Defence of Doctoral Dissertation: Per H. Hansen

Danish Modern Furniture 1930-2016 analyzes the rise of Danish Modern as a cultural market category from the 1930s in Denmark and the United States. The dissertation addresses how the category and its meanings were shaped by an identity movement of functionalist architects and cabinetmakers and their organizations, and how Danish modern furniture gradually became accepted by certain consumers who could use these meanings for identity purposes. The dissertation also analyzes the decline of Danish furniture in the 1960s and 1970s, and the re-emergence as retro-furniture and New Nordic Design from the 1990s. The dissertation argues that the rise of Danish modern furniture should be seen as an act of cultural entrepreneurship and value creation, which contributed not only to Danish business but also to the shaping of consumer identities, hundreds of thousands of homes in Denmark and abroad, and to the Danish welfare society (a four page summary in Danish is available here)

Per H. Hansen is Professor of Business History at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School.  Before coming to CBS, Per H. Hansen was professor of Modern Danish History where he was conferred the higher doctoral degree in the humanities (dr.phil.) in 1996 for his dissertation På glidebanen til den bitre ende. Dansk Bankvæsen i krise, 1920-1933 (English: On Route to Disaster. Danish Banking in Crisis, 1920-1933. University Press of Southern Denmark, 1996).  Per H. Hansen has published widely in the areas of financial and economic history and the history of Danish Design. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School, Stern School of Business, and UC Berkeley. From 2013-2014 he was president of the Business History Conference.

Assessment committee:
•    Professor Kurt Jacobsen, Copenhagen Business School
•    Professor Regina Lee Blaszczyk, University of Leeds
•    Professor Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo

Official opponents:
•    Professor Regina Lee Blaszczyk, University of Leeds
•    Professor Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo

The defence will be headed by Dean of Research Søren Hvidkjær.

Place:

The defence will take place at Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, room 201, Frederiksberg.

Information:

The dissertation is available from February 1, 2018 and can be pre-ordered at University Press of Southern Denmark.

The defence will be conducted in English, it is public, and we welcome everyone. We kindly ask you to register here.

The defence starts at 13:00 and is followed by a reception to celebrate Per H. Hansen's doctorate.

For more information please contact Professor Per H. Hansen or Head of Secretariat Henrik Hermansen.

Organised by: Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, CBS

Date: 1 March 2018

Time: 13:00

Location: CBS, Solbjerg Plads 3, SP201, 2000 Frederiksberg