioneering in Indian ironmaking. The ambitions were high andstakes big, but after only a few years the projects were closedand the Swedes returned home.Landscapes of Technology Transferpresents a detailedstudy of the Kumaon and Burwai Iron Works, from their firstconception to their final closure. The investigation isbasically empirical and a fundamental question is: Why were theworks never brought into full and continuous production?

    The ironworks projects should be considered as processes oftechnology transfer rather than fully fledged and completedtransfers. In spite of this lack of success, or maybe becauseof it, the history of the ironworks and the Swedes also forms afruitful case to put other questions of wide relevance. Itexposes workings and effects of colonialism and offers anexplanation of the late development of India's iron and steelindustry and analyses of the complex totality forming theprerequisites for a successful transfer of technology. The longtraditions of bloomery ironmaking in India and ismarginalisation is also discussed.

    Landscapes of Technology Transferis a comprehensiveempirical study. From a local and individual perspective ittraces lines of connection across boundaries of time andgeography. The historical landscapes of technology transfer aredescribed in their cultural, social, economic and politicaldimensions and the thesis underlines the importance of a closeacquaintance with local settings and conditions, where historyis manifested in a physical presence. The remains of theironworks and theirlocal landscapes in present-day India areused as a central source for writing their histories. There isalso a strong emphasis on the use of photographs and drawingsas sources.

    The outcome of the projects was the result of the interplaybetween the local and the global, between a diversity ofconcrete factors influencing the construction of the works andtheir running and their colonial character. The studyemphasises the importance of technological systems andnetworks, both on a micro and a macro level. On a local leveldemanding logistics, a sometimes adverse climate, theprocurement of charcoal and iron ore in sufficient quantitiesand the build up of knowledge of ironmaking posed serious butnot insurmountable difficulties. Most obstacles were overcomealready during the first few years of the 1860s, the period ofthe Swedes, but to put the works into full and continuousproduction would have needed perseverance and purposefulefforts to support and protect the iron production, at leastduring an initial period. In the end the position of India as acolonial dependency, subjected to the primacy of Britishinterests, set the limits of the projects.

    Key words:History of technology, industrial heritagestudies, industrial archaeology, technology transfer,diffusion, technological systems, landscapes of technology,iron and steel, charcoal iron, direct and indirect ironmaking,bloomeries, 19th century, industrial history,industrialisation, de-industrialisation, underdevelopment,colonialism, India, Sweden, Great Britain, global history,annales.

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  • 2. Albert de la Bruheze, A. A.
    et al.
    Emanuel, Martin
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    European bicycling: The politics of low and high culture: Taming and framing cycling in twentieth-century Europe2012In: Journal of Transport History, ISSN 0022-5266, E-ISSN 1759-3999, Vol. 33, no 1, p. 64-66Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 3.
    Albrecht, Martin
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Environmental Strategies Research (fms).
    Enabling socio-technical transitions – electric vehicles and high voltage electricity grids as focal points of low emission futures2017Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    Today humankind is facing numerous sustainability challenges that require us to question CO2 intensive practices like those present in the transport and energy sector. To meet those challenges, many countries have adopted ambitious climate targets. Achieving such targets requires an understanding of the wider socio-technical context of transitions. The aim of this licentiate thesis is therefore to analyse such socio-technical transitions towards low-emission futures enabled by the electrification of passenger cars and high voltage grid development.

    A combination of different transitions theories (for ex. Multi-level perspective and Technological innovation systems) and institutional theory has been used. To reach the aim paper I analyses the climate impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) and policy measures to achieve a breakthrough scenario for EVs. The results show that a mixture of short and long term policies are needed that take into account the technology development stage and behavioural aspects of EV adopters. Paper II addresses the need to include the high voltage transmission grid and its planning procedures as a central part of debates on transitions. Therefore the opportunities, challenges and reasons for conflict in the established regime are studied. The results show that in order to achieve a sustainable grid development regime, it is necessary to spend time on achieving legitimacy and social sustainability. The third paper uses semi-structured expert interviews and focuses on innovation dynamics for EV adoption. By focusing on dynamics instead of single policy measures, it is possible to grasp interactions within a niche, but also in between a niche, regime and landscape. The results show that strong initial technology legitimacy was needed to start substantial innovation dynamics. This could be further strengthened with a strong and broad coalition of actors. Both those factors led, if present, to an improved variety and match of policy instruments.

