Thomas Hylland Eriksen

A social anthropologist by training, Eriksen reads, writes and talks in many genres about the contemporary world, what it means to be human and how the world can be made a better place. You can read more about Thomas H. Eriksen here.

Contributions to nordics.info

A metal plague with a face on it and some text

19 March 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Jantelov or the Law of Jante refers to a disdainful attitude to extraordinary achievements and is often mockingly used to exemplify unflattering…

Two unknown women in the Norwegian national dress, the 'bunad' in 1930. The dresses are longsleeved and reach down to their ankles.

19 March 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

The use of folk costumes is widespread in, for example, Åland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Sami areas and their social importance varies,…

11 February 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

A member of the Finno-Ugric language group and thus related to Finnish, Sami consists of three branches, sufficiently different from each other to be…

A dark black and white cover of the book called Racialization, Racism and Anti-Racism in the Nordic Countries

11 February 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Despite the fact that the Nordic countries were champions of racial equality in apartheid South Africa, and have always been quick to condemn racist…

11 February 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

The term multiculturalism is treacherously ambiguous. Sometimes it refers to the mere fact of cultural diversity, but usually it means a degree of…

08 February 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Because of the emphasis on social planning and the strong state prevalent in the Nordic region throughout the twentieth century, the social sciences…

08 February 2019 - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Linguistic minorities have existed for centuries, such as the Finns and Sami in Sweden. Since 1960s minority languages have often been associated with…