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Neutrality’s Empire: Swedish Colonialism in the Industrial Age

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Neutrality’s Empire

Swedish Colonialism in the Industrial Age

Per Högselius, David Nilsson, & Hanna Vikström

Full Text PDF | Full Text ePUB Made available under a CC BY-NC-ND 4. license with support from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

280 pages, 20 ills., bibliog., index

ISBN  978-1-83695-159-9 $135.00/£104.00 / Hb / Published (October 2025)

https://doi.org/10.3167/9781836951599


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Reviews

“This is a very important intervention into both histories of Swedish colonialism and also into theoretical understandings of colonialism. It usefully extends consideration of Sweden’s role beyond the traditional colonial era of the 16-18th centuries to consider the 19th and 20th centuries- as such, it is addressing Sweden’s role within the emergent forces of globalization.” • Audrey Horning, William & Mary College

“This is an extremely important book. It explores Swedish initiation and involvement in extractivist colonial and neocolonial projects in Africa and Asia, drawing attention to the discourses and politics that allowed Swedish companies, individuals, and state to operate as colonial and neocolonial actors without drawing objection or criticism.” • Magdalena Naum, Lund University

Description

Reconciling Sweden’s reputation for political neutrality and scientific prestige alongside its involvement in extractivist colonial projects exposes uncomfortable overlaps between these seemingly disparate ventures. In this illuminating reappraisal of the intersections between Swedish colonialism and its industrial history, Neutrality’s Empire explores how Swedish actors—ranging from diplomats and business leaders to missionaries, geologists and engineers—leveraged Sweden’s global standing to access valuable mineral resources across Africa and Asia. In doing so, this book presents a historical narrative which clarifies Sweden’s entanglement with the forces of globalization, colonialism, and climate change.

Per Högselius is Professor of History of Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. His research and teaching focuses on energy history and extractivism in an international context. His book Red Gas: Russia and the Origins of European Energy Dependence (2013) won the Marshall Shulman Book Prize, awarded by the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES).

David Nilsson is an engineer and historian with more than twenty years of experience in development cooperation, research, and policy, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Nilsson’s publications span several fields including African history, science and technology studies, urban geography, innovation management, and sustainability. He currently works in the private sector as an advisor and entrepreneur.

Hanna Vikström is an assistant professor in History at Luleå University of Technology. Her work examines the phenomenon of resource scarcity in historical perspective, with a particular focus on Sweden’s perception of metal scarcity and the country’s attempts to secure critical metals through domestic and foreign exploitative initiatives. She has published extensively on topics related to the history of technology and the extractive industries.

Subject: Colonial HistoryHistory: 18th/19th CenturyHistory: 20th Century to Present
Area: Northern Europe

Neutrality’s Empire by Per Högselius, David Nilsson, & Hanna Vikström is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) with support from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Full Text PDF | Full Text ePUB

OA ISBN: 978-1-83695-161-2



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