Nordic Associations in a European Perspective

Associations provide the most appropriate perspective to the Nordic conception of democracy. The book accepts this wisdom but argues that contrarily to conventional analyses, the specificity can only be shown if Nordic associations are analyzed both in a comparative and in an historically informed perspective.
An extensive historical introduction relates the development of the Nordic countries both to Western Europe and to each other. Then, in the following chapters, Denmark, Finland, Norway, or Sweden, or some of them are related to each other or to other European countries, and reflections are made on the relevance of the long historical time span.
An eloquent indication of the Nordic particularity is the importance of passive membership. It tells of the representation as the key quality of Nordic associations: it has been more important to belong, or to “be part of,” than to take part. But passive membership also poses the question of the viability of the Nordic association-based practices. Does the present “crisis of representation” signal the demise of the Nordic model, or can it serve as a springboard for new forms of vigilance?
The editors, Risto Alapuro and Henrik Stenius, both from the University of Helsinki, Finland, have worked extensively on the Finnish organizational life and political conflicts in a sociological-historical and comparative perspective.