    As such this thesis has shown that transitions are not just about technology or policy instruments as such but about the dynamics and processes needed to enable them. This can be relevant in other transitions that otherwise may underestimate the importance of these components.

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  • 4.
    Albrecht, Martin
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Environmental Strategies Research (fms).
    Nordic power road map 2050: Strategic choices towards carbon neutrality. D4.1.R Institutional grid review.2013Report (Other academic)
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  • 5.
    Albrecht, Martin
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Environmental Strategies Research (fms).
    System innovation dynamics around electric vehicles. The cases of Norway, Denmark and Sweden.Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    This paper focuses on the comparison of electric car innovation patterns in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Doing so, it takes a closer look at what the most essential dynamics in the systems were over time and what enabled those dynamics. The main research aim is to contribute to a wider understanding of why Norway is so much ahead of Sweden and Denmark in electric car adoption. The purpose is also to adopt a perspective that goes beyond a mere focus on economic policy instruments. In order to do so different theory elements are combined in a framework. These elements stem from the transition theory literature field, especially the technological innovation system (TIS) and the multi-level perspective (MLP). This combination allows analysing the development behind a dynamic, not just when it comes to an innovation itself but also with regards to the established regime. The data is gathered through analysis of existing documents and data as well as a series of 27 expert interviews conducted in the three case countries. The findings suggest that there are important differences in transition patterns that can account for the electric vehicle (EV) diffusion situation we can find nowadays in the three Nordic countries. An important stepping stone was the need for a very strong legitimacy of the original EV vision that is also anchored in a coordinated, sector overarching coalition of actors that thinks strategically and long term. Moreover some general beneficial dynamics could be identified across the countries in question. In Norway these beneficial dynamics can be summarised as a systems motor, in Denmark as a failed entrepreneurial motor that shifted towards a constrained municipal motor and in Sweden as a loosely, coordinated and weaker version of a systems motor.

  • 6.
    Albrecht, Martin
    et al.
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Environmental Strategies Research (fms).
    Nilsson, Måns
    Åkerman, Jonas
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Environmental Strategies Research (fms).
    Nordic power road map 2050:Strategic choices towards carbon neutrality. D4.2.R Policy and Institutional Review Electric Vehicles (EV).2012Report (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    This report examines policy drivers of electric vehicles (EVs), and what potential role policy can play in enhancing the innovation and market development of EVs. We start with a policy review of key targets in the Nordic countries and the EU, up to 2030, and discuss to what extent they are consistent with industry, government and expert estimates of how the EV innovation systems can grow. On the basis of this, the second part examines what policy drivers might be needed to enable a breakthrough scenario, using a technological innovation systems (TIS) perspective to describe the needed processes, drivers and developments in policy and technology.

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  • 7.
    Alenius, Malin
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Architecture.
    Förändring av rummets och arbetets ljus i tre bibliotek: Stockholms stadsbibliotek 1928, Norrköpings stadsbibliotek 1971 och Helsingfors centrumbibliotek Ode 2018.2022In: Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift, ISSN 0349-2834, E-ISSN 2002-3812, no 83, p. 55-78Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Changes to the lighting of space and work in three libraries:Stockholm Public Library 1928, Norrköping Public Library 1971, and Helsinki Central Library Oodi 2018

    Summary

    The article examines how the design of daylight and electric light influences the creation and use of space by studying three specific examples: Stockholm Public Library from 1928; Norrköping Public Library from 1971; and Helsinki Central Library Oodi, which opened in 2018. The research combines an historical analysis with ethnographic field studies to examine lighting design as an integrated, active component of the narrative of the built heritage. The study of the libraries looks at the development of spatial lighting design and work lighting. The key role of reading light in library programmes provides insight into how contemporaneous rules and regulations for lighting were applied in the three examples. The study demonstrates how lighting theory, orientated towards quantitative assessment criteria for work lighting, increasingly prioritised an ideal of vision at the expense of spatial illumination. Yet the study also shows how technological advances have created new spatial possibilities, changing the conditions for previously established lighting practices. Based on the lighting design of the three libraries, the article poses the following questions:

    How have lighting technology and building design influenced each other, and what are the spatial results?How has lighting theory influenced the design of spatial illumination and work lighting?

