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Staging Discord: Nordic Corporatism in the European Conservation Year 1970

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2020

Hallvard Notaker Open the ORCID record for Hallvard Notaker [Opens in a new window]
Hallvard Notaker*
Affiliation:
Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo
*
hnotaker@ifs.mil.no
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Abstract

This article shows how corporatism in the Nordic countries helped shape the ‘ecological turn’ as governments and conservationist associations co-organised the Council of Europe's ‘European Conservation Year 1970’. The national programmes came to present highly diverging levels of discord, as this nascent policy field channeled challenges to the premise of economic growth. Cross-national comparisons highlight the importance of variations in the institutional maturity of environmental administrations as well as in the power afforded to industrial representatives. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian archival sources illuminate negotiations between governments and private associations, contributing to an in-depth analysis of a rarely researched transnational event.

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Article
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Contemporary European History , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , August 2020 , pp. 309 - 324
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 ‘At vardar vaka’, NRK TV, 6 Sept. 1970, https://tv.nrk.no/program/frep02003270 (last visited 14 June 2019).

2 For a discussion of the term, see Engels, Jens Ivo, ‘Modern Environmentalism’, in Uekotter, Frank, ed., The Turning Points of Environmental History (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), 119–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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4 See Hilson, Mary, The Nordic Model: Scandinavia since 1945 (London: Reaktion Books, 2008), 78Google Scholar.

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6 Initial planning discussions in 1963 concerned a nature week; CE/Nat(67)52 (ECY/PG/10), 6 Dec. 1967, retrieved from https://rm.coe.int/09000016806bb217 (last visited 5 Apr. 2020); see also Thorsten Schulz, Das “Europäische Naturschutzjahr 1970”: Versuch einer europaweiten Umweltkampagne (Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, 2006).

7 The fifth Nordic country, Iceland, participated in the ECY but not in the Nordic coordination. The present article focuses on the Scandinavian countries – Norway, Sweden and Denmark – because Finland was not a CoE member and took part in planning only within the Nordic framework, devoted fewer resources and, for linguistic reasons, took a smaller part in the Nordic exchanges of written materials.

8 Hilson, Nordic Model, 74–5; Hilmar Rommetvedt, ‘Scandinavian Corporatism in Decline’, in Oddbjørn Knutsen, ed., The Nordic Models in Political Science (Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, 2017), 171–92; for a historically informed discussion of Nordic corporatism and democracy, see Sejersted, Francis, Sosialdemokratiets århundre (Oslo: Pax, 2005), 339Google Scholar.

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13 Christiansen et al., ‘Varieties of Democracy, 27.

14 Öberg, PerOla et al. , ‘Disrupted Exchange and Declining Corporatism: Government Authority and Interest Group Capability in Scandinavia’, Government and Opposition, 46, 3 (2011), 367CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rommetvedt, ‘Scandinavian Corporatism’.

15 Öberg et al., ‘Disrupted Exchange’. For an alternative perspective on the development of Norwegian post-war environmental regimes, see Kristin Asdal's argument that science constitutes a third channel of influence supplementing those of electoral and corporative representation. Asdal, Kristin, Politikkens natur – naturens politikk (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2011), 29–30Google Scholar.

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17 Öberg et al, ‘Disrupted Exchange’, 372.

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19 Kjell-Robert Pedersen, ‘Organisasjon og omgivelser: en studie av interesseorganisasjonen Norges Naturvernforbund’, M.A. thesis, University of Bergen, 1979, 111.

