معرفی
Mats Burström (born 1962) is a Professor of Archaeology at Stockholm University's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Culture, where he has been employed since 2009. Previously, he served as Professor at Södertörn University College (2003-2009) and head of its Department of Culture and Communication. His academic journey began with a PhD from Stockholm University in 1991, followed by an associate professorship there in 1995. He has held various positions at Stockholm University including acting lecturer, research assistant, and acting professor, as well as working at the National Board of Antiquities as project manager and research expert.
Burström has been instrumental in establishing contemporary archaeology as a research field, with significant contributions through textbooks and case studies. His research interests span cultural memory studies, interpretation theory, and the relationship between material culture and human memory. His work often explores how objects connect personal and collective histories, examining sites such as a car cemetery in Småland, a refugee camp in Sörmland, a Nazi festival arena in Germany, Soviet missile bases in Cuba, and buried belongings in wartime Estonia. He has developed a distinctive approach to studying the cultural significance of memory across generations and its relationship to national identity and historical trauma.
His scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on the intersection of material culture, memory, and contemporary society. Burström's work demonstrates how archaeological approaches can illuminate aspects of recent history often overlooked by traditional historical narratives. His publications show increasing engagement with theoretical developments in material culture studies, affect theory, and post-discursive approaches to understanding things and their meanings.
Burström maintains active scholarly engagement as a member of editorial boards for the Journal of Social Archaeology (since 2007), Norwegian Archaeological Review (since 2011), and Journal of Contemporary Archaeology (since 2012). He previously edited Current Swedish Archaeology (1993-2000) and served on the editorial board of Nordisk Museology (2005-2017).
His international scholarly activities include visiting positions at Stanford University (2010), La Trobe University (2012), University of Oxford (2014), and the Centre for Advanced Study in Oslo (2016/17). These positions reflect his standing within the international archaeological community and his commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that bridge archaeology with cultural studies, memory studies, and heritage management.
