Nordic Exceptionalism Research Articles

Yet Another Case of Nordic Exceptionalism? Extending Existing Evidence for a Causal Relationship Between Institutional and Social Trust to the Netherlands and Switzerland

Social trust has typically been considered a deep-seated, thus stable, disposition. However, in accordance with institutional theory, a recent analysis applying fixed effects regressions provides strong evidence for a causal influence of trust in state institutions on social trust in Denmark, indicating that trust in other people might be malleable through the quality of state institutions. However, it is still unclear whether this finding can be generalised beyond the setting of Danish or Nordic exceptionalism—a social environment highly conducive to trust. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to test the institutional theory in two other European countries: the Netherlands and Switzerland. Drawing on the LISS panel and the Swiss Household Panel, each with different strengths and weaknesses, the results provide further support for the idea that trust in the majority of other people is shaped by the trustworthiness of state institutions in Western societies.

Norwegian Lawyers and Political Mobilization: 1623-2015

Do Norwegian lawyers mobilize only to enhance their privileges and prestige? Or do they also engage in collective action for more noble ends? Contrary to materialist approaches, the theory of the ‘legal complex’ predicts that the legal profession will struggle as an entity for ‘political liberalism’ – a moderate state with basic civil rights and freedoms. This presents a paradox for the Nordic countries. Lawyers are not especially visible in the public sphere yet political liberalism is more deeply entrenched than elsewhere. If correct, this suggests either a case of Nordic exceptionalism or a problematic theory. This paper focuses on Norway. Beginning with the emergence of lawyers in the 1600s, it traces the legal profession’s engagement with the development and defense of political liberalism. This is complemented by a quantitative content analysis of interventions by the Advokatforeningen (law society). The paper argues that the results should prompt us to rethink legal complex theory more generally. The legal profession will only mobilize broadly for political liberalism when: (1) committed individual lawyers are able to overcome collective action dilemmas in the profession and (2) lawyer-centric forms of mobilization are viewed as less costly or more appropriate than the alternatives.

New Nordic Exceptionalism: Jeuno JE Kim and Ewa Einhorn's The United Nations of Norden and other realist utopias

At the 2009 Nordic Culture Forum summit in Berlin that centered on the profiling and branding of the Nordic region in a globalized world, one presenter stood out from the crowd. The lobbyist Annika Sigurdardottir delivered a speech that called for the establishment of “The United Nations of Norden”: A Nordic union that would gather the nations and restore Norden's role as the “moral superpower of the world.” Sigurdardottir's presentation generated such a heated debate that the organizers had to intervene and reveal that the speech was a performance made by the artists Jeuno JE Kim and Ewa Einhorn. This article takes Kim and Einhorn's intervention as a starting point for a critical discussion of the history and politics of Nordic image-building. The article suggests that the reason Kim and Einhorn's speech passed as a serious proposal was due to its meticulous mimicking of two discursive formations that have been central to the debates on the branding of Nordicity over the last decades: on the one hand, the discourse of “Nordic exceptionalism,” that since the 1960s has been central to the promotion of a Nordic political, socio-economic, and internationalist “third way” model, and, on the other hand, the discourse on the “New Nordic,” that emerged out of the New Nordic Food-movement in the early 2000s, and which has given art and culture a privileged role in the international re-fashioning of the Nordic brand. Through an analysis of Kim and Einhorn's United Nations of Norden (UNN)-performance, the article examines the historical development and ideological underpinnings of the image of Nordic unity at play in the discourses of Nordic exceptionalism and the New Nordic. By focusing on how the UNN-project puts pressure on the role of utopian imaginaries in the construction of Nordic self-images, the article describes the emergence of a discursive framework of New Nordic Exceptionalism.

Trusting, Happy, Religious, and Giving: Explaining Volunteering in the Context of Nordic Exceptionalism

Using data from the European Values Study, this article examines the mechanisms through which social capital facilitates volunteering in Nordic countries. Three specific mechanisms are examined as drivers of volunteering: Generalized trust, subjective well-being, and religious activity. We find that trust bridges social capital and that people volunteer more as their level of generalized and institutional trust increases. Our results also indicate that individuals with higher levels of well-being and those who attend religious services regularly are more likely to volunteer.