20 Jansen, Alf-Inge, Makt og miljø (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1989), 235Google Scholar, 257.

21 St.prp. [Proposition to the Storting] no. 1 (1971–72), 38, Norwegian Parliament.

22 Pedersen, ‘Organisasjon og omgivelser’.

23 Engels, ‘Modern Environmentalism’, 127.

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27 For other definitions of knowledge, see Hammar, Anna Nilsson, ‘Theoria, Praxis, and Poiesis: Theoretical Considerations on the Circulation of Knowledge in Everyday Life’, in Östling, Johan et al. , eds., Circulation of Knowledge: Explorations in the History of Knowledge (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2018), 107–24Google Scholar. On circulation, see Johan Östling et al., ‘The History of Knowledge and the Circulation of Knowledge: An Introduction’, in Östling, Circulation of Knowledge, 17. On the history of knowledge approach in environmental history, see Heidenblad, David Larsson, ‘Mapping a New History of the Ecological Turn: The Circulation of Environmental Knowledge in Sweden, 1967’, Environment and History, 24, 2 (2018), 265–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Stefanie Gänger has called for a greater methodical and linguistic awareness of agency in the study of knowledge circulation. She warns us that focusing on the inanimate object of knowledge – that which is circulated – risks leaving unexplored the factors that ‘actuate, accelerate, or, indeed, hold up processes of “circulation”’. Gänger, ‘Circulation: Reflections on Circularity, Entity, and Liquidity in the Language of Global History’, Journal of Global History, 12, 3 (2017), 315.

29 Conflicts over knowledge may drive the circulation of a shared knowledge foundation. See Isak Hammar, ‘Conflict, Consensus, and Circulation: The Public Debates on Education in Sweden, c. 1800–1830’, in Östling, Circulation of Knowledge, 156.

30 Angell, Svein Ivar and Mordhorst, Mads, ‘National Reputation Management and the Competition State: The Cases of Denmark and Norway’, Journal of Cultural Economy, 8, 2 (2015), 184–201CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 This argument is similar to Hamblin's argument, quoted and criticised above.

32 Council of Europe, ‘The Management of the Environment’, 13.

33 Jamison and Baark point to 1969–74 as years of ‘sectorisation’. Jamison and Baark, ‘National Shades of Green’.

34 Earth Day itself differed fundamentally from the ECY by its absence of government management. It left no discernible mark on the contemporary public spheres of the Nordic countries, judging from the absence of references in the media and institutional archives. See Heidenblad, David Larsson, ‘En nordisk blick på det moderna miljömedvetandets genombrott’, in Bodensten, Erik et al. , eds., Nordens historiker: en vänbok till Harald Gustafsson (Lund: Lund University, 2018), 116Google Scholar. This marks a contrast with the United Kingdom and West Germany, where Earth Day and other US influences are emphasised by Schulz (Europäische Naturschutzjahr, 7, 22–3). On Earth Day, see Rome, Adam, The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation (New York: Hill and Wang, 2014)Google Scholar.

35 ‘Activities at National Level’, memo (transcript), 12 Sept. 1967, Da-79, S-1452 Kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet/distriktsplanavdelingen, National Archives, Oslo, Norway [NAO].

36 For corporatism and the role of ecology in the Norwegian ECY, see Vilde Paalgard, ‘“Mennesket i naturen” – Det europeiske naturvernåret 1970 i Norge’, M.A. thesis, University of Oslo, 2018.

37 Recom. 26-1964; memo, 13 Dec. 1966, Da-79, S-1452, NAO.

38 Glover, Nikolas, ‘Unity Exposed: The Scandinavia Pavilions at the World Exhibitions in 1967 and 1970’, in Harvard, Jonas and Stadius, Peter, eds., Communicating the North: Media Structures and Images in the Making of the Nordic Region (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), 221Google Scholar.

39 Glover, ‘Unity Exposed’, 225.

40 Johnny N. Laursen and Thorsten B. Olesen, ‘A Nordic Alternative to Europe? The Interdependence of Denmark's Nordic and European Policies, 1945–1998’, Contemporary European History, 9, 1 (2000), 77, 84. The environment was put to similar use by the two German states in the early 1970s, to ‘demonstrate their willingness to cooperate’. Kai Hünemörder, ‘Environmental Crisis and Soft Politics: Détente and the Global Environment, 1968–1975’, in J. R. McNeill, ed., Environmental Histories of the Cold War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 257.

41 Rolf Tamnes, Oljealder: 1965–1995 (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1997), 169.

42 Laursen and Olesen, Nordic Alternative, 65.

43 Larsson, Erik, ed., 90 år ung! Naturskyddsföreningen 1909–1999 (Stockholm: Naturskyddsföreningen, 1999), 71Google Scholar.