    The three libraries represent three eras of light sources: the incandescent light bulb, fluorescent tube and light-emitting diode (LED), exemplifying how advances in lighting technology have provided increasingly intense, uniform and controllable illumination. Each library exhibits a different approach to the contrast management and flow of light. In the first example, which dates from an era when daylight was still central to the illumination needs of buildings, the lighting design derives from the contrast between light and dark, relating to how visitors moved through the building. In the second example, the lighting design stems from a uniform, more static form of illumination, catering for the needs of central vision. This design emerged at a time when electric light was already predominant. In this form of lighting design, contrast and flow recur, yet in a clearly different way to the two buildings of the previous century.

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  • 8.
    Allen, Irma
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Dirty coal: Industrial populism as purification in Poland's mining heartland2021Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    In the second half of the 2010s, far-right populist parties gained increasing power and influenceacross Europe, and around the world. Core to their ethnonationalist, anti-elite agenda, and theiremotive politics, has often been a defense of fossil fuels, threatening action to address the climatecrisis and raising the spectre of fascism. Increasingly-perceived-as-‘dirty’ coal, the raw material thatmade the industrial modern world order possible and contributed most to its mountingcontradictions, has acquired a special status in contemporary far-right ideology. What is theemotional intersection between them at a time of far-reaching economic, environmental and energyinstability and change, when coal has not only been losing its material value and its symbolic link tomodernity, but is increasingly widely deemed immoral too?

    To date, studies of far-right populism have largely overlooked how energy and environmentalchange feature in their present rise. This reflects how these issues have been largely treated astechnical matters, and therefore relegated to the domain of scientific expertise, rather thanrecognized as inherently social, cultural and political concerns. Tending to adopt a macro-levelapproach, far-right studies have also not yet fully addressed the historically, geographically, andculturally-situated reasons for this success, particularly among the (white, male) industrial workingclass.From a bottom-up, ethnographic perspective, the role of intersectional (class-based,occupational, gendered, racialized regional and national) ecologically-positioned embodiedsubjectivities and identities and their emotional lived experience remains to be considered.

    This PhD thesis, set within the concerns of a transdisciplinary environmental and energy humanitiesframework, addresses this lacunae in the context of Poland; the most coal-dependent country in theEuropean Union where a pro-coal platform unexpectedly helped the far-right populist party Lawand Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) into majority government in 2015. It is primarily based on ayears’ ethnographic research conducted in 2017 with both residents and particularly coal miners andtheir families in a minescape in Upper Silesia, the nation’s, and one of Europe’s, last remainingmining heartlands. Adopting a postcolonial postsocialist perspective, and drawing on rare empiricaldata from participant observation and qualitative interviews, the thesis explores the politics ofincreasingly ‘dirty’ coal expressed in localized conflicts over air pollution, domestic heating, andthe meaning of work, dignity, respectable personhood, the economy and community, setting themwithin their historical context. The rapidly shifting material and symbolic meaning of coal withinthe context of Silesia’s long-standing troubled history is particularly studied in light of Europeanintegration, a post-industrial, neoliberal, ‘green’-cosmopolitan project that links East and West in anunequal relationship. The naming of coal and its way of life as increasingly ‘dirty’ in newlystigmatizing senses from ‘outside’, is found to be experienced by the mining community as an eliteimposedprocess of ecological dispossession. This generates a toxic intersectionally-andecologically-mediated shame in the bodies of those that particularly labour intimately with itsmaterial touch; a shame that resonates with what this thesis terms industrial populist politics and itsemotive charge as a felt common sense. In the postsocialist context of the marginalization anddevaluation of industrial working-class lives, and pervasive and normalized orientalist classismexperienced as an attack on one’s ecologically-enmeshed Silesian-Polishness, the relational longingfor a sense of a purified home, that can cleanse dirt’s discomforting and shame-inducing stigmas inoverlapping economic, social, cultural and environmental terms by refusing and reversing itsdesignation, is proposed as lying at the heart of industrial populism’s visceral draw.

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  • 9.
    Allen, Irma
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Fossil Capital: the rise of steam power and the roots of global warming2016In: The EcologistArticle, book review (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 10.
    Allen, Irma
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Så kan ångmaskinerna lära oss att förstå klimatförändringarna2016In: Dagens NyheterArticle, book review (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 11.
    Andreasson, Ulf
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology.
    Arbetslösa i rörelse: Organisationssträvanden och politisk kamp inom arbetslöshetsrörelsen i Sverige, 1920-342008Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other scientific)
    Abstract [en]

    This doctoral thesis sets out to analyse the development of the unemployed movement in Sweden during the period 1920–34. The study is divided into two parts. The first is empirical and descriptive while the second is interpretive and explanatory, and seeks to examine why this phenomenon developed in the way it did.

