Conclusion and Perspectives

The insight that the Nordic model is an ambiguous concept is almost as old as research on the Nordic model. In this volume, we have made the ambiguity our point of departure. Several chapters in this book have analyzed how Nordic models were strategically constructed and used by networks and stakeholders outside the Nordic region. Other chapters have discussed how Nordic policy ideas and cultural concepts move between different spheres and diffuse into new fields and sectors. We also explore how to link the domestic, Nordic, and international levels. Throughout the book, we have focused on the empirical circulation, translation, and diffusion of the models. Currently the idea of a joint Nordic model is somewhat challenged by the different approaches to handling the Corona pandemic.

The Nordic model is an ambiguous concept. It changes, it flows, and it emerges in new fields with new carriers and purposes. This insight is almost as old as research on the Nordic model, but in this volume, we have made the ambiguity our point of departure and integrated it as part of our approach. We sketch out this approach in Chapters 1 (Introduction) and 2. Here we stress how the idea of a Nordic model is not only a matter of balancing similarities and differences between the Nordic nation states, as is most often the case in previous research, but also a matter of studying the influence of external factors, and to link the domestic, Nordic, and international levels. While the ‘Nordic model’ thus for the most part has been used in the singular, our empirical studies in this volume have demonstrated it is a rather plastic and pluralistic concept.