Ny artikel om sociologen Hans L. Zetterberg

Published online: 29 March 2022 in The American sociologist.

Hans L Zetterberg (1927-2015) was a Swedish sociologist, an analyst of public opinion and values, and a publicist.

BildLeif R Jansson / TT

What is the article about?

This article is made up of two parts. The first part provides a biographical sketch of the late sociologist Hans L. Zetterberg and a historical background to the establishment of sociology as a discipline in Sweden, as well as the transfer of knowledge between the United States and Sweden. The second part is a translation I made of an essay based on a lecture Zetterberg gave at Stockholm University in 1995. The original text was published in Swedish.

Why is it important to study this topic?

I think it is important to translate works so that it reaches more people; and especially in this case, when Hans Zetterberg was at Columbia during the 50’s and 60’s – at this time considered the “mecca” of sociology, led by Robert K. Merton and Paul Lazarsfeld (Lazarsfeld was also the first opponent of the very first doctoral thesis in sociology at Umeå University in 1968: “Jaroslav Cerha’s thesis, “Selective Mass Communication.”) I also believe it is important to acknowledge our past as an institution. Zetterberg was an adjunct professor of Sociology at Umeå University (1976-1982) and received an honorary doctorate in 1977.

Is this part of a larger project?

This is not part of my doctoral project. This was a side project I did for fun.

What are the main takeaway points of the study?

This study highlights the importance of mobility, in my opinion. The transfer of knowledge and cross-pollination of ideas is something important and academia, and in order to achieve this, you have to spend time in other places (for example: Zetterberg in the United States; Talcott Parsons and Robert E. Park in Germany, etc).

Was it an exciting study to do?

It was a very exciting and memorable experience. This study involved my three great passions: Sociology, History and Languages. I was able to translate this piece from Swedish into English and dig into the history of sociology in Sweden. Along the journey, I met Richard Swedberg (sociologist and friend of Zetterberg); Karin Busch Zetterberg (sociologist and his widow); and some of the first sociology students in Sweden, at Uppsala University.