Rusmestringsenheter i norske fengsler – humane og eksepsjonelle?

Substance treatment units in Norwegian prisons - humane and exceptional? Background The treatment of prison inmates in the Nordic countries has been described as humane and welfare-oriented – often referred to as ‘Nordic exceptionalism’ Aim This study explores how key actors working in 13 substance treatment units in Norwegian prisons assess the responsibilities, working methods and goal attainment of these units, and how their descriptions fit the idea of a Nordic exceptionalism. Data and Method The data consists of qualitative interviews with 23 strategically selected informants of the specialist health care services and the correctional services. The interviews were analysed with the aid of systematic text condensation (STC). Results The results show that ‘rehabilitation’, ‘substance use treatment’ and ‘dynamic control’ are key topics for those who work in the substance treatment units. Overall, the informants describe the rehabilitation programmes in the units as intensive and as aiming to improve the inmates' living conditions and social and cognitive skills, and to promote their reintegration into society. Moreover, informants state that inmates in the substance treatment units receive treatment from specialist health care services, and that the idea of therapy permeates many aspects of these units' activities. Informants also state that they prioritise less repressive forms of control in the relationship to the inmates, and that these forms of control are favourable to rehabilitation. Conclusions The main pattern that emerges from this study supports that welfare orientation and ideas about therapy and rehabilitation are priorities in work with imprisoned substance users in substance treatment units. The control of inmates in these units is described as less repressive and favourable to rehabilitation. This pattern is not unambiguous, however, and the findings in this study may therefore help add nuances to the notion of Nordic exceptionalism.

Om at udfordre den svenske exceptionalisme - At undervise som sort

Sweden imagines itself as a race-less, tolerant country, purportedly less affected by postcolonial relations than other nations, by virtue of its welfare politics, and its democratic, egalitarian principles. This national self-image, which is situated within a regional discursive framework of Nordic exceptionalism, has been contested by intersectional, postcolonial, critical race and whiteness studies; yet there is a widespread conviction that Sweden has had no real part in the imperial adventure, and therefore remains untouched by colonial and postcolonial social dynamics. These persistent claims to political innocence are often forcefully reproduced as three forms of positioning: sanctioned ignorance, normative colorblindness, and white liberal doubt. Working as a Black scholar and teacher within a postcolonial curriculum in this context involves several challenges. The article adresses the pedagogical challenges I face as a Black film and media studies scholar in pedagogical situations where I teach predominantly white students about media representations of the African Diaspora. Taking my point of departure in Swedish everyday discourse that negates the significance of race, my article visualizes some of the obstacles and challenges that I encounter in teaching situations on predominantly postcolonial courses. While working to encourage students to let go of sanctioned ignorance about racial issues, one of my greatest challenges has been to make them unlearn the colorblindness that has long been a cherished part of Swedish identity.

An end to Nordic exceptionalism? Europeanisation and Nordic development policies

ABSTRACTThe Nordic countries have traditionally been praised for their generous and advanced development policies. Recently, however, it has been claimed that the Nordic model has faded: that the Nordic donors have become more similar to other European donors. One possible reason for such trends is influences from EU policies, that is, Europeanisation. This article critically evaluates such claims by presenting arguments for and against Europeanisation effects. We argue that changes have indeed taken place. The Nordic exceptionalism has been eroded. At the same time, a convergence of European aid policies has occurred. The question is if this is the consequence of Europeanisation – or is it rather a result of Nordicisation (the Nordic countries influencing the EU), or perhaps like-mindisation (a broader set of progressive member states having impact upon EU policies)? We suggest that Europeanisation has been extremely weak while there is strong evidence of Nordicisation but also, and increasingly, of like-mindisation. Today, a core group of mainly northern member states, including the Nordics, are the main driving forces behind European aid convergence.

