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Michael Bennedsen-Hansen is a PhD fellow at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School. For more information about Michael Bennedsen-Hansen click here.
From the outside, it is assumed that the populations of the Nordic countries are fairly homogeneous and that there is a relatively high level of gender equality and acceptance of different sexualities and diversity. In short, identity is not much of a problem. On closer examination, however, there are similar tendencies to elsewhere, such as more entrenched identities that can be both inclusive and exclusive. Feelings of identity can give a sense of belonging, or potentially lead to polarisation between different groups. Nevertheless, ‘Nordic’ identity does, at least to some extent, appear to happily co-exist with those of the five nation states (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) as well as other layers of identity.