    Mass unemployment in Sweden between the World Wars did not cause the same social tensions as in many other countries. This relative peace endured despite high and consistent unemployment and hard living conditions for the unemployed. These conditions served as sources for tensions present in the unemployed movement, and which some actors sought to take advantage of and even exacerbate.

    Andréasson argues that a major reason that society did not take a more radical turn in the period was that the reformist labour movement actively moderated these tensions. This was done by the Social Democratic Party (SAP) changing the environment of the unemployed organisations, for example by using local unemployment policy to polish off the rough edges of the national unemployment policy. More important was the crisis politics in the early 1930s that helped narrow the socio-economic gap between those who had and those who did not have a job. The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) neutralised the movement of the unemployed by introducing changes within the unemployed movement itself, involving a variety of strategies.

    After 1933, the LO and SAP dominated and were able to direct the activities of most of the organisations that existed. Gaining control over the unemployed was as important for the LO and SAP as being able to exert control over other forces that might threaten to weaken their long-term strategies and aims.

    There was a conviction within the unemployed movement that mass unemployment was largely a consequence of technological developments in production. This argument had roots dating back to the early stages of industrialism in England when Luddites had attacked production machinery. The coalition of organisations of unemployed workers in Sweden during the 1920s and 1930s did not seriously consider engaging in machine-breaking activities. The movement’s criticism of technology did not extend into the Swedish model which envisioned the development of machinery as a way to prevent rising unemployment.

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  • 12.
    Anstey, Tim
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Architecture, Architectural Technologies.
    Authority and Authorship in L. B. Alberti's De re aedificatoria2003In: Nordisk arkitekturforskning, ISSN 1102-5824, Vol. 4, p. 19-25Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article examines the definition of the architect's role in Leon Battista' Alberti's instaurational text De re aedificatoria and considers the problems of judgement and authority for architectural authorship.

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    ANSTEY/NAF/2003
  • 13.
    Anstey, Tim
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Architecture. KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Architecture, Architectural Technologies.
    The ambiguities of disegno2005In: Journal of Architecture, ISSN 1360-2365, E-ISSN 1466-4410, Vol. 10, no 3, p. 295-306Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 14.
    Appelblad Fredby, Jenny
    et al.
    Stockholms Universitet.
    Nilsson, David
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    From "All for some" to "Some for all"?: A historical geography of pro-poor water provision in Kampala2013In: Journal of Eastern African Studies, ISSN 1753-1055, E-ISSN 1753-1063, Vol. 7, no 1, p. 40-57Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This article discusses the historical mechanisms and geographical factors that have formed the current structure of urban water provision in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The formation of the urban geography of Kampala dates back to the early colonial period. The high- and middle-income earners have settled on the hills while the poorest part of the population lives in the low-lying areas, dispersed as pockets of unplanned and informal settlements. Public services are underdeveloped in these informal pockets. The government has pledged to improve services for the poor and this article analyses whether the efforts made are likely to lead to a lasting change, seen in a longer time perspective. The public water supply in Kampala has ever since its opening in 1930 focused on the middle- and high-income groups while poor people have been marginalised. Water provision to low-income groups has continued to rely on standpipes since the colonial period. There has also been organisational continuity, with a single centralised organisation in charge of urban water supply in all larger towns. Institutional changes, such as the new connection policy from 2004, have perpetuated the emphasis on middle- and high-income groups. This article argues that the traditional focus on private connections is creating a barrier for expansion of services in informal areas. Pre-paid water distribution, which was tried already in the 1920s, has in recent years seen a revival. This technology offers an important avenue for rectifying inequalities of public services that has been reproduced since the colonial period.

