Eeva Berglund

I have written and taught on grassroots urbanism, environmental social movements, urban development and transformations in notions of expertise. My work has recently had a particular focus on Helsinki, a fascinating place I know quite well and one that provokes further questions about life and knowledge in the world's more comfortable but also environmentally problematic zones. I'm hoping to draw on my background to develop broadly design anthropological tools for making sense of politics and collective action in an age of so-called wicked problems. More broadly, I am curious about how social organisation and environmental change together become issues for intellectual reflection, practical action and public concern, and I'm energized by discussing these themes in my teaching.

BACKGROUND

I have doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge (1995), and an MSc in spatial planning from University College, London. I've had the privilege of working as an academic at UC Berkeley and Goldmiths College, London, as well as the University of Helsinki. Between 2002 and 2011 I experimented with life outside academia, but always found myself hankering to come back. I participate in as well as try to understand place-based and low-budget collective actions.