Debating Multiculturalism in the Nordic Welfare States

Like many other Western democracies, the Nordic countries have vigorously debated whether it is necessary to find new ways of incorporating ethnic minorities into the larger society, leading to the need to decide whether to enter into experiments in multiculturalism or to resist such a prospect. This edited collection addresses the varied ways that four countries have addressed the issue of the inclusion of ethnic minorities - including both old minorities and recent immigrants. Because of their robust social democratic welfare policies, these nations constitute an important research site for exploring the ways in which the politics of identity and recognition play out in societies committed to redistributive politics. Put simply, can the goals of the welfare state and those of multiculturalism coexist in harmony? Are they capable of being mutually reinforcing? Or will they inevitably be at loggerheads, operating in what amounts to a zero-sum game: redistribution at the expense of recognition and vice versa?

Peter Kivisto is the Richard A. Swanson Professor of Social Thought at Augustana College, USA. He has published widely including The Migration-Development Nexus (with Thomas Faist), Incorporating Diversity, and Multiculturalism in a Global Society.

Östen Wahlbeck is Senior Lecturer at the Swedish School of Social Science at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is the author of Kurdish Diasporas: A Comparative Study of Kurdish Refugee Communities.

1. Debating Multiculturalism in the Nordic Welfare States; Peter Kivisto and Östen Wahlbeck
2. Multiculturalism: From Heterogeneities to Social (In)Equalities; Thomas Faist
3. Multiculturalism 'From Below': Reflections of an Immigrant Ethnographer; Ewa Morawska
4. Nordic Multiculturalism: Commonalities and Differences; Hugo Stokke
5. Conceptual Change in Postwar Sweden: The Marginalization of Assimilation and the Introduction of Integration; Mats Wickström
6. Understanding Swedish Multiculturalism; Karin Borevi
7. Danish Anti-multiculturalism? The Significance of the Political Framing of Diversity; Sune Laegaard
8. 'Let's Get Together': Perspectives on Multiculturalism and Local Implications for Denmark; Garbi Schmidt
9. Multiculturalism or Assimilation? The Norwegian Welfare State Approach; Grete Brochmann and Anne Britt Djuve
10. Norwegian Multicultural Debates in a Scandinavian Comparative Perspective; Yngve Lithman
11. Multiculturalism and Nationalism: The Politics of Diversity in Finland; Pasi Saukkonen
12. Multicultural Finnish Society and Minority Rights; Östen Wahlbeck
13. Reflections on the Future of Multicultural Inclusion in the Nordic Countries; Peter Kivisto and Östen Wahlbeck