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 editors: Koivunen, Anu; Ojala, Jari; Holmén, Janne
Parent publication: The Nordic Economic, Social and Political Model : Challenges in the 21st Century
Parent publication editors: Koivunen, Anu; Ojala, Jari Ojala; Holmén, Janne
ISBN: 978-0-367-13475-4
eISBN: 978-0-429-02669-0
Publication year: 2021
Publication date: 08/04/2021
Pages range: 1-19
Number of pages in the book: 272
Publisher: Routledge
Place of Publication: Abingdon, Oxon
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429026690-1
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open 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.
Keywords: welfare state; societal systems; progress of a society; democracy; ideals; public discussion
Free keywords: Nordic countries; Denmark
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2021
JUFO rating: 3
Parent publication with JYU authors: