Arve Hansen

Arve Hansen is a Senior Researcher at the University of Oslo's GLOBE center, where he serves as Head of Teaching and leads the research group on sustainable consumption and energy equity. His academic work bridges geography, sociology, and development studies with a regional focus on Vietnam and Asia.

Hansen's research interests span consumption and sustainability, development and emerging economies, the new middle classes in Asia, food and meat consumption, mobilities, and the socialist market economy in Vietnam. His work examines how everyday practices transform under capitalist development in socialist contexts, particularly focusing on food systems, mobility patterns, and sustainability transitions. He has conducted extensive research on middle-class consumption patterns in Vietnam and meat consumption/reduction practices in Norway.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on sustainable consumption practices, meat reduction, food systems transformations, and the impacts of global disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life. Hansen's research often employs practice theory to understand how consumption patterns change across different cultural and economic contexts.

Hansen teaches courses including SUM 4019 - Consumption, Sustainability and Social Change and SUS2000 – Sustainability: Perspectives, Challenges and Solutions. He has previously taught courses on development in contemporary Asia, globalization, and development theory.

He is involved in multiple significant research projects including the Research Centre for Socially Inclusive Energy Transitions, Meat Replacement and Systems of Edibility in Asia and Beyond (REPLACE), and RESULTS – Research for Energy and Sustainability Transformations. His work connects academic research with practical sustainability challenges through these collaborative projects.

Hansen leads research groups focused on sustainable consumption and energy equity, sustainable food systems (SoilFood/MatJord), and poverty reduction within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development framework. His interdisciplinary approach brings together scholars from various fields to address complex sustainability challenges.