44 Memo, 12 Sept. 1967, encl. Segnestam to Germeten, 12 Oct. 1967, Da-79, S-1452, NAO.

45 Manuscripts, ‘1. mai-taler 1947–1969’, G-7, A-313 Olav Gjærevoll, Regional State Archives, Trondheim, Norway.

46 Segnestam to Germeten, 12 Oct. 1967, Da-79, S-1452, NAO.

47 ‘Naturvårdsåret 1970, ev. nationalkommitté’, 9 Sept. 1968, A1-1, 420432 ‘Svenska nationalkommittén för det europeiska naturvårdsåret 1970 Svenska nationalkommittén för den europeiska vattenvårdskampanjen 1970’ [NVÅ70], National Archives, Stockholm, Sweden [NAS]; Luonnonsuojeluvuosi 1970, jnr. 523-2-1-69, Løbenr.[lnr] 61, Kulturministeriet 4. Kontor [Kmin4], National Archives, København, Danmark [NAK].

48 von Hofsten to Huse, 18 Dec. 1967, Da-79, S-1452, NAO.

49 The assisting office was Administrasjonen for friluftsliv og naturvern in Kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet.

50 Per Valset, Interview with the author. Oslo, 10 Sept. 2018.

51 Huse to Rognlien, 29 Oct. 1970, Da-15, S-1452, NAO.

52 Paalgard, ‘Mennesket i naturen’, 57.

53 Ebbesen to Bjerke, 27 Feb. 1968, 523-2-69, lnr. 61, Kmin4, NAK.

54 ‘Naturvårdsåret 1970 in Memoriam’, Ny Teknik, 2 (1971), 6.

55 Wellberg to NNV, 3 Aug. 1970, Fb-3, PA-641 Norges Naturvernforbund, NAO.

56 Skedsmo to ‘All organizations’, 31 Aug. 1970, Fc-7, PA-641, NAO.

57 The abbreviation was always lower-case and often used with parentheses included – ‘(snm)’.

58 Anker, Peder, ‘A Pioneer Country? A History of Norwegian Climate Politics’, Climatic Change, 151, 1 (2018), 31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 Skedsmo to ‘All organizations’, 31 Aug. 1970, Fc-7, PA-641, NAO; see also Ingrid Røise Kielland, Natur og Ungdom: Aksjonene som endret norsk miljøkamp (Oslo: CappelenDamm, 2017).

60 ‘At vardar vaka’, NRK TV; Anker, ‘Pioneer Country’, 31.

61 Jydske Tidende Aabenraa, 8 Sept. 1970.

62 Glåmdalen, 5 Sept. 1970, 5.

63 Svenska Scout-Unionen and Friluftsfrämjandet, Memo, ‘Till redaktionen’, 18 Aug. 1970, B1-1, SVNÅ70, NAS.

64 Naturfredningsåret – en beretning, Miljøministeriet, 1973, 41; Rapport fra naturvernåret 1970, Naturvernårets sekretariat, 1971, 20; Jonsson to ‘nationalkommitténs medlemmar’, d. ‘October 1971’, E1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

65 Naturfredningsåret, 16, 43–4; plan published as Darr, Birgit, ed., En feature-uge om naturfredning og forurening: Naturfredningsåret 1970 (Copenhagen: Lærerforeningernes Materialeudvalg, 1970)Google Scholar.

66 Termed ‘SMIL’ (Skolans miljövårdsfostran). VU 1:1968; VU 1:1969; VU 9:1970, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS; Wickenberg, Per, Normstödjande strukturer: Miljötematiken börjar slå rot i skolan (Lund: Lund University, 1999), 120Google Scholar.

67 Stig Fred, Kungliga Skolöverstyrelsen. VU 1:1968, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

68 Lektor Knut Stokke of Sagene lærerskole, Norway offered no theme week similar to Denmark and Sweden, Rapport fra naturvernåret 1970, 21–2.

69 Frederiksborg Amts Avis, 27 Feb. 1970, 2.

70 Journal entry, jnr 523-4-1, lnr 7, journal, Kmin4, NAK; Berlingske Aftenavis, 26 Mar. 1969, 7.

71 On NOAH's history, see Jamison et al., Making of the New Environmental Consciousness, 76–84.

72 Minutes, Arbejdsutvalget, 9 June 1969, F1:2, NVÅ70, NAS.

73 Politiken, 12 July 1969, 6.

74 Politiken, 23 Sept. 1970, 6; 3 Oct. 1970, 9.

75 Politiken, 27 Sept. 1970, 10.

76 Published as Nogle oplysninger om den jord, vi sammen lever på (Copenhagen: NOAH, 1970); journal entry, jnr. 523-4-1, lnr 7., journal, Kmin4, NAK.

