Globalising the Nordic Model: From exceptionalism to entanglement

Book, 2026

The five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) frequently attract attention as examples of a 'Nordic model'. The meanings of the term vary, but especially since the global financial crisis of 2008-9 the Nordic countries have often been portrayed positively, as examples of economic dynamism, innovation and social equality. Studies of these images of the Nordic countries and their international circulations have opened new horizons for understanding the global influences upon the Nordic model. This volume explores how the Nordic model has been shaped by global entanglements, in exchange not only with Western Europe and North America, but also with the Global South. Drawing on selected case studies, the volume offers new perspectives on the meanings of the Nordic model and Nordic exceptionalism in a global context during the half century since c. 1970.