  • 15.
    Armiero, Marco
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Environmental history between institutionalization and revolution: A short commentary with two sites and one experiment2016In: Environmental humanities. Voices from the Anthropocene / [ed] Serenella Iovino and Serpil Opperman, London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016, p. 45-59Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 16.
    Armiero, Marco
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment. Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).
    Prefazione2019In: Cercate l'antica madre: Storie di straordinaria resistenza nelleTerre dei Fuochi d’Italia / [ed] Gnasso editore, Acerra: Gnasso Editore , 2019, p. 5-10Chapter in book (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 17.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Actors and actants in the international struggle over Spitsbergen, 1850-19202006Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 18.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Assessing Arctic Futures: Voices, Resources, and Governance, Theory, methods and tasks2010Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 19.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Att konstruera naturresurser: industriella framtidsvisioner om Svalbard 1870-19302016In: Ottar, ISSN 0030-6703, Vol. 131, no 2, p. 41-49Article in journal (Other academic)
  • 20.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Constructing industrial futures for Spitsbergen2011Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 21.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Constructing industrial futures for the Arctic2012Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The circumpolar north has become increasingly important as a potential supply area for minerals, fossil energy resources and new shorter routes for international shipping. Allthough mining, oil and gas extraction are not new activities in the Arctic, the prospect of an ice free Arctic ocean may open possibilities for resource extraction in areas where such activities used to be unthinkable. Such visions of the future of the Arctic are not new however, there are several examples in the history of the Arctic of economic actors formulating visions of what the future of the region should be. The objective of this paper is to analyze the production of future visions for the Arctic by actors within large scale natural resource utilization industries historically and their influence on the economy and politics of the region. The paper will focus on actors involved in the coal mining industry in the Arctic archipelago Spitsbergen / Svalbard from 1898-present. The main research questions are: what futures visions have been produced by actors within the Spitsbergen coal mining industry and why? To what extent have these future visions gained influence in different time periods and why? How has companies and governments interacted in order to strengthen political influence and/or control over natural resources?

     

    The paper is based on analyses of sources from two contexts in which companies outlined their visions of the future of Spitsbergen – in written documents and material objects. Companies promoted their visions of the future in the form of narratives published in company prospects, expedition reports, annual reports, articles in professional journals and in correspondence with potential allies such as government bodies. They also formulated their visions by constructing buildings and technological systems in the landscape of Spitsbergen – material representations of potential, real or unlikely futures, economic and / or political.

     

    I will show that the Spitsbergen mining companies used their future visions in order to build actor networks. By constructing narratives about potential futures, they tried to enroll capital owners and political actors in to actor-networks strong enough to realize their visions. In a similar way, actors within politics and science included industry in their future visions in order to push their own agendas. Therefore, although the future visions of Arctic industry had many similar traits, the actors producing the visions often had quit different motives for producing them – economic visions hiding political agendas and strategic considerations. Moreover, the future visions has changed over the course of the 20th century, as result of the changing economic and political contexts on Svalbard and in Europe and the USA.

     

    The results suggest that Arctic future visions produced by industrial companies become influential if the companies share common interests with other influential actors (governments) and if they are able to build strong networks with such actors. Moreover, they show that Arctic future visions are most often elements in strategies aimed at achieving goals outside of the Arctic. The results can be used to deepen our understanding of the mineral and energy projects that underpin contemporary Arctic futures.

  • 22.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Constructing Polar histories through science and industry2009Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 23.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Constructing Svalbard and its natural resources Industrial futures in a contested Arctic space2013Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The Arctic is often envisioned as a future supply area for fossil energy and shipping, a development bound to occur because of the decreasing Arctic Ocean sea ice. In the Assessing Arctic Futures project we have challenged this deterministic future vision, arguing that natural resources are social constructions, constructed within networks of actors who ascribe value to them. Based on a theoretical model developed in this project, I will present cases on the construction of resources in the Svalbard coal mining industry (1898-present). How and why have actors envisioned Svalbard as a place for settlement and extraction? How did they build influence for their visions and why were some of those visions realized? The paper will suggest that explanations of why resource utilization in the Arctic occur (or not) is far more complex than the relative amount of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean.

  • 24.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Constructing Svalbard and its natural resources: industrial futures in a contested Arctic space2014Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The Arctic is often envisioned as a future supply area for fossil energy and shipping, a development bound to occur because of the decreasing Arctic Ocean sea ice. In the Assessing Arctic Futures project we have challenged this deterministic future vision, arguing that natural resources are social constructions, constructed within networks of actors who ascribe value to them.

    Based on a theoretical model developed in this project, I will present cases on the construction of resources in the Svalbard coal mining industry (1898-present). How and why have actors envisioned Svalbard as a place for settlement and extraction? How did they build influence for their visions and why were some of those visions realized? The paper will suggest that explanations of why resource utilization in the Arctic occur (or not) is far more complex than the relative amount of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean.

