Victoria Van Orden Martínez

I am a historian with a Ph.D. In History from Linköping University in Sweden. Formerly, I worked as a freelance writer and independent historical researcher. This site includes published work from both my academic research and my former work.

Culture Unbound •

Bridging Research Praxes Across Pluralities of Knowledge (special issue of Culture Unbound)

How can researchers working both within and external to academia in all
disciplines and areas of research recognize knowledge produced in other spheres
and engage more ethically and collaboratively with that knowledge and those
who create and circulate it? This was the central question behind the Bridging
Research Praxes Across Pluralities of Knowledge conference held at Linkoping
University in Sweden and on Zoom in April 2022. At the heart of the conference
was the recognition that searching for answers to this question cannot be left to
arbitrary and haphazard engagements and encounters but must be motivated,
reflected on, and formulated clearly in ongoing discussions. This special issue
of Culture Unbound continues the discussions begun at the conference.
Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals •

Indigenous Collections: Belongings, Decolonization, Contextualization (special issue of Collections journal)

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this focus issue of Collections journal, Indigenous Collections: Belongings, Decolonization, Contextualization. This general introduction is the first of several texts you will encounter in this volume, each the voice and perspective of one of the co-editors. These are interspersed with the voices and perspectives of the contributors. As you will see, these are a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have come together to make this issue a reality.
The Local Sweden •

Facing the January blues as an immigrant family in Sweden

As much as I love living in Sweden, come January, it's unfailingly one of the most depressing places I've ever been. I've experienced the so-called January blues in other places, of course. In Scotland, for instance, it was demoralizing to watch the sun skim the horizon for the few precious hours of daylight. In Chicago, hibernation seemed the only option when faced with mountains of snow and temperatures
The Local Sweden •

Want to know how to be a super-successful immigrant parent in Sweden? So do I...

If there's no guide book to parenting, there's definitely no guide book to parenting as an immigrant in Sweden. Sure, there's tons of advice to be found. Practical resources are also usually available. And, of course, there are numerous groups for immigrants and expats. These are all great and valuable tools for some of the practical and emotional aspects of parenting, but when it comes to the immediate realities I am confronted with every day as an immigrant parent, I’ve found they have limited usefulness.
The Local Sweden •

The integration tool you probably aren't using in Sweden

For immigrants in Sweden, it can feel at times like the normal daily routine offers precious few opportunities for cultural and historical immersion. This is doubly true for those raising a family. Between acclimating to new ways of doing things, learning the language, working and/or studying, setting up and maintaining a home, caring for children and prioritizing their needs, trying to squeeze in time with a partner, and maybe actually having a social life, it's no surprise that our knowledge of Swedish culture and history often goes woefully uncultivated.
The Local Sweden •

How I embraced Sweden's second-hand culture (and why you should, too)

"My children need the newest and best of everything," said someone who was not me.

Don't get me wrong, my children are my precious angels whose needs I put before my own on a regular basis. They are also precious angels whose exuberant love of life means that almost nothing passes out of their possession in "gently used" condition. Which is why I have happily embraced Sweden's vibrant second-hand and upcycling market.
The Local Sweden •

Why America's gun culture made us raise our children in Sweden

I'm often asked why we have made the conscious decision not to live in the United States. Most people laugh at the first answer I generally give, which involves a certain person currently residing in a large white house in Washington, D.C. The laughter always stops when I give my second reason: I already worry enough about my children that I don't want to live in fear that they will be gunned down in a mass shooting, at school or anywhere else.
The Local Sweden •

Battling nostalgia during Halloween and the holidays in Sweden

For my daughter's first Halloween in Spain, I dressed her up as Minnie Mouse and took her to a small local event hosted by another Spanish/American couple. She was absolutely adorable. Too adorable, in fact. All – and I mean every single one – of the other children were dressed as witches, skeletons, vampires, etc. Clearly, I had missed the memo that, in Spain – where Halloween is only just starting to catch on – "scary" costumes are de rigueur for even the youngest children.
The Local Sweden •

How family-friendly Sweden opens up art and culture to all ages

There was a time when I thought that the incredibly diverse and enriching range of cultural, historical, intellectual, and physical experiences my parents provided me as a child had set the bar quite high. Perhaps so high that I would struggle as a parent to reach it. I also worried the traditionally non-kid-friendly cultural and historical activities my husband and I enjoyed so much would be off-limits to us until our children were older. That was before we moved to Sweden.
The Local Sweden •

Paperwork and a blank page: A retrospective of our first year in Sweden

As my family celebrates our first anniversary of immigrating to Sweden, I realize how appropriate it is that the traditional gift for first wedding anniversaries is paper. Although we're not celebrating a wedding anniversary, paper symbolizes our first year in Sweden better than it did the first year of my marriage. Looking back, I realize that paper – in the form of paperwork and its close companion, bureaucracy – have been a major presence in our lives over the past year.
The Local Sweden •

Being the 'too much' family in 'just enough' Sweden

The other day, I was closing my daughter’s bedroom window at the same time I was repeating something to her for the fifteenth time in a loud voice – some might even call it shouting. As this was happening, a neighbour was entering our building from the common entrance below and looked up a bit startled. When she saw me, her startled look turned into a knowing grin, followed by a friendly nod, and I could almost see her thinking, “Of course. I should have known it was the excitable American with the loud Spanish husband and the two wild children.”
The Local Sweden •

Why being an immigrant parent in Sweden is not for the faint of heart

As an immigrant parent, I am also something of an alchemist. I have transmuted two of the most simultaneously difficult and wonderful things I've ever done – parenting and living abroad – into one big, simultaneously difficult and wonderful thing. In the great alchemic tradition, my discovery is remarkable, but not entirely what I expected. Sometimes it seems like it might be pure gold. Other times, it is as unpredictable as primitive gunpowder.
The Local Sweden •

There's a light in every window, and other decorating challenges for non-Swedes

In the days before we moved in to our new home in Sweden, my husband and I couldn’t help but notice that nearly every window we saw here was not only beautifully decorated, but also featured at least one charming and hospitable lamp. There was naturally much appreciative gushing over this, and I was personally quite filled with brilliant decorating ideas. Admittedly, our reaction on realizing that privacy blinds were either non-existent or rarely used in most windows, even at night, was one of respectful bemusement.
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