77 Politiken, 26 Feb. 1970.

78 Kristen Helveg Petersen of the Danish Social-Liberal Party was known as a proponent for reform in schools and in the arts, favouring decentralised power and less rigid state requirements for support. See Jannerup, Michael and Jakobsen, Joakim, Kulturministeriet 50 år (Copenhagen: Kulturministeriet, 2011)Google Scholar.

79 Kulturministeriet 4.kontor, Journal, lnr 7., jnr 523-4-1; Politiken, 13 Jan. 1970, 15.

80 Politiken, 7 May 1970, 2; 23 June 1970, 37; 22 July 1970, 8; 28 July 70, 10; 16 Aug. 1970, 34.

81 Kulturministeriet 4.kontor, Journal, lnr 7., jnr. 523-4-1.

82 Claus Kjersgaard Nielsen, ‘Erhard Jacobsen, 1917–2002’, danmarkshistorien.dk, 2011, http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/erhard-jacobsen-1917-2002/ (last visited 14 June 2019).

83 Memo, ‘Mediagruppens (mg) funktioner och dessas tillämpning’, n.d., A1-1. The memo is likely to be the one approved by the executive committee on 2 Sept. 1969 (Minutes, VU 5:1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS).

84 Minutes, VU 5:1969.

85 Minutes, Arbetsgruppen för mediefrågor, 30 Sept. 1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

86 Minutes, VU 6:1969, 30 Sept. 1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

87 Esping to Persson/Statens försöksverksamhet med Riksutställningar, 26 Nov. 1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

88 Aktuellt om Sverige-information, 1 (1967), 9.

89 Glover, Nikolas, ‘A Total Image Deconstructed: The Corporate Analogy and the Legitimacy of Promoting Sweden Abroad in the 1960s’, in Clerc, Louis, Glover, Nikolas and Jordan, Paul, eds., Histories of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Nordic and Baltic Countries (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 138Google Scholar.

90 Memo, ‘angående handläggningen av Sverigehusets invigningsutställning(…)’, n.d., 10/F/F1/282, 2709 Svenska institutet, NAS; Dagens Nyheter, 9 July 1969, 3.

91 Minutes, Arbetsgruppen för media, 10 Jun. 1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

92 Jonsson to Ebbesen, 9 Nov. 1969, F1-2, NVÅ70, NAS.

93 Paalgard, ‘Mennesket i naturen’, 64, 66–7, 71.

94 On the increasingly politicised public role of NVE in hydropower politics, see Yngve Nilsen, En felles plattform? (Oslo: Unipub, 2001), 38–42.

95 Minutes, 12 Nov. 1969, Da-89, S-1452, NAO; see also Paalgard, ‘Mennesket i naturen’, 80–4.

96 Based on executive committee and national committee minutes. See jnr. 523-4-69, lnr. 62, Kmin4, NAK.

97 ‘Verkstellande utskott’, 5 Dec. 1969, A1-1, NVÅ70, NAS.

98 Rapport fra naturvernåret 1970.

99 Naturfredningsåret.

100 The four individuals were Gjærevoll, a professor of botany, Knut Stokke, a college teacher of biology, Magne Midttun, the NNV secretary general, and Roar Sæther, the NNV chief of staff.

101 Memo, ‘Notat om ENÅ 70’, 19 Aug. 1969, jnr. 523-2-1-69, lnr. 61, Kmin4, RAK.

102 Orig. ‘Nordens natur – Nordens fremtid’.

103 Arne Kaijser, Sweden Short Country Report (HoNESt, 2017); Jan-Henrik Meyer, Denmark Short Country Report (HoNESt, 2017).

104 Hilson, Nordic Model, 44–5; Siaroff, Alan, ‘Corporatism in 24 Industrial Democracies: Meaning and Measurement’, European Journal of Political Research, 36, 2 (1999), 179CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

105 Hilson, Nordic Model, 44–6, 72; see also Siaroff, ‘Corporatism’, 179.