  • 25.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Constructing the Past of Polar Futures2012Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 26.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Constructing the pasts for Arctic futures2013Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 27.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Constructing the pasts of competing Spitsbergen futures: Russian heritage in action2015Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 28.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Constructing the pasts of polar futures: the Janus face of polar heritage2013Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 29.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Creating sustainable development in the Arctic: abandoned extraction sites as assets for new Arctic futures2014Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The impacts of climate change on polar cultural heritage have received an increasing attention in recent years within the field of heritage research. Less attention has been place on other processes of global change affecting the Arctic, where cultural heritage plays an important role – industrialization and de-industrialization. In recent years the circumpolar Arctic has been affected by a global mining boom, triggered by high world market prices on minerals as well as notions of the Arctic as a future arena for resource extraction in the wake of climate change. This mining boom is affecting communities in much of the Arctic region and holds a central place in debates about sustainable development there. A central item of these discussions focus on the question of how to handle the physical remains of mining sites once the boom is over and the activities have seized. The attitudes to abandoned mining sites differ across the Arctic. In some cases they have been perceived as unwanted legacies of problematic pasts, making land reclamation a preferred strategy. In other cases abandoned mines and associated infrastructures have been re-defined as cultural heritage and have become anchor points for local identities and a resource for new economies.

    The objective of this paper is to present a research project aiming to explain these differences in order to understand under which circumstances abandoned large-scale resource extraction sites can be turned into resources for new futures in post-industrial Arctic communities. The focus is on the European Arctic, but in a circumpolar and bi-polar comparative perspective. The main questions are: how have different groups of actors interpreted and used physical remains of abandoned resource extraction operations, and why? Which policies are needed to turn abandoned resource extraction sites into resources for constructing new futures in the Arctic? By addressing these questions, the field of heritage studies can make an important contribution to the discussion on sustainable futures in the Arctic.

  • 30.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Creating sustainable development in the Arctic: abandoned extraction sites as assets for new futures2015Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The impacts of climate change on polar cultural heritage have received an increasing attention in recent years within the field of heritage research. Less attention has been place on other processes of global change affecting the Arctic, where cultural heritage plays an important role – industrialization and de-industrialization. In recent years the circumpolar Arctic has been affected by a global mining boom, triggered by high world market prices on minerals as well as notions of the Arctic as a future arena for resource extraction in the wake of climate change. This mining boom is affecting communities in much of the Arctic region and holds a central place in debates about sustainable development there. A central item of these discussions focus on the question of how to handle the physical remains of mining sites once the boom is over and the activities have seized. The attitudes to abandoned mining sites differ across the Arctic. In some cases they have been perceived as unwanted legacies of problematic pasts, making land reclamation a preferred strategy. In other cases abandoned mines and associated infrastructures have been re-defined as cultural heritage and have become anchor points for local identities and a resource for new economies.

    The objective of this paper is to present preliminary results from a research project aiming to explain these differences in order to understand under which circumstances abandoned large-scale resource extraction sites can be turned into resources for new futures in post-industrial Arctic communities. The focus is on the European Arctic, but in a circumpolar and bi-polar comparative perspective. The main questions are: how have different groups of actors interpreted and used physical remains of abandoned resource extraction operations, and why? Which policies are needed to turn abandoned resource extraction sites into resources for constructing new futures in the Arctic? By addressing these questions, the field of industrial heritage studies can make an important contribution to the discussion on sustainable futures in the Arctic.

  • 31.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Det industriella kulturarvet som källa2012Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 32.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Heritage in Action: Industrial heritage in sovereignty conflicts2012Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of cultural heritage in international disputes over polar areas, through the lens of heritage sites in the Arctic and Antarctic.

    Over the last centuries, entrepreneurs and states have competed for control over territories and resources in the Arctic and Antarctic. Previous research has analyzed this struggle on different arenas – in diplomacy and in the Polar landscapes, where scientific research and resource utilization has served as bases for claims to political influence or exclusive extraction rights. Less is known about the role of the historical remains of these activities, in current sovereignty controversies in the Arctic and Antarctic. What is the role of heritage sites in the competition for influence and resources in the Polar Regions?

    The paper analyzes industrial heritage sites in two contested areas in the Polar Regions – the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia in the Antarctic, and Svalbard in the Arctic – sites remaining from large scale whaling and mining in the 20th century. The analysis is based on extensive industrial archaeological field research conducted in the Arctic and Antarctic within the framework of the International Polar Year project LASHIPA (Large Scale Historical Exploitation of Polar Areas).

