Knowing the world: Children, global education and environmental activism in Sweden after 1945

The purpose of this project is to strengthen the research environment of history of knowledge at the Department of History, Lund University, by engaging history of education and childhood. It has been pointed out that the history of knowledge provides an opportunity to regard children and youth not merely as the objects of education and socialization, but as mediators and producers of new knowledge. However, historians of knowledge and education have yet to fully realize the potential of this analytical perspective. This project will further develop the applicant’s interest in post-war global issues and environmentalism by investigating two cases in which children and youth took part in the circulation of global knowledge in post-war Sweden: the first nation-wide Swedish foreign aid campaign, Sverige hjälper (“Sweden helps”) in 1955, and secondly, the formation of a series of hearings and parliamentary simulations involving young environmentalists 1969–1972. The research will be conducted by the appointment of a post-doctoral researcher, Björn Lundberg, for two years.