Reputation

Watch a 10-minute film on why modern business people like to compare themselves to their vision of the Vikings.

Listen to a podcast on how some of Sweden’s policymaking successes and failures since the Cold War have been perceived in Sweden itself as well as outside the region

Listen to a podcast on interplay between popular culture and the ’real’ world.

The real or imagined cultural history of the Nordic countries (taken individually, in small groups or in their entirety) is a useful tool not to be disregarded lightly. The assets of Nordicity can be seen from varying perspectives, including the anthropological, ideological and the political. But the path of Nordic culture needs to be trodden with care: At its worst, it can provide succour for anti-democratic forces and uncertainty in a time when the security of the nation state is highly valued. At its best, it can provide a useful alternative to the national or European level, as a historically-rooted asset that adjusts to new interpretations and uses.

Scandinavian “socialism” has been oddly absent from the final stages of the recent US election. It is possible to trace the arguments for and against ‘Scandinavian’ policies of different kinds in the American left and right from the 2016 election campaign until recently. However, the “socialism” that both the American right and left previously thought they saw in Scandinavia is no longer as unequivocal after the challenges of the coronavirus and the new fault lines of a meandering election campaign.

Christian II (1481-1559) ruled Denmark and Norway from 1513 to 1523 as well as Sweden for some of that time, from 1520 to 1521. In Sweden he has been remembered as the instigator of a bloody massacre, whereas in Denmark he has been lauded as a supporter of the poor against the aristocracy.

Folklore is a phenomenon found in all cultures. Falling under the umbrella of what is now called ‘intangible cultural heritage’ by UNESCO, it encompasses everything from Finnish improvisational rap and medieval eddic poetry to internet memes or wearing a crown of candles on St Lucia’s day. Nordic folklore research has played a significant role in establishing folklore studies as a discipline and has made an impact on folklore research around the world.

All Nordic countries, excluding Iceland, have exported weapons to countries involved in armed conflicts or violating human rights during the post-Cold War period. As Nordic countries often speak for peace and humanitarian work in the international arena, their arms exports have repeatedly drawn criticism. However, Nordic countries have also been highly active in establishing international treaties to restrict arms exports, including their own. In Finland, civil society has been an important player in post-Cold War conventional arms control and has certainly played a role in the state joining the Mine Ban Treaty and the Arms Trade Treaty.

High rates of suicide are often connected with the Nordic countries and their apparently ‘socialist’ policies. Highlighting high suicide rates in Scandinavia can be traced back to at least the 1960s when foreign observers attempted to either undermine or legitimize the welfare states in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. These characterizations forced Scandinavian commentators to respond in diverse and interesting ways, sometimes invoking the spirit of regional solidarity against criticism from outside the region, other times acting competitively and combatively. In the process, the enduring myth of the extraordinarily ‘suicidal’ Scandinavians was born.