The Nordic Welfare State in Three Eras: From Emancipation to Discipline

摘要

Welfare state literature usually classifies the Nordic states as social democratic, more or less institutionally frozen throughout time. This book challenges the 'frozen hypothesis', arguing that during the last three decades the social democratic institutional arrangements underwent a deep-seated normative shift, replacing their emancipatory elements linked to Keynesian-type full employment policies, with disciplinary elements brought about by the workfare policies instigated along with the notion of building a competitive state in the new global environment. To account for these changes, Kananen embarks upon a macro-historical analysis attempting to map them out a la longue duree.