Conference Programme
Venues: Veröld (V) and Háskólatorg (HT)
Programme (pdf)
Day 1: Wednesday 22 May
Venue: Veröld (V)
Opening Ceremony & Keynote Lecture
| 11:00–12:00 | Registration | Veröld |
| 12:00–14:00 | Welcome Remarks: Irma Erlingsdóttir, Director of the EDDA Research Center Opening Address: Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland Network Overview: Peter G. Stadius, Project Leader of ReNEW Keynote Lecture: Julia Suárez-Krabbe (Roskilde University) Human Rights, Development ,and Coloniality: A Global Outlook Chair: Giti Chandra (University of Iceland) | V–Auditorium |
| 14:00–14:30 Coffee Break in Veröld |
Parallel Sessions 1: 14:45–16:15
| Book Panel | Cooperation and Confrontation: Nordic Experiences of Civil Society since 1800 Chair: Ruth Hemstad (National Library of Norway and the University of Oslo) Sunniva Engh (University of Oslo), Ruth Hemstad (National Library of Norway and the University of Oslo), and Mads Mordhorst (Copenhagen Business School) Editorsʼ Introduction Margrét Gunnarsdóttir (National Archive of Iceland) Ideas of Enlightenment vs. Old Norse Heritage: Experiences of Civil Society in Iceland during the First Decades of the 19th Century Peter Stadius (University of Helsinki) State Civil Servants and Voluntary Nordic Cooperation: The Nordic Federation of Public Administration, 1919−1952 Mads Mordhorst (Copenhagen Business School) Hybridity and Blurred Borders between Market and Civil Society: The Case of Danish Cooperatives, Savings Banks, and Corporations Sunniva Engh (University of Oslo) The Scandinavian Red Cross Societies in the Nordic Countries and Beyond Comments: Norbert Götz (Södertörn University) | V–Auditorium |
| Panel 1a | Cultural Influence and Popular Geopolitics: The Role of Media, Sport, and Other “Non-Traditional” Diplomatic Actors in Informing Northern European and International Order Chair: Vitaly Kazakov (University of Iceland) Rósa Magnúsdóttir (University of Iceland) Cultural Relations and the Russo-Ukrainian War: Cases from the United States and Iceland Vitaly Kazakov (University of Iceland) Sports Mega-Events and their Political Memory: Political Significances of France 2016, Russia 2018, and Pan-European 2020 Football Championships as Recalled by Icelanders J Simon Rofe (University of Leeds) Utilisation of the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games as a Tool of Sports Diplomacy and Its Political Significance Balazs Ujvari (European Commission) Media Engagement and Public Awareness of Humanitarian Crises and Civil Protection Measures: A Practitioner’s Experience | V–007 |
| Roundtable | First Results: Citizens’ Perspectives on Four Grand Societal Challenges in Four Nordic Countries, the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Germany Moderators: Caroline de la Porte and Zhen Im (Copenhagen Business School) Commentators: Irma Erlingsdóttir (University of Iceland) Mary Hilson (Aarhus University) Johan Strang (University of Helsinki) | V–008 |
| 16:30–18:00 Wine Reception in Veröld |
Day 2: Thursday 23 May
Venues: Háskólatorg (HT)/Veröld (V)
Registration 9:30–12:00 V-108
Parallel Sessions 2: 9.00–10:30
| Panel 2a | Radical Activism in Theory and Praxis Chair: Johan Strang (University of Helsinki) Mikael Lyngaas (University of Oslo) Scandinavian-American Socialism, 1880–1920 Pontus Järvstad (University of Iceland) Nordic Anti-fascism Against the Greek Junta (1967–1974): Norwegian Attempts to Unify the Greek Democratic Opposition Armando Garcia (University of Iceland) Friends of Humanity in the X-Men ’97 The Animated Series (2024): An Allegory of Global White Supremacy, Racialized Subjects, and Hidden Transcripts Jeremias Schledorn (University of Iceland) Not about Facts but Emotions? Political Polarization as a Problem of Redescription | HT–101 |
| Panel 2b | Gender and Sexual Exceptionalism in Norden Chair: Ulla Manns (Södertörn University) Elena Lindholm (Umeå University) The Myth of Nordic Women’s Sexual Exceptionalism in 20th Century Spain Kirill Polkov (Södertörn University) Swedish Sexual Exceptionalism and the Russian Other Ulla Manns (Södertörn University) Gender Exceptionalism and the Memory of Women’s Suffrage in Sweden | HT–103 |
