This blog presents findings and reflections of the research project Cultivating identities and Capitalism – Scandinavians and the Siamese Royal Elite In-between Empires, funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (Jan. 2021–Dec. 2024)
This collaborative research project studies connections between Scandinavia and Siam (Thailand) from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Through a unique compilation and analyses of source materials from Thailand, Sweden, and Denmark, this research contributes to colonial, social and global history.
The main focus is the roles of Scandinavian entrepreneurs in the development of capitalism in Siam and their relationships to the Siamese royal elites.
The project is developing the framework of colonial studies by focusing on positions “in-between” – that is, the Scandinavian “small colonisers” in between the great European empires and Siam, the “non-colony”, in between the colonized Southeast Asian countries.
There is also a focus on the Siamese in Scandinavia, and how those encounters shaped and reshaped the Siamese perceptions on colonialism. Through this focus the project contributes to the history of Scandinavian colonialism in general and Thai modern history more specifically. With a focus on local encounters, this research will contribute to current discussions about micro- and macro levels of historical analysis in global social history.
The blog
On this blog we publish findings from the archives. These are consular and legation correspondences, treaties, official reports, letters, travelogues, and diaries or memoirs, photographs and newspaper clippings.
Members of the project
(PI) Karin Zackari, Department of History, Lund University. Karin is also a senior lecturer in Human Rights studies at Lund University.
Preedee Hongsaton, Department of History, Lund University. Preedee is also a researcher at the Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies.
Søren Ivarsson, Department of History, Lund University. Søren is also Associate Professor at the Department of History, Chiang Mai University.