Reputation

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.

In the early 1900s, Japanese progressive intellectuals, writers, and feminist activists questioned their country’s quest for power and looked to Scandinavia for an alternative modernity. The Scandinavian modern breakthrough peaked in Japan in the 1910s and 1920s on the back of a burgeoning interest in Nordic literature, philosophy and political thinking. Its influence weakened in the 1930s and then returned from 1945 onwards, evident in the voices of advocates for pacifism, neutrality and women’s rights. Its influence can arguably still be felt today.

The Nordic countries are globally renowned as states that embrace gender equality. However, the region also has a rich history of feminist activism at the grassroots level. This history includes activism undertaken during ‘second wave’ feminism, from the late 1960s to the 1990s. During this period of time the women’s movements benefitted from interactions with non-Nordic political and cultural forces, and were influenced by resources and literature from outside the Nordic region.

The Arctic is a circumpolar region centered on the North Pole, home to diverse human populations, landscapes, vegetation, and wildlife. The climate is harsh supporting a fairly restricted range of occupations, including fishing and hunting, service industries and resource development.

The Nobel Peace Prize can be seen as a symbol of both the regular cooperation between among Nordic countries and an expression of their neutrality. Like the other four original Nobel Prizes, the Nobel Peace Prize was established by the last will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833–96).

The idea and funds for the Nobel prizes originated in the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel who died in 1901. Recipients can be both individuals and organisation. Categories are Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace and recipients are selected by various committees based at institutions in Sweden and, in the case of the peace prize, a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Selection has at times come under intense debate and criticism.

A tendency towards neutrality during conflicts exists in all the Nordic countries, although Sweden was the only Nordic country that remained (more or less) neutral during the Second World War and the Cold War. Finland has also strived for a policy of neutrality during and after the Cold War. Denmark and Norway have not permitted NATO bases and nuclear weapons on their territories, and Iceland has never maintained military forces of its own. That said, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway were founding members of NATO, there is a NATO base on Greenland, and Denmark has been engaged in several armed conflicts since the Gulf War in 1990.