The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy


Book Description

In 1999 the EU decided to develop its own military capacities for crisis management. This book brings together a group of experts to examine the consequences of this decision on Nordic policy establishments, as well as to shed new light on the defence and security issues that matter for Europe as a whole.




Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries


Book Description

This book explores the relevance of conspiracy theories in the modern social and political history of the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries have traditionally imagined themselves as stable, wealthy, egalitarian welfare states. Conspiracy theories, mistrust and disunity, the argument goes, happened elsewhere in Europe (especially Eastern Europe), the Middle East or in the United States. This book paints a different picture by demonstrating that conspiracy theories have always existed in the Nordic region, both as a result of structural tensions between different groups and in the aftermath of traumatic events, but seem to have become more prominent over the last 30 or 40 years. While the book covers events and developments in each of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland), it is not a comparative country analysis. Rather, the book focuses on conspiracy theories in and about the Nordic region as a region, arguing that similarities in the trajectories of conspiratorial thinking are interesting to examine in cultural, social, and political terms. The book takes a thematic approach, including looking at states and elites; family, gender and sexuality; migration and the outside view on the Nordic region; conspiracy theories about the Nordic countries; and Nordic noir. This book will be of great interest to researchers on extremism, conspiracy theories and the politics of the Nordic countries.




The Monocle Book of the Nordics


Book Description

The Monocle team heads north in this celebration of all things Nordic. This heavily illustrated book from Monocle is a celebration of the Nordic region, featuring some surprises, quirks—and maybe a sauna or two— along the way. Monocle’s journalists, editors, and photographers have returned time and again to all corners of northern Europe for insights, inspiration, and ideas for living better. This book isn’t about hammering the overhyped hygge trend or fussing over foamy food. Much the opposite—it’s about a shared but distinct set of values that have helped these nations excel in quiet diplomacy, thoughtful design, and reasoned debate. Monocle looks beyond the clichés and uncovers the people, companies, and stories that help the Nordic region rank highly in everything from art and architecture to eating well. Far from lumping these different nations together, the Monocle team will highlight the people, places and products that show the Nordics in all their nuances: lessons we can all learn from makers in Norway’s high north or retailers reaching higher in Reykjavík; the firms building bridges in Denmark or selling Swedish soft power abroad. The world can learn a lot from these northern countries and The Monocle Book of the Nordics is the ideal place to start.




The Nordic Model


Book Description

The political structures of the Scandinavian nations have long stood as models for government and public policy. This comprehensive study examines how that “Nordic model” of government developed, as well as its far-reaching influence. Respected Scandinavian historian Mary Hilson surveys the political bureaucracies of the five Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden—and traces their historical influences and the ways they have changed, individually and as a group, over time. The book investigates issues such as economic development, foreign policy, politics, government, and the welfare state, and it also explores prevailing cultural perceptions of Scandinavia in the twentieth century. Hilson then turns to the future of the Nordic region as a unified whole within Europe as well as in the world, and considers the re-emergence of the Baltic Sea as a pivotal region on the global stage. The Nordic Model offers an incisive assessment of Scandinavia yesterday and today, making this an essential text for students and scholars of political science, European history, and Scandinavian studies.




Introduction to Nordic Cultures


Book Description

Introduction to Nordic Cultures is an innovative, interdisciplinary introduction to Nordic history, cultures and societies from medieval times to today. The textbook spans the whole Nordic region, covering historical periods from the Viking Age to modern society, and engages with a range of subjects: from runic inscriptions on iron rings and stone monuments, via eighteenth-century scientists, Ibsen’s dramas and turn-of-the-century travel, to twentieth-century health films and the welfare state, nature ideology, Greenlandic literature, Nordic Noir, migration, ‘new’ Scandinavians, and stereotypes of the Nordic. The chapters provide fundamental knowledge and insights into the history and structures of Nordic societies, while constructing critical analyses around specific case studies that help build an informed picture of how societies grow and of the interplay between history, politics, culture, geography and people. Introduction to Nordic Cultures is a tool for understanding issues related to the Nordic region as a whole, offering the reader engaging and stimulating ways of discovering a variety of cultural expressions, historical developments and local preoccupations. The textbook is a valuable resource for undergraduate students of Scandinavian and Nordic studies, as well as students of European history, culture, literature and linguistics.




