Kristian Berg Harpviken (born 27 December 1961) is a Norwegian sociologist and researcher, and since 2025 director of the

Norwegian Nobel Institute The Norwegian Nobel Institute () is located in Oslo, Norway. The institute is located at Henrik Ibsen Street 51 in the center of the city. It is situated just by the side of the Royal Palace. History The institute was established in 1904 in Kr ...

. Harpviken is foremost known for his competence on Afghanistan, where he has travelled extensively and conducted multiple field works since he first engaged with the country in 1989. He served as director of the

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; ) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researchers led by Johan Galtung, who was ...

for the period 2009–2017.

Education and work experience

Harpviken has both practical and academic education. He is a trained horticulturalist and has worked as a farmer for several years. He has his cand.mag., 4 years undergraduate degree (1989) and cand.polit., 2 years post-graduate degree (1995) from

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, both in Sociology. He has been a guest researcher at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

(1998) and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

(2008). His cand. polit. thesis (equivalent to an M. Phil.) was entitled ''Political Mobilization Among the Hazara of Afghanistan, 1978–1992''. In 2006 he defended his doctoral dissertation in sociology, entitled ''Networks in Transition: Wartime Migration in Afghanistan''. Besides the main concentration on sociology, he has studied business and development studies. Between studies, Harpviken has served as agricultural coordinator and director for the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, Pakistan (1990–92). He also served 4 months conscientious objector duty for the same organization in 1989. Harpviken fulfilled 12 months compulsory military service in 1981, and trained as a conscript sergeant with specialization in

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. Since 1993, Harpviken has been affiliated with PRIO, first as a student associate, from 1995 as researcher, then moving on to positions as senior researcher, programme leader, deputy director, and director. After his director term 2009–2017 was concluded, he stayed on as senior researcher and research professor, up until he took up the directorship at the

in January 2025.«Han blir ny Nobeldirektør»
''nrk.no'', 19. juni 2024, besøkt 3. februar 2025. Harpviken has participated and led multiple long-term research projects on anti-personnel landmines,

internally displaced An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. I ...

and

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...

, as well as regional security. Additionally, he has provided consultancy services to several international NGOs and multilateral organizations.

Research interests

Harpviken's expertise and research interests include the dynamics of civil war (

mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

, post-war reconstruction and

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

and transnational communities, and methodology in difficult contexts. Geographically, his research is primarily focused on

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and the region, but he also has fieldwork experience from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

; in large part related to the landmine situation and the landmine campaign. He has taught several courses on methodology in crisis situations both for practitioners and graduate university students.

Dissemination and outreach

Harpviken frequently comments in national media on the situation in Afghanistan, and he is also concerned with Norway's peace policy and other aspects of foreign policy. As director of PRIO, h
speculated
and commented each year on the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in media outlets from all over the world. In 2009, he was awarded the Norwegian Sociological Association's (Eastern branch) Dissemination Award.

Bibliography (selected)

* Kristian Berg Harpviken & Sarah Lischer, 2013. "Refugee Militancy in Exile and Upon Return in Afghanistan and Rwanda", in Jeff Checkel (ed.): ''Transnational Dynamics of Civil War'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2012. "The Transnationalization of the Taliban", ''

International Area Studies Review The ''International Area Studies Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the Center for International Area Studies ( Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. It c ...

'', 15(3): 203–229. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2012. "Warlordism: Three Biographies from Southeastern Afghanistan", in Astri Suhrke & Mats Berdal (eds.): ''The Peace in Between: Post-war Violence and Peacebuilding'', London: Routledge. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2011. "A Peace Nation in the War on Terror: The Norwegian Engagement in Afghanistan", in Nik Hynek & Peter Marton (eds.): ''Statebuilding in Afghanistan: Multinational Contributions to Reconstruction'', London: Routledge. * Kaja Borchgrevink & Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2010. "Afghanistan: Civil Society Between Modernity and Tradition", in Thania Pfaffenholz (ed.): ''Civil Society and Peacebuilding'', Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, pp. 235–257. * Kristian Berg Harpviken (ed.) 2010. ''Comparative Social Research'', Volume 27 – Troubled Regions and Failing States: The Clustering and Contagion og Armed Conflicts. Bingley, UK: Emerald. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2010. "Caught in the Middle? Regional Perspectives on Afghanistan", ''Comparative Social Research'', Vol. 27: 277–305. Bingley, UK: Emerald. * Astri Suhrke, Torunn Wimpelmann Chaudhary, Aziz Hakimi, Kristian Berg Harpviken, Akbar Sarwari & Arne Strand, 2009. ''Conciliatory Approaches to the Insurgency in Afghanistan: An Overview'', CMI Report 2009:1. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2009. ''Social Networks and Migration in Wartime Afghanistan''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. * Kristian Berg Harpviken & Hanne Eggen Røislien, 2008. "Faithful Brokers? Potentials and Pitfalls of Religion in Peacemaking", ''Conflict Resolution Quarterly'', 25(3): 351–373. * Kristian Berg Harpviken (ed.), 2004. ''The Future of Humanitarian Mine Action''. Basingstoke: Macmillan. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 2003. "Afghanistan: From Buffer State to Battleground – to Bridge Between Regions?", in James Hentz og Morten Bøås (ed.): ''New and Critical Security and Regionalism: Beyond the Nation State'', Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 152–176. * Astri Suhrke, Kristian Berg Harpviken & Arne Strand, 2003. "After Bonn: Conflictual Peacebuilding", ''Third World Quarterly'', 23(4):875–891. * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 1997. "Transcending Traditionalism: The Emergence of Non-State Military Formations in Afghanistan", ''Journal of Peace Research'' * Kristian Berg Harpviken, 1996. ''Political Mobilisation Among the Hazara of Afghanistan: 1978–1992'', Rapportserien ved Sosiologi, Nr 9:1996, Oslo: Institutt for Sosiologi, Universitetet i Oslo.

References

External links

Staff page at PRIO

Staff page
at

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

Publisher
Macmillan's Harpviken biography
Harpviken's publications
in the Norwegian publication system Cristin {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpviken, Kristian Berg 1961 births Living people Norwegian sociologists University of Oslo alumni Peace and conflict scholars Norwegian expatriates in Pakistan