Arbeidernes Leksikon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arbeidernes Leksikon (the Laborer's Encyclopedia) was the first reference book in Norwegian to have a pronounced class bias. It was the first encyclopedia outside of the Soviet Union to be directed specifically at the working-class.

The publication had a connection with the Norwegian labor movement's goal to spread knowledge among the working and lower-class, and in doing so could break the monopoly the middle class had on the dissemination of information in society. They thought that the existing encyclopedias had a middle-class bias.

The work was published by the Labor Magazine's publishing company in six volumes from 1932 to 1936. It was edited by Jakob Friis and Trond Hegna; from the third volume on, Dagfin Juel worked as a co-editor.

A selection of articles from the encyclopedia was published in 1974 in a three-volume reprint by Pax forlag.