Johan Strang – författare

This book explores the history of Nordic human rights politics and practices from the 1930s to present day. The authors use previously unexplored archival materials to bring to light how a broad range of Nordic actors have engaged with international human rights globally and at a European level and how these norms have been taken up and interpreted in the region. Do the Nordic countries warrant the label ‘global good Samaritans’ in human rights promotion? Is the Nordic welfare state a close to perfect realisation of human rights norms? Or do Nordic international and domestic human rights policies constitute a peculiar ‘Nordic human rights paradox’ where norms are supported internationally while not being implemented at home? Are the ideals of the national welfare state and universal human rights compatible? In this book, the authors take issue with previous scholarship and argue for the need for careful historical investigations into how a broad range of Nordic actors have contributed to creating international human rights. This history is much more varied than what was previously assumed. The lack of prior interest in the region means there are several promising avenues for historical investigations of both the Nordic countries in human rights history and the role of human rights in the history of the region. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Nordic Journal of Human Rights.

This book explores the history of Nordic human rights politics and practices from the 1930s to present day. The authors use previously unexplored archival materials to bring to light how a broad range of Nordic actors have engaged with international human rights globally and at a European level and how these norms have been taken up and interpreted in the region. Do the Nordic countries warrant the label ‘global good Samaritans’ in human rights promotion? Is the Nordic welfare state a close to perfect realisation of human rights norms? Or do Nordic international and domestic human rights policies constitute a peculiar ‘Nordic human rights paradox’ where norms are supported internationally while not being implemented at home? Are the ideals of the national welfare state and universal human rights compatible? In this book, the authors take issue with previous scholarship and argue for the need for careful historical investigations into how a broad range of Nordic actors have contributed to creating international human rights. This history is much more varied than what was previously assumed. The lack of prior interest in the region means there are several promising avenues for historical investigations of both the Nordic countries in human rights history and the role of human rights in the history of the region. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Nordic Journal of Human Rights.

This book explores historically and theoretically Nordic peace as a marker of identification, ontological (in)security and regional branding. It emphasizes how conceptions of Nordic peace have been translated into policy practices and how it has maintained its relevance over time.The book distinguishes between the Nordic region as a region of peace, a prime example of a Deutschian security community, and as a region for peace, cultivating the role of a global humanitarian norm promoter and peacebuilder, but also interrogating how these two understandings of Nordic peace have been mutually constitutive and interdependent. The book discusses the politics of ‘Nordic peace’, analyzing what the concept does and enables, and why it continues to endure and exert affective appeal. Furthermore, it considers contemporary challenges, not least connected to the implications of the war in Ukraine, but also the potential future opportunities facing ideas of Nordic peace as Nordic peace is refashioned, once again, towards a new regional and global context.This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Peace Research, Nordic or Scandinavian Studies, History, Nationalism Studies, Critical Security Studies and International Relations.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book explores historically and theoretically Nordic peace as a marker of identification, ontological (in)security and regional branding. It emphasizes how conceptions of Nordic peace have been translated into policy practices and how it has maintained its relevance over time.The book distinguishes between the Nordic region as a region of peace, a prime example of a Deutschian security community, and as a region for peace, cultivating the role of a global humanitarian norm promoter and peacebuilder, but also interrogating how these two understandings of Nordic peace have been mutually constitutive and interdependent. The book discusses the politics of ‘Nordic peace’, analyzing what the concept does and enables, and why it continues to endure and exert affective appeal. Furthermore, it considers contemporary challenges, not least connected to the implications of the war in Ukraine, but also the potential future opportunities facing ideas of Nordic peace as Nordic peace is refashioned, once again, towards a new regional and global context.This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Peace Research, Nordic or Scandinavian Studies, History, Nationalism Studies, Critical Security Studies and International Relations.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The recent crises in global economy and in European integration have caused a considerable revival of interest in the Nordic Welfare Model. However, less attention has been given to the ways in which the nations that form Scandinavia or ‘Norden’ are connected through various forms of inter- and transnational cooperation. With contributions from a team of experts in the field, this volume analyses Nordic cooperation in a European perspective and argues that this special form of transnational cooperation has been crucial in the development of the Nordic Welfare Model. In addition, it also contends that the Nordic model of transnational cooperation is a relevant case study when pondering the present problems of European integration.This text will be of key interest to students, researchers and policy makers studying the Nordic Model and transnational cooperation and more generally to those interested in European studies, Scandinavian studies, welfare studies, international relations and regional integration.

The recent crises in global economy and in European integration have caused a considerable revival of interest in the Nordic Welfare Model. However, less attention has been given to the ways in which the nations that form Scandinavia or ‘Norden’ are connected through various forms of inter- and transnational cooperation. With contributions from a team of experts in the field, this volume analyses Nordic cooperation in a European perspective and argues that this special form of transnational cooperation has been crucial in the development of the Nordic Welfare Model. In addition, it also contends that the Nordic model of transnational cooperation is a relevant case study when pondering the present problems of European integration.This text will be of key interest to students, researchers and policy makers studying the Nordic Model and transnational cooperation and more generally to those interested in European studies, Scandinavian studies, welfare studies, international relations and regional integration.

The terms ‘Nordic’ and ‘Scandinavian’ are widely used to refer to the politics, society and culture of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. But why have people felt the need to frame things as Nordic and why has the adjective Nordic become so prominent? This book adopts a rhetorical approach, analysing the speech acts which have shaped the meanings of the term. What do the different terms Nordic and Scandinavian have in common, and how have the uses of these terms changed in different historical periods? What accounts for the apparent upsurge in uses of the rhetoric of Nordicness in the 2010s? Drawing on eight case studies of the uses of Nordic and Scandinavian from the nineteenth century to the present day, the book explores the appeal and the flexibility of the rhetoric of Nordicness, in relation to race, openness, gender equality, food, crime fiction, Nordic co-operation and the Nordic model. Arguing that ‘Nordic’ and ‘Scandinavian’ are flexible and contested concepts that have been used in different, often contradictory and inherently political ways, the book suggests that the usage of the term has evolved from a means of creating a cultural community, to forging political co-operation and further to marketing models in politics and popular culture. The rhetorical approach also shows how many of the hallmarks of Nordic political culture, such as the Nordic model, Nordic gender equality or Nordic openness are more recent conceptualisations than usually assumed. As such, the book argues for the need to turn attention away from analysing the different components of Nordicness into studying how, when, and for what purpose different features were made Nordic.