Mikael Klintman

Mikael Klintman

Professor, Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1168-1908

Personal profile

Research

Main research

- Disputes and resolutions around naturalness & artificiality

- Framing processes for sense-making and social influence

- Social dimensions of knowledge resistance & fact resistance

- Sustainable development; social sustainability

- Framings of sustainable consumption

- Constructions of nature in society; evolutionary sociology

Current research and teaching

- The contested boundaries of naturalness: Navigating artificiality in a changing world. Here, I examine disputes and resolutions in light of ambiguity of naturalness and the growing presence of artificiality across multiple sectors.

- Framing as a social art of influence in areas of environment, health, and social wellbeing

- Knowledge resistance, fact resistance, strategic and proud ignorance (in issues of climate, vaccination, GMOs, evolution, gender, etc)

- Competition and collaboration between the human sciences in transdisciplinary projects on problems to environment and health.

- Beyond the market stalls and ivory towers: A study on integrated science for sustainable provision of knowledge (RJ; Project leader: Anna Jonsson).

- Governing Climate Change (Formas; Project leader: Johannes Stripple).

My research interest is on the roles, values and preconditions of people and organizations for making choices that reduce environmental, health-related, and social harm. How people and organisations frame, create, interpret, sort, and sometimes ignore/resist knowledge and insights in these areas is a central part of my research.  Theoretically, I combine social and economic thought (e.g., Veblen, Simmel, and theories of deliberative democracy) with evolutionary theory (e.g., Trivers, Runciman, Haidt). I have worked in the sectors of food, energy, waste, water, textiles, ethical mutual funds, transportation, tourism, and chemistry. I have developed ways of integrating elements of the social, economic, and evolutionary sciences for understanding human interests concerning environmental and health problems. Moreover, I've applied this integration when analysing several dimensions of knowledge resistance.  In 2016-2018 I conducted research and wrote books on these topics at Oxford University and London School of Economics. The books are "Knowledge Resistance" (Manchester University Press, 2019), Human Sciences and Human Interests (Routledge, 2018), and Gruppens Grepp (in Swedish; Natur & Kultur, 2018, with Thomas Lunderquist & Andreas Olsson). In 2025, my book "Framing: The Social Art of Influence" was published (Manchester UP), integrating insights from disciplines ranging from cultural studies to neuropsychology, and comparing framing with discourses, scripts, narratives, boundaries, and other conceptual tools for making sense of reality and influencing others.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Anthropology, Demography and Criminology)
  • Other Social Sciences

Free keywords

  • Sustainability
  • Evolution
  • interdisciplinary research
  • Human Interests
  • Environment
  • Consumption
  • Energy
  • Food
  • Transportation
  • Philosophy of science
  • Fact resistance
  • Knowledge resistance
  • framing
  • Frame Analysis
  • Vaccination
  • Food consumption
  • Nature-based solutions
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • disinformation
  • narratives

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Mikael Klintman is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles
View full fingerprint

Collaborations the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Explore network further
View all 84 research outputs
View all 17 projects
View all 8 activities