Tourism Employment in Nordic Countries


Book Description

Viewed through a politico-economic lens, Nordic countries share what is often referred to as the ‘Nordic model’, characterised by a comprehensive welfare state; higher spending on childcare; more equitable income distribution; and lifelong-learning policies. This edited collection considers these contexts to explore the complex nature of tourism employment, thereby providing insights into the dynamic nature, characteristics, and meaning of work in tourism. Contributors combine explorations of the impact of policy on tourism employment with a more traditional human resources management approach focusing on employment issues from an organizational perspective, such as job satisfaction, training, and retention. The text points to opportunities as well as challenges relating to issues such as the notion of ‘decent work’, the role and contribution of migrant workers, and more broadly, the varying policy objectives embedded within the Nordic welfare model. Offering a detailed, multi-faceted analysis of tourism employment, this book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners interested in tourism employment in the region.




The Nordic Countries and the European Union


Book Description

In European policy-making, the Nordic countries are often viewed as a relatively coherent bloc; in international and European affairs the Nordic position has traditionally been conditioned on being different from and better than Europe. This book offers a coherent, original and systematic comparative analysis of the relationship between the Nordic countries and the European Union over the past two decades. It looks at the historical frame, institutions and policy areas, addressing both traditional EU areas such as agriculture and more nascent areas affecting the domestic and foreign policies of the Nordic countries. In doing so, it examines how the Nordic approach to European policy-making has developed and explains why the Nordic countries are similar in some respects while differing in others when engaging with EU institutions. In highlighting the similarities and differences between the Nordic countries it explores what lessons – positive and negative – may be drawn from this approach for the Nordic countries and other small states. This book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners engaged with the Nordic Countries, EU politics and policy-making, European politics and comparative politics.




The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries


Book Description

Popular music has come to play a significant role in the political and cultural history of the Nordic countries. Research on the region's culture has largely followed national narratives created by political and economic institutions, even as cultural life in the region--which spans a large area of northern Europe and the North Atlantic--displays more complex geographies and evolving global dynamics. As the first of its kind, The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries offers a series of exemplary studies of music in these transnational dynamics in the specific context of the region's cultures and natural environments, written by the foremost experts in the field. Chapters highlight and challenge music's place in exotic images of the North and in transnational environmentalism, tourism, racism, and media industries. The Handbook illustrates how transnational dynamics evolve and shape musical life and the institutional spheres of policy, education, and research.




Nordic Tourism


Book Description

Tourism is an increasingly important industry in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) that is integral to economic, social and sustainable development. Nordic Tourism is the first comprehensive and accessible introduction to tourism in the region and also includes case studies from leading Nordic researchers on specific destinations, attractions, resources, concepts and issues.




Nutritional and Health Aspects of Food in Nordic Countries


Book Description

Nutritional and Health Aspects of Food in Nordic Countries provides an analysis of traditional and ethnic foods from the Nordic countries, including Norway (and Svalbard), Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands). The book addresses the history of use, origin, composition and preparation, ingredient origin, nutritional aspects, and the effects on health for various foods and food products in each of these countries. In addition, readers will find local and international regulations and suggestions on how to harmonize regulations to promote global availability of these foods. - Provides insight into the varieties of food and food products available in the Nordic countries - Presents nutritional and health claims that are either based on opinion and/or experience, on scientific evidence, or on both - Contains a framework to determine whether these northern European foods meet local and international regulatory requirements - Offers strategies to remedy those foods that do not meet local and international regulatory requirements