The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914
The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (sometimes including Finland and Iceland) have been depicted as small states punching above their demographic, political, military or economic weight in international affairs, especially in the post-Second World War era. The article historicis...
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/352234 2024-01-07T09:44:14+01:00 The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 Nygård, Stefan Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies 2022-12-23T15:51:03Z 26 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/352234 eng eng Taylor & Francis 10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 Nygård , S 2022 , ' The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 ' , Geopolitics . https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 ad7bf0d0-1bdc-4e9d-96c6-dcafe926c591 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/352234 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess 615 History and Archaeology Article publishedVersion 2022 ftunivhelsihelda https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 2023-12-14T00:11:21Z The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (sometimes including Finland and Iceland) have been depicted as small states punching above their demographic, political, military or economic weight in international affairs, especially in the post-Second World War era. The article historicises this notion by discussing nineteenth-century Scandinavian cultural elites and opinion makers who began portraying the region as culturally homogenous and distinctly modern. Coincidentally or consequently, this occurred at a time when Sweden and Denmark, having ceded their status as Northern European great powers to Russia and Prussia, were acutely preoccupied with reorienting themselves geopolitically. Expanding on the historiography of global positioning strategies in Scandinavia, the article centres on the interface between the realms of politics and cultural production during this period of transition. It highlights a group of self-declared cultural modernisers that in the 1880s came together under the banner of the Modern Breakthrough. Members of the group merit attention as public intellectuals advocating new ways of understanding Scandinavia’s place in the world by redefining the relationship between the local and the global. By focusing on their role as catalysts in a collective reorientation towards non-military claims to international relevance and status as an example of space-making practices, we can shed new light on region-building in Scandinavia against the backdrop of changing social and political realities. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Norway Geopolitics 1 26 |
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HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
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ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
615 History and Archaeology |
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615 History and Archaeology Nygård, Stefan The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
topic_facet |
615 History and Archaeology |
description |
The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (sometimes including Finland and Iceland) have been depicted as small states punching above their demographic, political, military or economic weight in international affairs, especially in the post-Second World War era. The article historicises this notion by discussing nineteenth-century Scandinavian cultural elites and opinion makers who began portraying the region as culturally homogenous and distinctly modern. Coincidentally or consequently, this occurred at a time when Sweden and Denmark, having ceded their status as Northern European great powers to Russia and Prussia, were acutely preoccupied with reorienting themselves geopolitically. Expanding on the historiography of global positioning strategies in Scandinavia, the article centres on the interface between the realms of politics and cultural production during this period of transition. It highlights a group of self-declared cultural modernisers that in the 1880s came together under the banner of the Modern Breakthrough. Members of the group merit attention as public intellectuals advocating new ways of understanding Scandinavia’s place in the world by redefining the relationship between the local and the global. By focusing on their role as catalysts in a collective reorientation towards non-military claims to international relevance and status as an example of space-making practices, we can shed new light on region-building in Scandinavia against the backdrop of changing social and political realities. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nygård, Stefan |
author_facet |
Nygård, Stefan |
author_sort |
Nygård, Stefan |
title |
The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
title_short |
The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
title_full |
The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
title_fullStr |
The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 |
title_sort |
geopolitics of the ‘modern breakthrough’ : cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in scandinavia 1870–1914 |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/352234 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 Nygård , S 2022 , ' The geopolitics of the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ : Cultural internationalisation and geopolitical decline in Scandinavia 1870–1914 ' , Geopolitics . https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 ad7bf0d0-1bdc-4e9d-96c6-dcafe926c591 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/352234 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2022.2094774 |
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Geopolitics |
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26 |
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1787425587238797312 |