New book explores the connections between science, politics, and ethnographic knowledge

In post-war Europe, European ethnology and folklore studies became entangled with political tensions, ideological control, and competing national narratives. The new scholarly volume Contested Knowledge – Political Dimensions of European Ethnology and Folklore Studies in Post-War Europe explores how ethnographic knowledge was produced and reshaped in contexts where scholarly autonomy was under pressure.

The case studies span socialist and non-socialist countries, showing how scholars navigated authoritarian governance, Cold War divisions, and disciplinary reforms. The book analyses how ethnological knowledge was steered, politically appropriated, resisted, and transformed within shifting academic and societal frameworks.

Edited by Konrad J. Kuhn, Hanna Snellman, and Lauri Turpeinen, the collection offers a historically grounded perspective on the uses and vulnerabilities of cultural knowledge.

Konrad Kuhn, Hanna J. Snellman, Lauri Turpeinen (eds.)
Contested Knowledge – Political Dimensions of European Ethnology and Folklore Studies in Post-War Europe
Studia Fennica Ethnologica 19
ISBN 978-951-858-847-7
SKS 2026
Table of contents
Published.