Albin Sönnergren GripeDoctoral student
About me
I am a part-time upper secondary school teacher, part-time postgraduate student, conducting research at the intersection between history didactics and environment and sustainability education. My dissertation project, “Deep time, history and time for action: Teaching upper secondary school history in the Anthropocene”, is partly financed by the Bolin Centre for Climate research.
About my research
It is well established that history can help individuals orient themselves temporally and make sense of contemporary issues in ways that support their attitudes, opinions, and actions. The philosopher of history Jörn Rüsen, among others, has argued that this function of history becomes particularly pronounced during times of uncertainty, change, and crisis. History teaching can therefore play an important role by developing students' historical understanding of current issues and thereby enhancing their ability to address them. However, the potential of school history in relation to the current environmental crisis has received relatively little attention within the field of history education research. In particular, there is a notable lack of empirical studies. Several scholars within the field of environmental humanities, such as the historian Dipesh Chakrabarty, have warned that certain traditional aspects of history as an academic discipline may actually limit our ability to confront the challenges of the environmental crisis. Against this backdrop, my research aims to explore how upper secondary school students make sense of today’s global environmental problems supported by their historical knowledge, as well as how school history can contribute to a more developed historical understanding that strengthens their capacity to meet these challenges.
Publications
A selection from Stockholm University publication database
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Students' historicisation of the environmental crisis: A narrative of industrialisation, ignorance and greed
2024. Albin Sönnergren Gripe, Johan Sandahl. Historical Encounters 11 (1), 1-17
ArticleRead more about Students' historicisation of the environmental crisisAs the field of history education begins to acknowledge the need to respond to the challenges of the Anthropocene, questions arise concerning students' ability to use history to make sense of pressing environmental issues. To address this, 67 Swedish upper secondary school students were asked to historicise issues like global warming and share their ideas concerning the present and the future. Within the framework of Jörn Rüsen's narrative theory, this article analyses how and to what extent these students experienced and interpreted the past and used history to orient themselves in relation to such issues. It also develops on the outcome of this process. While most students historicised the situation, many students made limited use of history. Their typical narrative can be described as a linear story of historical industrialisation driven by the hunger for progression and wealth and facilitated by ignorance. It was told with little detail or reference to evidence and in a way that generally seemed unsupported by historical thinking. Moreover, their typical narrative mostly aligned with the standard science-based Anthropocene narrative, lacking cultural and political perspectives. Although their orientations varied, students focused on technical solutions and lifestyle adjustments rather than civic engagement and politics. Students were worried about the future. However, the narrative of technological and scientific progression and the belief that people in the past lacked awareness and technological alternatives gave students hope. On the other hand, viewing them as informed or inherently selfish contributed to pessimism. Supported by theoretical work, the findings indicate ways school history may support students' ability to deal with Anthropocene issues, helping them to experience and interpret the past and the present in a more nuanced and elaborate way. They also highlight the need for content that aids students' ability to anticipate Anthropocene scenarios and reflect on strategies for engagement.
Show all publications by Albin Sönnergren Gripe at Stockholm University
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