| Panel 2c | Framing Social Identities: Refugees, Diasporas, and LGBTQ Rights Chair: Linda Sólveigar- og Guðmunds (University of Iceland) Tuire Liimatainen (Migration Institute of Finland) Nation within and beyond: Constructing Diaspora and National in the Finnish Diaspora Policy Oksana Pchapska (Polish Academy of Science) Refugee Narratives: Manipulation, Media, and the Dynamics of Information Warfare in Contemporary Conflict Zones Katharina Kehl (Lund University) A Rainbow Flag Worth Defending? LGBTQ Rights and the Re-Territorialization of Swedish Defense Giti Chandra (University of Iceland) “Let’s Meet over Coffee in the Boksala”: Mapping Decoloniality at the University of Iceland | HT–104 |
| 10:30–10:45 Coffee Break at Háskólatorg |
Parallel Sessions 3: 11:00–12:30
| Panel 3a | Gendered Workplace Relations: Interactions and Harassment Online and on Site, and Ways to Create a Gender Equitable Work Environment Chair: Katrín Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland) Finnborg S. Steinþórsdóttir and Gyða M. Pétursdóttir (University of Iceland) Increased Prevalence and Changes in Sexual Harassment within the Icelandic Police: Resistances to Maintain Gendered Workplace Hierarchies? Laufey Axelsdóttir, Finnborg S. Steinþórsdóttir, and Gyða M. Pétursdóttir (University of Iceland) The Potential and Hindrances of Preventive Strategies to Combat Sexual Harassment within the Icelandic Police Annadís Greta Rúdólfsdóttir, Gyða M. Pétursdóttir, and Katrín Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland) The GEiO Research Project: Investigating the Role of Gender in Online Work Meetings across Four Nations Katrín Ólafsdóttir, Gyða M. Pétursdóttir, and Annadís Greta Rúdólfsdóttir (University of Iceland) The Role of Gender in Online Work Meetings: Results from the Icelandic Context | HT–101 |
| Panel 3b | The Culture of Social Organizing and Identity Narratives Chair: Mary Hilson (Aarhus University) Eirik Sundvall and Byron Rom Jensen (University of Oslo) “The Lumber Business”: The Nordic Dimension of the AFL-FTUC’s International Work, 1945–1955 Sami Koskelainen (University of Helsinki) Away with Ideology, in with Efficiency: Football Club Fusions and Finland in the 1990s Stefanie Steinbeck and Mads Mordhorst (Copenhagen Business School) Constructing and Comprehending “Norden”: Museum Objects as Catalysts for Critical Reflection on Materiality and Identity Narratives Martin Johansson (Södertörn University) Journeys to Lost Lands: Finland, Estonia, Scania and Norway as Interwar Experiences of Danishness and Swedishness Abroad | V–007 |
| Panel 3c | Arctic Transnational Encounters: Geostrategic and Cultural Ambitions Chair: Valur Ingimundarson (University of Iceland) Anna Karlsdóttir (University of Iceland) The Quest for Rare Earth Minerals (REE) in the Nordic Arctic: The Cases of Greenland and Sweden Egill Þór Níelsson (University of Iceland) The Role of Science Diplomacy in China-Nordic Arctic Relations Yeonji Ghim (University of Iceland) South Korea’s Northern Strategic Ambition: The Northeast Asian Cooperation as a Gateway to the Arctic Valur Ingimundarson (University of Iceland) Embellished Arctic Promise: The Politics of Iceland’s Status-Seeking and Nation Branding | V–008 |
| 12:30–13:15 Lunch in Veröld |
| 13:30–14:30 | Keynote Lecture: Sergei Medvedev (Charles University) The War in Ukraine as Part of World War III Chair: Jón Ólafsson (University of Iceland) | V–Auditorium |
| 14:30–14:45 Coffee Break in Veröld |
Parallel Sessions 4: 15:00–16:30
| 19:00–21:00 Conference Dinner at La Primavera Restaurant, Harpa, Austurbakki 2 Winners of Early Career Paper Prize |
Day 3: Friday 23 May
Venues: Háskólatorg (HT)/Veröld (V)
Parallel Sessions 5: 9:00–10:30
