Nordic Law in European Context


Book Description

Nordic law is often referred to as something different from other legal systems. At the same time, it is a common belief that the Nordic countries share more or less the same legal tradition and are very similar in their approach to the law. Considering both of these points of view, the book tells a story of how Nordic law and Nordic legal thinking differ from other legal systems, and how there are many particularities in the law of each of the Nordic countries, making them different from each other. The idea of “Nordic” law also conceals national features. The basic premise of the book is that even if, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a Nordic common law, it still makes sense to speak of “Nordic” law, and that acquiring a more-than-basic knowledge of this law is interesting not only for comparative lawyers, but also helpful for those working with Nordic lawyers and dealing with questions involving law in the Nordic countries.




Scandinavian Studies in Law


Book Description




Indigenous Rights in Scandinavia


Book Description

This book contributes to the international debate on Indigenous Peoples Law, containing both in-depth research of Scandinavian historical and legal contexts with respect to the Sami and demonstrating current stances in Sami Law research. In addition to chapters by well-known Scandinavian experts, the collection also comments on the legal situation in Norway, Sweden and Finland in relation to other jurisdictions and indigenous peoples, in particular with experiences and developments in Canada and New Zealand. The book displays the current research frontier among the Scandinavian countries, what the present-day issues are and how the nation states have responded so far to claims of Sami rights. The study sheds light on the contrasts between the three countries on the one hand, and between Scandinavia, Canada and New Zealand on the other, showing that although there are obvious differences, for instance related to colonisation and present legal solutions, there are also shared experiences among the indigenous peoples and the States. Filling a gap in an under-researched area of Sami rights, this book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in Indigenous Peoples Law and comparative research.




Nordic Inheritance Law through the Ages


Book Description

The articles in Nordic Inheritance Law through the Ages – Spaces of Action and Legal Strategies explore the significance of inheritance law through the use of topical and in-depth studies that bring life to historical and contemporary Nordic inheritance law practices.




Narrating Law and Laws of Narration in Medieval Scandinavia


Book Description

Disputes lie at the heart of the sagas. Consequently, literary texts have been treated as sources of legal practice – narrations of law – while the sagas themselves and the handling of legal matters by the figures adhere to ‘laws of narration’. The volume addresses this intricate relationship between literature and social practice from the perspective of historians as well as philologists. The contributions focus not only on disputes and their solution in saga literature, but also on the representation of law and its history in sagas and Latin historiography from Scandinavia as well as the representation of laws and norms in mythological texts. They demonstrate that narrations of law provide an indispensable insight into legal culture and its connection to a wider framework of social norms, adjusting the impression given by the laws. The philological approaches underline that the narrative texts also have an agenda of their own when it comes to their representation of law, providing a mirror of conduct, criticising inequity, reinforcing the political and juridical position of kings or negotiating norms in mythological texts. Altogether, the volume underlines the unifying force exerted by a common fiction of law beyond its letter.




The Making and Circulation of Nordic Models, Ideas and Images


Book Description

This critical and empirically based volume examines the multiple existing Nordic models, providing analytically innovative attention to the multitude of circulating ideas, images and experiences referred to as "Nordic". It addresses related paradoxes as well as patterns of circulation, claims about the exceptionality of Nordic models, and the diffusion and impact of Nordic experiences and ideas. Providing original case studies, the book further examines how the Nordic models have been constructed, transformed and circulated in time and in space. It investigates the actors and channels that have been involved in circulating models: journalists and media, bureaucrats and policy-makers, international organizations, national politicians and institutions, scholars, public diplomats and analyses where and why models have travelled. Finally, the book shows that Nordic models, perspectives, or ideas do not always originate in the Nordic region, nor do they always develop as deliberate efforts to promote Nordic interests. This book will be of key interest to Nordic and Scandinavian studies, European studies, and more broadly to history, sociology, political science, marketing, social policy, organizational theory and public management. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.




Legal Realism


Book Description

As one of the most important movements in twentieth century legal thought, legal realism continues to be a source of controversy and inspiration. This study provides the first critical comparison and evaluation of American and Scandinavian legal realism. Presenting, evaluating, and reformulating the basic ideas of American legal realists such as Karl Llewllyn, Walter Wheeler Cook, Herman Oliphant, Jerome Frank, and Underhill Moore in the first part of the book, the author devotes the second part to a critical appraisal and reformulation of the major doctrines of Scandinavian legal realists such as Axel Hägerström, A. V. Lundstedt, Karl Olivecrona, and Alf Ross. The book also reveals the misunderstanding of legal realism by legal philosophers such as H. L. A. Hart and Ronald Dworkin and the connections of legal realism to the critical legal studies movement.




Scandinavia in World Politics


Book Description

This clear and engaging text offers a sustained appraisal of Scandinavia's foreign policy and role in the global economy in the post-Cold War period. In an era when good citizenship in the global community has become a diplomatic priority for many states, Christine Ingebritsen argues that Scandinavia has both the legitimacy and the domestic political attributes to be an important international player. She examines how social innovators such as Sweden and Finland seek to influence European integration and how Norway has cultivated a unique and innovative niche in its foreign relations. Scandinavia, she convincingly shows, has become a 'norm entrepreneur, ' exercising its influence abroad through moral leadership-from sponsoring the Nobel Prize and participating in global peacekeeping efforts to providing generous foreign aid and monitoring human rights abuses in the international community. Demonstrating how Scandinavia has made its model of the good society viable on a global scale, this text offers a fascinating case of small-state success and individuality in an increasingly globalized world




Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice


Book Description

This book draws on historical and cross-disciplinary studies to critically examine penal practices in Scandinavia. The Nordic countries are often hailed by international observers as ‘model societies’, with egalitarian welfare policies, low rates of poverty, humane social policies and human rights oriented internal agendas. This book, however, paints a much more nuanced picture of the welfare policies, ideologies and social control in strong centralistic states. Based on extensive new empirical data, leading Nordic and international scholars discuss the relationship between prison conditions in Scandinavia and Scandinavian social policy more generally, and argue that it is not always liberating and constructive to be embraced by a powerful welfare state. This book is essential reading for researchers of state punishment in Scandinavia, and it is highly relevant for anyone interested in the ‘Nordic Model’ of social policy.