Håkon Larsen

Håkon Larsen is Professor of Library and Information Science at Oslo Metropolitan University's Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science, since 2019. His work centers on cultural institutions within the public sphere, with expertise in cultural sociology, policy analysis, and legitimacy studies across Scandinavian contexts.

His academic foundation includes:

• PhD in Sociology, University of Oslo (2011)

Larsen's research explores how libraries, archives and museums navigate political controversies, digital transformations, and evolving societal expectations. Key themes include the impact of private wealth on public cultural spaces, cancel culture dynamics in art institutions, and comparative analyses of cultural policy frameworks between Norway, the US, and Japan. His theoretical approach integrates strong program cultural sociology with public sphere theory.

Recent publications (2022-2025) reveal three dominant trends: 1) Institutional legitimacy challenges in 21st-century public libraries, 2) Cultural policy conflicts during political polarization, and 3) Nordic welfare state adaptations in media and information services. These works frequently employ comparative case studies across Scandinavia, North America, and Asia.

No scientific awards were documented in the provided materials.

Larsen supervises students at all academic levels in cultural sociology and library science. His research group leadership and projects like POLYCUL indicate active grant funding, though specific awards aren't detailed. He contributes to policy development through research reports for entities like the Norwegian Ministry of Culture.

As leader of the Information, Culture and Society research group, he coordinates interdisciplinary work on cultural institutions' societal roles. The group focuses on legitimacy challenges in digital transitions, museum-library-archive convergence, and cultural policy implementation across Nordic welfare states.