John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism

John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, <i>Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism</i>

Compliance with the Convention Against Torture: Testing Nordic Exceptionalism

Are the Nordic states exceptional performers on eradicating torture? Nordic states are reputed ‘norm entrepreneurs’ for the international law ban against torture, but they also engage in domestic practices that put dents in any claims to superiority in fighting torture.In this paper, we challenge contrasting images of Nordic commitment to international human rights norms by examining the periodic review process under the Convention against Torture. Specifically, we ask: Do Concluding Observations issued by the Committee against Torture suggest evidence of Nordic exceptionalism in terms of human rights engagement? The paper analyses COs on four Nordic and four comparator states over two decades, looking specifically at two issues: the definition of torture in law and detention conditions. Our findings suggest that the Committee increasingly subjects Nordic states to scrutiny, revealing differences between these states, particular causes for concern and, sometimes, frustration at refusal to heed recurring calls for reform.

Nordic exceptionalism and gendered peacekeeping: The case of Iceland

The Nordic countries have been major contributors to peacekeeping, often seen as particularly well suited due to their lack of ties to colonialism and supposedly peaceful nature. The article critically addresses this idea in relation to how gender equality has been conceptualized in peacekeeping taking as an example Icelandic peacekeeping. Iceland’s recent engagement in peacekeeping has strongly emphasized gender issues but has lacked an engagement with issues of power and domination and thus reflects a particular idea of ‘Nordic exceptionalism’. The authors emphasize in their discussion the need to maintain critical feminist perspectives that take diverse relations of power into account.

Contrasts in punishment: an explanation of Anglophone excess and Nordic exceptionalism

Introduction 1. Investigating end explaining differences in punishment 2. The production of cultural differences 3. Two welfare states 4. The introduction of modern penal arrangements 5. Two welfare sanctions 6. Punishment in the age of anxiety.

John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism

John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, <i>Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism</i>

Going to Eden: Nordic exceptionalism and the image of blackness in Iceland

Images and texts referring to Africa and African people have been created in Iceland since earliest time, in spite of Iceland's somewhat marginalized position. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century Icelanders were well familiar with the racial stereotypes dominating European discourse, and which often celebrated the colonial project, simultaneously as Icelanders themselves sought independence. My discussion suggests that social discourses addressing racism and race in Iceland reflect attempts to hold on to an idea of Icelandic innocence as a persistent and ongoing Icelandic characteristic, and Iceland seen as exempted from racism and colonialism of the past. This refusal to acknowledge racism has been also shown in other Nordic countries, thus reflecting a notion of Nordic exceptionalism. To demonstrate this, I focus on two social debates regarding racism in Iceland.

Review Essay: John Pratt and Anna Eriksson (2013) 'Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism'

This review essay combines the comments made by David Brown, Russell Hogg and Mark Finanne at the Crime, Justice and Social Democracy: 2nd International Conference July 2013. It is followed by a rejoinder by the two authors John Pratt and Anna Eriksson.

Book review: John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism

Book review: John Pratt and Anna Eriksson, Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism

The Nordic Human Rights Paradox

Existing research paints a contrastive picture of how the Nordic states engage with international human rights. In this paper, we critically survey scholarly literatures on ‘Nordic exceptionalism’ in the field of human rights in order to reframe Nordic human rights-related scholarship as a set of multi-disciplinary research problems and propose an agenda for future research. In particular, we argue that existing essentialist accounts, which emphasize values, culture and ideas as the key factor shaping Nordic approaches to human rights, need to be complemented. The paper sets out alternative theoretical approaches that focus on how: idealist commitments and branding exercises may backfire when international norms gain new authority; rights policies are shaped by domestic political contestation; and growing social pluralism is reshaping the domestic uptake of rights. We also suggest that thorough comparative studies, both within the Nordic group and with relevant points of reference, could diversify our knowledge of the Nordic states varying commitment to and compliance with international human rights norms. In sum, we suggest that a more theory-driven approach may make the alleged Nordic Sonderweg less of a paradoxical enigma.

