Anders Dahlgren

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'Fullständigt otillförlitlig, men absolut oumbärlig'

This dissertation is a historiographical study of the research project Svensk stad (Swedish Town). The project, lead by the professor in Art History Gregor Paulsson (1889-1977), included about 20 members and was conducted between 1940 and 1953. The interdisciplinary studies ot the Swedish towns of the 19th and early 20th century combined methods and perspectives from art history, sociology, cultural geography and european ethnology. The dissertation has two main lines of inquiry: interpretation and mapping. The interpretation of Svensk stad is related to a a hermeneutic tradition (Hans-Georg Gadamer) and psychoanlytic theory (Sarah Dillon) and aims at investigating the theoretical and methodological perspectives that were integrated in the project. The mapping, uses perspectives and methods from the field of sociology of science (Bruno Latour, Andrew Pickering, Susan Leigh Star och James Griesemer). A third line of inquiry of the dissertation combines the two main lines and analyses the project’s paths to knowledge using concepts from visual studies. The primary empirical material consists of the published work Svensk stad, and preserved archive material from the project.