The old Norwegian peasant community: Investigations undertaken by the institute for comparative research in human culture, Oslo

Abstract

The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture was founded in Oslo in 1922.1 From the start, the activities of the Institute have fallen into three categories: research work, mostly performed by Norwegian research fellows; public lectures given by foreign and Norwegian scholars; and publication of the lectures and the results of the research. The work was at first mainly concentrated on the study of the Arctic cultures, of the Caucasian and Indo-Iranian languages, and of folklore. In 1928 the Institute resolved to add to its programme the comparative study of the development of peasant communities.