Rethinking social risk in the nordics

Book

The Nordic welfare regimes have been for long characterised by effective management of social risk, which has led to high levels economic competitiveness, social cohesion and well-being in all Nordic countries.

The book “Rethinking Social Risks in the Nordics” Ville-Pekka Sorsa (University of Helsinki) is part of the Nordic Economies after the Crisis project, started by FEPS in 2010 with the support of the Finnish Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Joint Committee of the Nordic Social Democratic Labour Movement (SAMAK), Economic Council of the Labour Movement in Denmark and Swedish Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja.

The Nordic welfare regimes have been for long characterised by effective management of social risk, which has led to high levels economic competitiveness, social cohesion and well-being in all Nordic countries. This success is caused by high degree of universalism in state-led social protection common to all Nordic countries. This volume questions this view. While there is some truth in this success story, it is not the whole story. The Nordic approaches have been characterised by a great variety of public, occupational and private solutions for assessing, distributing and managing social risks. Even though common developments and some family resemblance can be found, all Nordic countries have differed in their approaches to social risk and opted for different political trajectories at different points of time.

This volume sheds light over the Nordic approaches to social risk and provides new theoretical approaches to the politics of social risk more generally. It also provides new insights to and critiques of the contemporary Nordic politics of social risk. It is essential reading for all international political actors and scholars interested in the Nordic public policies and politics of social risks.