Bauer's History

 Working as a social historian I mostly deal with struggle and suffering one way or the other. I have written on the inhumane treatment of refugees, on how politicians came to cut public spending on integration even though they knew it was wrong and on anti-abortion politics that caused severe suffering for women in the early 20th century. Yet I remain a strong optimist when it comes to humanity, perhaps as a psychological response or perhaps just because I know that sometimes - even during the most dark times - there are people who aim to change the world and often suceed. In my dissertation on immigration politics I wrote alot on a local social democratic politician who was a municipal leader during the 1970's and 1980's. During the latter half of this period, Sweden went through a rise in xenophobic ideas, which for decades to come have shaped the political landscape. It was during this time Keep Sweden Swedish were formed, which eventually would evolve into todays right win...

 In the late 1970's scholars from all over the world started to discuss what cultural heritage meant. Whilst this is still an ongoing debate, one of the key outcomes of the discussion däringa the 1970's was that archives to an extended degree became viewed as cultural heritage. This was largely due to whilst classical heritage, such as monuments and buildings, are themselves worth conservation, the archives can provide the context in which they were built. Without the archives, we would not have history but simply artefacts. In Sweden the labeling of archives as part of the national cultural heritage became law in 2020. The governments proposition states that archives of public authorities are part of the national cultural heritage and therefore is under legal protection. In this regard it is however important to differ between public records (i.e. material coming the public sector) and general archival records that comes from a wide array of actors, perhaps most important poli...

 Since I defended my thesis in early june last year I have been in a period of my research career where I have tried to both gain new perspectives and establish myself as an independent researcher, no longer part of a PhD-training programme. During my time as a PhD student I was actually quite worried for the period after finishing my post-graduate studies, since it usually is quite tricky to find a more permanent position or receive founding. I in the center shaking hand with my thesis reviewer.  My main supervisor to the right. The perhaps hardest part during my last months as a PhD student was, together with finishing my dissertation, to figure out what I would like to do. Whilst migration was a intresting field of study, I also felt that I needed to widen my horizons and do more "fun" research thats was not about institutionalized racism or government policy. I.e., I was a bit tired of writing on greviances after doing it for almost five years.  During the same period...

I have, for the past four months, been following American politics as well as the ongoing EU election. While these processes are largely different—where, for instance, Americans vote for a president rather than a party, and the election does not revolve around parliamentary seats—I can still see a worrying aspect in both elections. This aspect involves how the populist right (with Trump as the leading figure in the US and the Identity and Democracy group in the EU Parliament) has shaped the political discussion to revolve around the character of these groups rather than their political message. Consequently, voters are unable to understand what they are voting for on key issues and instead focus on who they are voting against. Among scholars today, for instance, Ruth Wodak has coined the term "politics of fear" to describe how right-wing groups mobilize by invoking tensions between "citizens" and "immigrants," establishing a fear that the majority will los...

A t the time of this entry being written, the EU-election is ongoing in Sweden. Since about a month ago it have become known that the populist-right party the Sweden-democrats have employed a strategy of trolling online, which I have written a previous entry on. In the aftermath of this press unveiling the party employed a strategy where they frame themselves as part of a fight towards the elite. In an interview on state television their MP of the european parliament stated that the need of a troll army was the result of them being banned frequently from social media platform Tik-Tok which was due to a leftist elite operation. Thereby, it was according to the MP necessary to create alternative, none-party affiliated social media accounts to spread the party's message.  The European parliament in Brussels. Picture from Wikipedia .  The MP:s explanation can be seen as part of the party's ongoing efforts to frame their operations. In classical social theory framing is seen as a s...