This text is translated with the assistance of UiO GPT.
Ola Innset is a researcher at TIK, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Knowledge, and studies, among other things, the relationship between politics and economics.
He has now been awarded the Eilert Sundt research award, which is presented by Oslo Arbeidersamfunn (OAS). OAS wrote the following about this year’s award on their website (in Norwegian):
"In the purpose of the Eilert Sundt research award it states that the award should be given to someone "whose work has particular relevance for the labour movement". The board of Oslo Arbeidersamfunn considers that Ola Innset’s work is precisely that. Social democrats must have an up-to-date analysis of the drivers of the economy and economic inequality in order to provide good answers to today’s challenges. Here Ola Innset makes us wiser."
Innset says he is very pleased to receive the award.
– Since I do not have a permanent position, it is good for both my confidence and my CV. Most important, however, is getting confirmation that my research has significance outside academia as well – that it can help people to understand more of the world, he says.
Book on the history of economics in Norway
The award winner has a wide research field within the social sciences, and is guided more by research questions he finds interesting than by any single methodology.
– I trained as a historian, but I am happy to cross over into economics, sociology, philosophy and political science – anything that helps me understand more of the topics that occupy me, says Ola Innset.
– I wrote my doctoral thesis on the intellectual history of neoliberalism in the interwar period, and have since approached the present in research projects on specific market reforms in Norway and the governance of partly state owned companies that are listed on the stock exchange. Right now, I am writing a book on the history of economics in Norway, from 1877 up to the present day, he adds.
Eilert Sundt times three
The research award is named after Eilert Sundt, the founder of Oslo Arbeidersamfunn. When Innset was told he was this year's winner, he happened to be sitting at Eilert Sundts hus at Blindern, writing about the historic social scientist.
– Like Sundt himself, it is an award that sits at the intersection of research and politics. I am partly situated there myself, too, says Innset.
– The connection between the Enlightenment tradition and social reformism is important to me. Understanding society is an essential prerequisite for making it better, and that is where I hope to contribute, concludes the award winner.