    The cases analyzed shows that industry heritage sites have been used in the struggle between the main competitors for sovereignty in those regions, through practical re-use, by narration and through heritage management. The results show that industrial heritage sites in the Polar Regions can play a significant role in competitions for political influence and resources there. By enrolling the heritage sites into actor networks, competing stakeholders populate sparsely populated places with allied actors and actants. In these networks, the heritage sites can play different roles, defending national prestige, attracting tourists, creating a sense connectedness to distant polar places, as well as legitimizing claims for influence over territories and natural resources.

  • 33.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Industrial Heritage for Geopolitics2013Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 34.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Industrial heritage in the polar areas as sources for historical research2013Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    In recent years, two large research projects have sought to explain the historical development of large scale resource extraction in the polar areas, from the 17th century until present day. Both projects have combined history and archaeology through archival research and archaeological field work at abandoned industrial sites in the Arctic and Antarctic. The approach has a theoretical motivation based in Actor Network Theory; actors appropriate resources and political influence by using rhetoric and material culture, which requires the study of written sources as well as material remains. In this paper I will discuss how these research projects have addressed three of its main research problems using this theoretical-methodological approach: the interests motivating Arctic and Antarctic industry, the design of technology and settlements in polar environments, and international competition over natural resources and polar territories.

  • 35.
    Avango, Dag
    Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Nederländerna.
    Industriarv i polartrakterna – forskningsmöjligheter och bevarandeproblem2008Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 36.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE).
    Industriminnesforskning på Svalbard: tolkningar av kulturlandskapet vid Sveagruvan2004In: Arktisk gruvdrift II. Teknik, vetenskap och historia i norr / [ed] Jernkontoret, Bergshistoriska utskottet, Stockholm: Jernkontoret, Bergshistoriska utskottet , 2004, p. 1-22Chapter in book (Other academic)
  • 37.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Industry, Geopolitics and Environment in the Polar Areas2008Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 38.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Kampen om naturresurserna2015Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 39.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Mining legacies in Arctic futures: Remediation, heritagization, re-economization2019Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 40.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    National report for Sweden2006In: Patrimoine de l'industrie, ISSN 1296-7750, Vol. 15, p. 227-237Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 41.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Natural resources and industrial geopolitics2011Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 42.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE).
    Remains of industry in the polar regions: Histories, processes, heritage2017In: Entreprises et Histoire, ISSN 1161-2770, E-ISSN 2100-9864, Vol. 87, no 2, p. 133-149Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 43.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Rituals and symbols in the struggle over Spitsbergen and its natural resources2008Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 44.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Rituals and symbols in the struggle over the Polar Areas and their natural resources: cases from Spitsbergen2008Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 45.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Spetsbergen och sveriges roll i den globala resurskolonialismen2015In: Ymer, ISSN 0044-0477, Vol. 135, p. 151-176Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [sv]

    Den västerländska kolonialismen nådde sin höjdpunkt under perioden 1870-1930. Under denna period etablerades stora delar av Europa och Nordamerika som industriella centrum, och flera av dess stater tillskansade sig kolonier i syfte att få tillgång till naturresurser och exportmarknader. Vilken roll hade Sverige i denna globala resurskolonialism? En vanligt förekommande berättelse är att landet aldrig egentligen medverkade. Kolonialismen var de stora imperiernas arena – Storbritannien, Frankrike, Tyskland, Ottomanska imperiet, Ryssland och USA – medan Sverige höll sig på sidan om. Att även svenska aktörer medverkade på den koloniala arenan, utanför Sveriges gränser, har visserligen länge varit känt, men deras verksamhet har ofta skrivits in romantiserande berättelser om enskilda äventyr, snarare än som delar av en större berättelse om kolonialism. I projektet Sverige och den globala resurskolonialismen har vi ifrågasatt denna bild av Sveriges plats i världen genom att studera tre områden där svenska aktörer var verksamma i ett kolonialt sammanhang – Afrika, Centralasien och Arktis. Syftet med föreliggande artikel är att bidra till en ny förståelse av Sveriges roll i den globala kolonialismen (utanför landets gränser) kring förra sekelskiftet, genom att undersöka hur och varför svenska aktörer agerade på den Arktiska ögruppen Spetsbergen. Artikeln fokuserar på två större svenska försök att etablera gruvkolonier där under perioden 1870-1930 – Kap Thordsen och Sveagruvan. Vilka svenska aktörer ledde och medverkade i dessa projekt, hur och varför? Hur utvecklades projekten och varför? Vilka konsekvenser fick de svenska Arktiska gruvkolonierna? Vilka slutsatser kan vi dra om Sveriges roll i den globala kolonialismen utifrån de svenska kolonierna i Arktis?

