A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Always in crisis, always a solution? : The Nordic model as a political and scholarly concept (2021)


Koivunen, A., Ojala, J., & Holmén, J. (2021). Always in crisis, always a solution? : The Nordic model as a political and scholarly concept. In A. Koivunen, J. O. Ojala, & J. Holmén (Eds.), The Nordic Economic, Social and Political Model : Challenges in the 21st Century (pp. 1-19). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429026690-1


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editorsKoivunen, Anu; Ojala, Jari; Holmén, Janne

Parent publicationThe Nordic Economic, Social and Political Model : Challenges in the 21st Century

Parent publication editorsKoivunen, Anu; Ojala, Jari Ojala; Holmén, Janne

ISBN978-0-367-13475-4

eISBN978-0-429-02669-0

Publication year2021

Publication date08/04/2021

Pages range1-19

Number of pages in the book272

PublisherRoutledge

Place of PublicationAbingdon, Oxon

Publication countryUnited Kingdom

Publication languageEnglish

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4324/9780429026690-1

Publication open accessOpenly available

Publication channel open accessOpen Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX)https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75136


Abstract

While campaigning for the 2016 US Democratic Party presidential nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders invoked the Nordic countries as a model for future politics. In a debate, he declared, ‘I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.’1 Hailing the Nordic countries, especially Denmark, as an example of ‘democratic socialism’,2 Sanders’s vision engendered a heated debate, with political opponents critiquing the implied political agenda, the prime minister of Denmark protesting the idea of Denmark as a socialist country, and journalists and pundits presenting corrective views of the economic and social policies of the Nordic countries.3 The critiques notwithstanding, the notion of the Nordic model has continued to circulate in US political imaginary, invoked by both left and centre Democratic politicians. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, promotes her Green New Deal agenda with references to Nordic countries: ‘My policies most closely resemble what we see in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden.’4 In the polarised US political debate of the 21st century, the Nordic countries serve as an imaginary horizon for both a new kind of socialism and a reformed capitalism in the age of accelerated climate change.


Keywordswelfare statesocietal systemsprogress of a societydemocracyidealspublic discussion

Free keywordsNordic countries; Denmark


Contributing organizations


Ministry reportingYes

Reporting Year2021

JUFO rating3


Last updated on 2024-10-03 at 20:16