Nordic Exceptionalism revisited: Explaining the paradox of a Janus-faced penal regime

Nordic penal regimes are Janus-faced: one side relatively mild and benign; the other intrusive, disciplining and oppressive. This paradox has not been fully grasped or explained by the Nordic Exceptionalism thesis which overstates the degree to which Nordic penal order is based on humaneness and social solidarity, an antidote to mass incarceration. This essay examines the split in the foundation of the Swedish welfare state: it simultaneously promotes individual well-being in the social sphere but enables intrusive deprivations of liberty and in some cases, violates the principles of human rights. The backbone of the welfare state, Folkhemmet, the People’s Home, is at once demos, democratic and egalitarian and ethnos, a people by blood, exclusionary and essentialist. The lack of individual rights and an ethno-cultural conception of citizenship make certain categories of people such as criminal offenders, criminal aliens, drug offenders and perceived ‘others’, particularly foreign nationals, vulnerable to deprivation and exclusion.

Penal Policies in the Nordic Countries 1960–2010

The article gives an overview of major changes in Nordic penal policies during the last 50 years. Three main threads are distinguished. From the late 1960s onwards the use of imprisonment was curbed by restricting the use of indeterminate sanctions, relaxing prison regimes, expanding the use of alternatives, and by reducing penalties for traditional property offenses and drunken driving. Partly overlapping with the period of ‘rational and humane’ criminal policy, attitudes were stiffening from the 1980s onwards, first towards drug offenses, then from the 1990s in violent and sexual offenses, often initiated by the Swedish models. The third thread underlines the fact that penal policies and law reforms are often ambivalent with both ‘repressive and liberal’ elements, as is the case with prison reforms, juvenile justice, and the expansion of community alternatives. In all, the Nordic countries were able to keep their incarceration rates lower than the rest of Europe, where several nations started in the 1960s from levels below the Nordic ones but ended up with much higher figures. The Nordic countries have not only much lower incarceration rates but also fewer offenders under supervised control, lower levels of fear and punitive demands, less serious violence, and fewer property offenses. Prisons are smaller and prison conditions better. So, even if also Nordic crime policy has become more offensive, more politicized, and more adaptive to the voices of the media, the talk of Nordic exceptionalism remains justified. Explanations go back to socio-economic and political structures and cultural traditions, high social and institutional trust, strong welfare states with smaller welfare differences, and consensual and corporatist political culture.

Compliance and Conflict Management in the European Union: Nordic Exceptionalism

Why and to what extent do states differ in their implementation of international norms? Furthermore, why and to what extent do states differ in their mode of resolving conflicts regarding non‐implementation of international norms? In this article the empirical focus is on implementation of Community legislation by the member states of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The analysis shows that over time there has been an overall reduction in the deficit in transposition, but the number of conflicts regarding non‐implementation has increased in the same period. While states converge on transposition, they diverge regarding their mode of handling conflicts related to non‐implementation. In general, the larger member states more frequently use court rulings to settle such conflicts. By contrast, the smaller states, and in particular the Nordic states, pursue a more consensus‐seeking approach, with limited use of courts. These observations indicate that domestic traditions and styles of decision making are more important for explaining variation than the enforcement capacity of the European institutions, and the extent of participation and power in decision making at the European level.

Colonialism and the Poisoning of Europe: Towards an Anthropology of Colonists

Previous articleNext article No AccessColonialism and the Poisoning of Europe: Towards an Anthropology of ColonistsAndrea L. SmithAndrea L. Smith Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Anthropological Research Volume 50, Number 4Winter, 1994 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/jar.50.4.3630560 Views: 30Total views on this site Citations: 4Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1994 The University of New MexicoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Kristín Loftsdóttir Going to Eden: Nordic exceptionalism and the image of blackness in Iceland, African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal 7, no.11 (Nov 2013): 27–41.https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2013.858920P. Ballinger Entangled or 'Extruded' Histories? Displacement, National Refugees, and Repatriation after the Second World War, Journal of Refugee Studies 25, no.33 (Jun 2012): 366–386.https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fes022C. R. Pennell Treaty law: the extent of consular jurisdiction in North Africa from the middle of the seventeenth to the middle of the nineteenth century, The Journal of North African Studies 14, no.22 (Jun 2009): 235–256.https://doi.org/10.1080/13629380802517136 Antoinette Errante Education and National Personae in Portugal's Colonial and Postcolonial Transition, Comparative Education Review 42, no.33 (Oct 2015): 267–308.https://doi.org/10.1086/447509