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Thomas Hylland Eriksen

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Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Born(1962-02-06)6 February 1962(age 62)
Oslo,Norway
NationalityNorwegian
Alma materUniversity of Oslo
AwardsResearch Council of Norway's Award for Excellence in Communication of Science(2002)University of Oslo's Award for Popularisation of Science(2000 and, on behalf of CULCOM, 2010)University of Oslo Research Prize 2017
Scientific career
FieldsAnthropology
InstitutionsUniversity of Oslo

GeirThomas Hylland Eriksen(born February 6, 1962) is a Norwegiananthropologistknown for his scholarly and popular writing onglobalization,identity,ethnicity,andnationalism.He is currently Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Social Anthropology at theUniversity of Oslo.[1]He has previously served as the President of theEuropean Association of Social Anthropologists(2015-2016),[2]as well as the Editor ofSamtiden(1993-2001),Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift(1993-1997), theJournal of Peace Research,andEthnos.[3]

Eriksen is among the most prolific and highly cited anthropologists of his generation, and has been recognized for his remarkable success in bringing an anthropological perspective to a broader, non-academic audience.[4][5][6][7][8]In Norway, Eriksen is a well-known public intellectual whose advocacy of diversity and cultural pluralism has earned both praise and scorn.[9]Right-wing terroristAnders Behring Breivik,perpetrator of the2011 Norway attacks,cited Eriksen critically in his manifesto[10]and during his2012 trial.[11]

In the academy and beyond, Eriksen has been highly decorated for his scholarship. He is the recipient of honorary degrees fromStockholm University(2011), theUniversity of Copenhagen(2021),[12]andCharles Universityin Prague (2021),[13]as well as one of anthropology's most prestigious honors, theSwedish Society for Anthropology and Geography's Gold Medal (2022). He is a member of theNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[14]

Early life and education[edit]

Eriksen was born on 6 February 1962 in Oslo. His parents were Ole Eriksen (1934-1979), a journalist, and Gerd Elisabeth Hylland (1935-2018), a teacher.[15]The family moved toNøtterøywhen Ole Eriksen took a job inTønsberg.Eriksen grew up in an intellectual environment, though he found Nøtterøy to be a conformist place and felt that he never had deep roots there.[16]He was exposed to the wider world in part through traveling to Africa in connection with his father's work withUNESCO.[17]Eriksen later remembered that as a young teenager his heroes wereAlice CooperandCharles Darwin.[3][18]In anticipation of pursuing higher education, he took theexamen artiumin 1980.[3]

Eriksen matriculated at theUniversity of Osloin 1981 and studied philosophy, sociology, and social anthropology. He completed his undergraduate studies and graduated with acand. mag.degree in 1984. He remained atBlindernto pursue a graduate degree in social anthropology.

During this period, Eriksen was also active in Oslo'sanarchist milieu.From 1982 to 1988, he was a member of the editorial board forGateavisa,a radical counter-cultural publication founded in 1970 by the anarchist collective atHjelmsgate 3.[3]Eriksen was amongGateavisa's most prolific writers, penning many of its articles under variations of his name, including "Thomas Hylland" and "Geir Hylland."[17]In the late 1980s, he proposed that the publication be rechristened "Glasnost",which it was for 1987-1988.[17]

At Blindern, Eriksen's interests coalesced around questions of identity, ethnicity, and nationalism—themes he would explore ethnographically through fieldwork inMauritiusin 1986.[18]He completed hiscand.politin 1987 with a thesis—published in 1988 as a book—on multi-ethnic nationalism calledCommunicating Cultural Difference and Identity: Ethnicity and Nationalism in Mauritius.[19]In 1989, Eriksen completed additional fieldwork inTrinidad.[18]Two years later, he defended his dissertation,Ethnicity and Two Nationalisms: Social Classifications and the Power of Ideology in Trinidad and Mauritius,and received hisdr.polit.

Academic career[edit]

From 1990 to 1991, Eriksen was a research fellow at thePeace Research Institute Oslo.[19]In 1991, he accepted a position as aFørsteamanuensis(equivalent to anAssociate Professorship) in the department at the University of Oslo where he had completed his graduate studies.[3]He published at a prodigious rate in both English and Norwegian on nationalism and identity in Trinidad and Mauritius, as well as culture and cultural diversity in contemporary Norway. In 1992, Eriksen was approached byUniversitetsforlaget,a Norwegian academic publisher, about writing an introductory textbook for social anthropology students.[18]The result, which appeared in 1993, wasSmå steder, store spørsmål—a text that in various languages (in English,Small Places, Large Issues) and through many editions has become one of the world's most widely-used introductions to anthropology.

1993 was also the year that Eriksen publishedEthnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives.Written at the invitation ofRichard Ashby Wilson,series editor atPluto Press,the book has, likeSmall Places, Large Issues,passed through various editions and found a broad readership.[19]It is Eriksen's most-cited work.[20]

Eriksen was promoted to Professor in 1995.[3]

CULCOM and the Alna Project[edit]

Eriksen's interest in diversity and new patterns of cultural inclusion and exclusion would lead to his involvement in an award-winning, multi-year interdisciplinary initiative at the University of Oslo,Cultural Complexity in the new Norway(CULCOM). Eriksen served as CULCOM's Director from 2004 to its conclusion in 2010.[21]During that time, CULCOM would bring together 120 people from five of the University of Oslo's faculties, and lead directly to the completion of 9 PhDs and 42 MAs, as well as several books—Eriksen himself was directly involved with five of these[18]—and academic journal articles.[22]CULCOM was awarded the University of Oslo's Research Communication Prize in 2010.

Though CULCOM ended in 2010, it continued in a sense through a research project it helped launch—The Alna Project—in 2009.[23]Funded by theResearch Council of Norway,Eriksen and the Alna Project's interdisciplinary team, including journalistElisabeth Eide,studied integration and belonging inAlna,a highly-diverse "satellite city"in Oslo'sGrorud Valley.The project concluded in 2013.[23]

Overheating[edit]

In 2015, Eriksen launchedOverheating: The Three Crises of Globalization,a major project funded by theEuropean Research Council.[24]Focusing on environmental, economic, and cultural crises, Eriksen and his team conducted ethnographic fieldwork in various countries, including Australia, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Canada, the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Norway.[25]In 2017, Eriksen received the University of Oslo Research Prize for his work onOverheating.[26]

Politics[edit]

Eriksen has been a minor political candidate for theNorwegian Liberal Party.[27]In the local election of 2011, he was a minor candidate for theNorwegian Green Partyin Oslo. He was also a minor candidate for the Norwegian Green Party in the2013 general election.

Works[edit]

Selected works in English[edit]

  • Us and Them in Modern Societies(1992)
  • Ethnicity And Nationalism(1993/2010) Widely translated
  • Common Denominators: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of Compromise in Mauritius(1998)
  • A History Of Anthropology(2001, with F. S. Nielsen, 2nd edition 2013) Translated into Portuguese, Arabic, Norwegian, Swedish
  • Tyranny of the Moment: Fast and Slow Time in the Information Age(2001) Translated into more than 25 languages.
  • Globalisation: Studies in Anthropology(2003, ed.)
  • What Is Anthropology?(2004) Widely translated
  • Engaging Anthropology: The Case For A Public Presence(2006)
  • Globalization: The Key Concepts(2007, 2nd edition 2014)
  • Flag, Nation and Identity in Europe and America(2007, ed. w/Richard Jenkins)
  • Paradoxes of Cultural Recognition(2009, ed. w/Halleh Ghorashi and Sharam Alghasi)
  • A World of Insecurity(2010, ed. w/Ellen Bal and Oscar Salemink)
  • Fredrik Barth: An Intellectual Biography(2015)
  • Overheating: An Anthropology of Accelerated Change(2016)
  • Identities Destabilised: Living in an Overheated World(edited with Elisabeth Schober, 2016)
  • Knowledge and Power in an Overheated World(edited with Elisabeth Schober, 2017). Free e-book, downloadablehere.
  • An Overheated World: An Anthropological History of the Early Twenty-First Century(editor, 2018)
  • Boomtown: Runaway Globalisation on the Queensland Coast(2018)
  • The Mauritian Paradox: Fifty Years of Development, Democracy and Diversity(editor with Ramola Ramtohul, 2018)
  • Ethnic Groups and Boundaries Today: A Legacy of Fifty Years(editor with Marek Jakoubek, 2019)
  • Cooling Down: Local Responses to Global Climate Change(editor with Susanna M. Hoffman and Paulo Mendes, 2021)