    Exemplen från Spetsbergen visar att den svenska medverkan på den koloniala arenan drevs av ett nätverk av aktörer inom vetenskap, politik och industri. De hade olika men överlappande intressen – en önskan att nyttiggöra svensk polarforskning för ekonomisk utveckling, att försörja nationen med svensk istället för importerad energi och att ge Sverige en ledande ställning i skandinavisk utrikespolitik. Med dessa motiv möjliggjorde aktörerna satsningarna genom ett intimt samarbete. De svenska gruvkolonierna avvecklades dock efter relativt kort tid. Detta berodde dels på problem med själva gruvdriften, dels på ogynnsamma marknadsförhållanden, dels på skiftande prioriteringar i svensk energi- och utrikespolitik. De svenska gruvkolonierna på Spetsbergen visar att svenska aktörer hade såväl ambitioner som förmåga att etablera kolonier utanför landets gränser, men endast på platser som de stora koloniala imperierna inte intresserade sig för. Detta gav ett fönster för aktörer från mindre stater som Sverige och Norge att ta land och resurser i anspråk. 

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  • 46.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    Sustainable Communities and the Legacies of Mining in the Nordic Arctic2015Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 47.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Sveagruvan och Svalbardtraktaten: samarbete och konflikt i kamp om ingenmansland2005In: Daedalus 2005: Tekniska museets årsbok / [ed] Anne Louise Kemdal, Helene Sjunnesson, Lars Paulsson, Stockholm: Tekniska museet , 2005, p. 65-90Chapter in book (Other academic)
  • 48.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science and Technology.
    Sveagruvan: svensk gruvhantering mellan industri, diplomati och geovetenskap 1910-19342005Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other scientific)
    Abstract [en]

    The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the development of a mining industry in Spitsbergen and its relationship to Swedish scientific polar research. The empirical focus is the history of Swedish coal mining on Spitsbergen between 1910 and 1934 and the mining activities at Sveagruvan 1917-1925. The aim of the thesis is to explain why this coal-mining project was started, why it was developed and why it was terminated. It critically examines a linear model that has been used to explain the development of this mining project, i.e. the idea that scientific research leads on to technological development and industrial activities in a linear sequence.

    A theoretical and methodological framework called Actor Network Theory (ANT) is used to describe and analyse the Swedish coal-mining project. In the construction of an actor network human as well as non-human actors are involved, shaping the project and influencing its results. If an industrial project shall be successful, the project leadership must maintain control over both the local and global parts of the network and maintain a flow of resources between them.

    The actors that initiated the Swedish coal-mining project on Spitsbergen in 1910 wanted it to fulfil both economic and political needs. Investors from the iron- and steel industry wanted Swedish coal for the production of coke for blast furnaces. At the same time the Swedish government wanted to stop Norwegian attempts to take control over Spitsbergen – at the time a no-mans land. By opening up Swedish coalfields on Spitsbergen, Sweden would strengthen its position in future international negotiations on the legal status of this Arctic Archipelago.

    Over time, the motives for the project were changed. This was a result of shifting economic and political priorities. The quality of the coal resources was not suitable for coke production, but good enough for steam production. There was also a shift in focus from foreign policy to the politics of energy after the Svalbard treaty was signed in 1920.

    With the use of the theoretical model of the thesis, an attempt is made to prove that the project failed for three main reasons. First, the actors financing the project did not deliver the necessary resources to maintain the industrial activities. Second, the Swedish coalmine Sveagruvan did not deliver enough resources to maintain the support of the politicians and the private investors. Third, the project managers failed to maintain their control over the project.

    In the thesis it is shown that the linear model can be questioned, in this case with regard to the idea that the coal-mining project was a product of Swedish polar science. No doubt the input of geo-scientific knowledge from Swedish polar scientists was important, but so were other forms of knowledge and other actors. The linear model was a useful instrument, however, in the construction of history – a history valuable as a tool to enrol investors and to defeat political enemies. In the last-mentioned sense, the model was used to create a prestigious Swedish history of Spitsbergen – a history that gave Swedish citizens credit for the industrial development of the Arctic Archipelago.

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  • 49.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    The Greening of Arctic Mining Landscapes: The Politics of Industrial Heritage at Svalbard2014Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 50.
    Avango, Dag
    KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, History of Science, Technology and Environment.
    The industrialisation of Svalbard 1870-1925: Science, coalmining and international politics in a no mans land2004Conference paper (Other academic)
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