Future Anterior approaches historic preservation from a position of critical inquiry, rigorous scholarship, and theoretical analysis. This issue, guest edited by Thordis Arrhenius, focuses on the historical evolution of heritage bureaucracies within the establishment of the Scandinavian welfare state. Examining how Scandinavian preservationists both shaped and were shaped by the rise of the welfare state, its articles explore the intellectual debates that led to the development of state heritage administrations, focusing on key protagonists and assessing their contributions to Western preservation theory and practice.

Contributors to this issue include Dag Nilsen, Kristin B. Aavitsland, Harry Fett, Victor Edman, Sigurd Curman, Hélène Svahn Garreau, Thordis Arrhenius, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, and Mikael Olsson.