In Norwegian[edit]

  • 1989:Hvor mange hvite elefanter? Kulturdimensjonen i bistandsarbeidet(editor) ISBN 82-417-0019-9
  • 1991:Veien til et mer eksotisk Norge Forsvar for kulturelt mangfold.ISBN 82-417-0094-6
  • 1993:Typisk norsk: essays om kulturen i NorgeISBN 82-7003-121-6
  • 1993:Små steder – store spørsmål. Innføring i sosialantropologi
  • 1993:Kulturterrorismen: Et oppgjør med tanken om kulturell renhetISBN 82-430-0151-4
  • 1994:Kulturelle veikryss. Essays om kreolisering om kulturblandingISBN 8200039358
  • 1994:Kulturforskjeller i praksis(with Torunn Arntsen Sajjad) (7 revised editions, last in 2019)
  • 1995:Det nye fiendebildetUpdated and extended version 2001:Bak fiendebildet.
  • 1996:Kampen om fortiden(originally in Swedish: Historia, myt och identitet)
  • 1997:Charles Darwin,ISBN 8205253056
  • 1997: Flerkulturell forståelse (editor), ISBN 8251835755
  • 1999:Egoisme(with Dag O. Hessen), ISBN 82-03-22388-5
  • 1999:Ambivalens og fundamentalisme(editor with Oscar Hemer)
  • 2001:Øyeblikkets tyranni. Rask og langsom tid i informasjonsalderen,ISBN 82-03-22821-6
  • 2002:Til verdens ende og tilbake: antropologiens historie(with Finn Sivert Nielsen), ISBN 82-7674-291-2
  • 2004:Hva er sosialantropologi,150-siders lyninnføring i faget. ISBN 82-15-00495-4
  • 2004:Røtter og føtter: identitet i en omskiftelig tid om historie og identitetISBN 82-525-5182-3
  • 2005:Internett i praksis: om teknologiens uregjerlighet(editor) ISBN 82-304-0005-9
  • 2005:Menneske og samfunn: samfunnskunnskap, sosiologi, sosialantropologi(with Erik Sølvberg and Hans Arne Kjelsaas), ISBN 82-03-33300-1
  • 2006:Kosmopolitikk(with Halvor Finess Tretvoll) ISBN 82-02-26565-7
  • 2006:Normalitet(editor with Jan-Kåre Breivik)
  • 2006:Trygghet(editor)
  • 2007:Frihet(editor with Arne Johan Vetlesen)
  • 2007:Grenser for kultur?(editor with Øivind Fuglerud)
  • 2008:Storeulvsyndromet: Jakten på lykken i overflodssamfunnet,ISBN 978-8-20329-126-5
  • 2008:Globalisering: Åtte nøkkelbegreper
  • 2010:Samfunn
  • 2010:Kulturell kompleksitet i det nye Norge(editor with Hans Erik Næss), ISBN 978-8-27477-528-2
  • 2011:Søppel: Avfall i en verden av bivirkninger
  • 2012:På stedet løp: Konkurransens paradokser(with Dag O. Hessen)
  • 2012:Den globale drabantbyen(editor with Sharam Alghasi and Elisabeth Eide). ISBN 978-8-20238-655-9
  • 2013:Fredrik Barth: En intellektuell biografi,ISBN 978-8-21502-232-1
  • 2021:Appenes planet: Hvordan smarttelefonen forandret verden