| Book Panel | Handbook on Nordic Cooperation: A Discussion Ruth Hemstad (National Library of Norway and the University of Oslo) and Peter Stadius (University of Helsinki) Editors’ Introduction Byron Rom-Jensen (University of Oslo) Nordic Financial Cooperation and the Nordic Investment Bank Ruth Hemstad (National Library of Norway and the University of Oslo) Pragmatic Scandinavianism and Early Nordic Cooperation Mary Hilson (Aarhus University) The Nordic Consumer Co-Operative Movement Peter Stadius (University of Helsinki) Nordic 20th Century Cooperation Practices before the Nordic Council | HT–104 |
| Panel 5a | Ukraine’s Role in Rethinking Concepts and Developing New Frameworks for Times of Uncertainty Chair: Olena Shevtsova (Södertörn University) Olena Shevtsova (Södertörn University) Towards Stakeholder: Partnership Theory in Public Administration Oleksandra Keudel (Kyiv School of Economics) Theorizing Democratic Resilience in an Armed Conflict: The Role of Local Self-Government in Withstanding the Russian Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine Anastasiia Chupis (Zaporizhzhia National University and Södertörn University) and Alyona Hurkivska (Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Södertörn University) Information as a Weapon of New Generation War: The Ukrainian Front Alyona Hurkivska (Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Södertörn University) Political Reality in a Post-Truth Situation: Substantive and Operational Features Olena Shevtsova (Södertörn University) Decision-Making in Times of Uncertainty: The Role of Hybrid Distributed Leadership in Ukraine’s Public Sector | HT–101 |
| Panel 5b | Social and Cultural Ruptures and the National Common Good Chair: Norbert Götz (Södertörn University) Heidi Haggrén (University of Helsinki) Caring for the Nation: National Common Good in the Collective Interest Organization of Finnish Nurses Giovanni Za (University of Naples – L’Orientale) The Problem with Periphery: Narratives of Conflict and Social Rupture in Modern Urban Swedish Context Anna Karlsdóttir (University of Iceland) Ship-ohoj! Gender and the Maritime Sector – Chauvinism or Charm? Ieva Reine (Uppsala University) and Halldór S. Guðmundsson (University of Iceland) Intergenerational Solidarity in the Baltic States and Nordic Countries: Adapting to Uncertain Futures | HT–103 |
| 10:30–10:45 Coffee Break at Háskólatorg |
Parallel Sessions 6: 11:00–12:15
| Panel 6a | Arctic Geography, Social, and Cultural Imaginaries Chair: Elena Lindholm (Umeå University) Anna Karlsdóttir (University of Iceland) Sense-Making, Place Attachment, and Extended Networks in the Arctic (Semper Arctic) Yu Ma (The Tianjin Juilliard School) Decoding Greenland: An Analytic Discourse on Environmental Communication, Human Rights, and Indigenous Representation in Global Documentaries Chenru Xue (University of Turku) Reconstructing Arctic as Gamescape: Memory and Historical Narratives in “Arctico” and “Never Alone” | HT–101 |
| Panel 6b | Nordic Cooperation, Democratic Reconfigurations, and Public Trust Chair: Jón Ólafsson (University of Iceland) Johan Strang (University of Helsinki) Neoliberalism and the Judicialization of Nordic Democracy Hasan Akintug (University of Helsinki) Åland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands in Nordic Cooperation after the Åland Document of 2007: Time for Change? Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir (University of Iceland) Trusting the Green Transition: Public Attitudes Towards Just Transition in the European Context | V–007 |
| Panel 6c | Framing National Rights, Indigenous Representation, and Ideologies of Development Chair: Pontus Järvstad (University of Iceland) Gunnar Marel Hinriksson (Technical College of Industry, Iceland) Truth Is the First Casualty in Politics: On Jón Sigurðssonʼs Creative Historical Interpretation of the History of Absolutism in his Arguments for Icelandic Autonomy Sofia Wiklund (Umeå University) “From I-land to U-land”: Meaning Makings of Knowledge Transfer in Early Swedish Literature on Aid Work Armando Garcia (University of Iceland) “Woman at War” through a Postcolonial Lens: A Blueprint for Social Critique and Political Imaginaries | V–008 |
| 12:15–12:50 Lunch in Veröld |
| 13:00–13:30 | Closing of Conference | V–Auditorium |