Stine Engen

Academic interests

I'm interested in how knowledge and knowledge practices shape not just the way we think about the world, but the actual (and even material) world we live in. While the most prominent example of this in politics is our state bureaucracy, I'm especially interested in how knowledge shapes our society in more fragmented and cultural ways.

Currently, I'm part of the project Valuethreads, lead by Professor Kristin Asdal, which aims to provide a better understanding of the valuation practices and technologies that underpin efforts to transform our economy into a sustainable post carbon bio-economy. Finance, markets, and investments from private funds are now viewed as central to governing climate change, most notably to fund "green" initiatives and projects. This is a view coming both from the sector itself and from politicians and international actors, calling for investments to be directed towards sustainable initiatives. At the COP26, finance was one of the main themes of the conference, and in the new EU taxonomy, the whole point could be said to provide a guide for «green investing». What is this ‘new’ and ‘green’ finance sector? In what ways and by which tools does it operate? Are they the same as in other financial dealings? And finally, is this allocation of capital for green ends changing the role of finance in society?

Teaching

Spring semester 2022:

TIK4011: Science and Technology in Politics and Society

TIK4040: Research and Design Seminar

Background

I have a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Master's degree in Philosophy, both from the University of Copenhagen, where I graduated in early 2017. Already slipping into the STS perspective, I wrote my bachelor's theses in the Philosophy of Mathematics about how images and metaphors aid and shape mathematical thinking. At master's level I worked with subjects related to political philosophy, cultural theory, theories on the welfare state and the public sphere.

Before starting my PhD, I worked for several years as a journalist at the Norwegian national newspapers Dagens Næringsliv, Morgenbladet and Klassekampen. For a long time, I was also part of the editorial staff at the Danish review of books, ATLAS.

I have taken many different routes in my education, and feel somehow that they align in the field of STS, where I am especially interested in how knowledge is formed and what role it plays in our society – both in a technical sense but also where there is controversy. I enjoy interdisciplinary fields for many reasons, but especially because it allows for a broader scope of issues to be considered as research questions, which opens the floor for interesting conversations.