References[edit]

  1. ^"Thomas Hylland Eriksen".Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo.
  2. ^"EASA Newsletter No 68".easaonline.org.Retrieved5 April2024.
  3. ^abcdefSchackt, Jon; Siverts, Henning (30 November 2023),"Thomas Hylland Eriksen",Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian),retrieved5 April2024
  4. ^Mathews, Gordon (3 April 2019)."Why Anthropologists Don't Reach the Public: A Rumination on Books of Thomas Hylland Eriksen".Anthropological Forum.29(2): 172–184.doi:10.1080/00664677.2018.1502074.ISSN0066-4677.
  5. ^"Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen received an honorary doctorate from Charles University – AJEC Blog".11 November 2021.Retrieved5 April2024.
  6. ^"Portrettintervju av Thomas Hylland Eriksen by Universitetsforlaget - Issuu".issuu.14 November 2013.Retrieved6 April2024.
  7. ^"Dette er akademias småkonger".klassekampen.no(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved7 April2024.
  8. ^fagredaktør, Erik Tunstad (25 November 2005)."Kommentar: En Hyllest til Hylland Eriksen".forskning.no(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved7 April2024.
  9. ^Toje, Asle (12 November 2012)."Finnes Thomas Hylland Eriksen?".NRK(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved5 April2024.
  10. ^"Drapsmannen la ut detaljert «terrordagbok»".aftenposten.no(in Norwegian Bokmål). 23 July 2011.Retrieved5 April2024.
  11. ^Vestad, Balder (17 April 2012)."- Stakkarslige Breivik har misforstått".Nettavisen(in Norwegian).Retrieved5 April2024.
  12. ^Webmaster (25 November 2021)."Honorary Doctor Thomas Hylland Eriksen".anthropology.ku.dk.Retrieved5 April2024.
  13. ^"Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen received an honorary doctorate from Charles University – AJEC Blog".11 November 2021.Retrieved5 April2024.
  14. ^"Gruppe 2: Kulturfag og estetiske fag"(in Norwegian).Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.Retrieved14 May2013.
  15. ^Schackt, Jon; Siverts, Henning (30 November 2023),"Thomas Hylland Eriksen",Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian),retrieved5 April2024
  16. ^Garbo, Gro Lien; Oslo, Universitetet i (3 October 2022)."Thomas Hylland Eriksen: – Jeg hadde ingen dødsangst".forskning.no(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved6 April2024.
  17. ^abc"I sofaen med Hylland Eriksen".Dagsavisen(in Norwegian). 28 July 2017.Retrieved6 April2024.
  18. ^abcde"Bøker - Thomas Hylland Eriksen".Engaging with the world.Retrieved6 April2024.
  19. ^abc"Books - Thomas Hylland Eriksen".Engaging with the world.Retrieved6 April2024.
  20. ^"Thomas Hylland Eriksen".scholar.google.Retrieved6 April2024.
  21. ^Tidemann, Grethe (24 October 2019)."Thomas Hylland Eriksen ser bakover for å kunne se framover".Uniforum.
  22. ^"CULCOM".Interfaculty research areas - CULCOM.
  23. ^ab"Alna-prosjektet - inklusjon og eksklusjon i en drabantby (avsluttet)".Universitet i Oslo - Forskningsprosjekter - Alna-prosjektet.
  24. ^"Addressing the crises of an 'overheated' world".ERC.7 November 2021.Retrieved7 April2024.
  25. ^"OVERHEATING".Department of Social Anthropology - OVERHEATING (completed).
  26. ^Crazydan82."Thomas Hylland Eriksen".På Kanten – Den norske filosofifestivalen i Kragerø(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved7 April2024.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^Statistics Norway(2005)."Storting Election 2005. Official electoral lists, by county".Storting Election 2005.Archived fromthe originalon 2 July 2007.Retrieved2 January2007.

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