Research area European Ethnology

Ethnological research often discusses cultural dichotomies such as leisure- and everyday life, urban and rural life, nature and culture, environment and consumption. Cultural diversity, gender and sexuality have, since many years back, been central themes in what we name the Stockholm Ethnology.

Transnationalism is another keyword in our research. Sometimes we study it in relations to migration research, but equally often we analyse it as a vital theme in e.g. popular culture. Another central theme is vernacular expressions: We identify cultural utterances where they occur, from children’s play to large, ceremonial events. The tensions between cultural history and applied history, the uses of historical sources, folklife- and archive material for various purposes are also something we study. Our methods and empirical material are pluralistic: ethnography, qualitative interview and participant observation, as well as the cultural analysis of historical sources, archive material as well as materiality and objects, are very common.     

Body and Gender

Being a cultural being also means being a "gendered" being in the sense that ideas about body and gender affect both one's own living space and the ways in which society is organized. Therefore, questions related to sex, body, sexuality and gender have long been central in ethnology.

Critical Culture Heritage Studies and Museology

Critical Heritage Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research that takes a pronounced critical perspective on both the concept and the phenomenon of cultural heritage.

Cultural Economy

Ethnologists study how economic activities are culturally shaped.

Cultural History (Ethnology)

Ethnology has a wide interest in cultural history. The past can be approached either in its own right, for the study of historical processes and phenomena, or used as a resource in studies focused also on the present.

Cultural utterances, Rituals and Play

"Form" = how something is said or done. "Expressive" = expressive, something that attracts attention.

Culture and Nature

How people and culture influence and are influenced by what we perceive as nature is a common theme in ethnological research.

Diversity and Transnational Mobility

Everyday Life and the Festive

Everyday life is one of ethnology's most central concepts, and it has different meanings. On the one hand, it marks an ambition to explore what is taken for granted and routine in people's lives, in different contexts and times.

Institutional Ethnology

Materiality and Visual Culture

Two areas of research that recently have received attention in ethnology are those that have to do with studies of the material (materiality studies) and visual culture (visual culture or visual studies).

The Use of History and Tourism

The use of history is a concept that captures how history, i.e. the image of what has been, is used for purposes that may be ideological, economic, identity politics or academic.