Ole Wæver honored for decades of societal contribution
HONORARY AWARD Professor Ole Wæver has been awarded the Hartmann Prize 2024. The prize, which amounts to 300,000 DKK, is awarded to individuals who have made a significant and particularly valuable contribution to Danish society within the fields of social, humanitarian, scientific, or cultural areas.
Ole Wæver. Photo: Lars Svankjær
Ole Wæver's research encompasses a wide range of topics. His primary areas of research include theories of international politics, security theory, conceptual history of international politics, conflict theory, as well as ontological security, conflict resolution, and securitization.
"In the board of the Hartmann Foundation, we have found that the time has come to honor Ole Wæver with a personal prize for his great work within peace and conflict research, topics that seem particularly relevant in these years with more and larger conflicts in the world," the board states.
A founding father of the "Copenhagen School"
Pioneer of the 'Copenhagen School' Ole Wæver was one of the originators of the so-called 'Copenhagen School', which within the field of international politics places special emphasis on non-military aspects of security policy, marking a shift away from traditional security studies.
"In the world we live in, according to the Hartmann Foundation, it is important to stimulate work for peace and conflict resolution, and the Foundation wishes to mark this with the awarding in 2024 of both the Hartmann Prize and the Diploma Prize to researchers within these areas," explains the foundation.
The Diploma Prize of 150,000 DKK is awarded to Isabel Bramsen, vice leader for peace and conflict studies and lecturer at Lund University, Department of Political Science. In 2017, she received her PhD, supervised by Ole Wæver, from the department in Copenhagen. [https://www.svet.lu.se/artikel/isabel-bramsen-mottagare-av-hartmann-fondens-diploma-pris].
The main prize recipient, Ole Wæver, is particularly known for the security theoretical concept of securitization, which is part of the curriculum at many international politics studies around the world. The theory highlights how political actors can misuse a crisis situation to take undemocratic or inhumane steps citing national security. In addition to security policy and conflict resolution, he has worked most recently on religion, climate change, and the sociology of science.