Diversity, Inclusion and Citizenship in Scandinavia - Hardcover

Diversity, inclusion and citizenship are highly contested concepts. This book sheds light on how the traditionally homogeneous welfare-states of Scandinavia struggle to develop as democratic societies in the globalisation era. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, migration from all parts of the world continues to challenge the idea of social citizenship-highly endorsed in the Scandinavian tradition.The volume brings new perspectives on immigration and integration strategies employed by the three countries, and their consequences for social and political relations. Presenting in-depth analyses, based on up-to-date empirical data, the 19 authors scrutinise a number of dilemmas related to diversity and inclusion in multicultural societies. Exploring tensions in terms of rights and obligations, participation and identity, the chapters provide new insights into the complexity of majority-minority interaction, political traditions and democratic legitimacy.Drawing on case studies as well as comparative analyses, the authors present new and original empirical findings, and they also offer important theoretical contributions to general social science discourses. Taken together the chapters provide an indispensable source, not only for those seeking to understand the current trends in Scandinavian integration policies, but also for those who are generally interested in issues of diversity, inclusion and citizenship.

Bo Bengtsson is Professor of Political Science at Uppsala University, Sweden. His main research interests are housing policy and politics, integration politics and ethnic organization, and qualitative methodology.Per Stroemblad is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Institute for Futures Studies and at Linnaeus University, Sweden. He conducts research on the relationship between structural conditions and political involvement, with a particular focus on the challenges of the multicultural society.Ann-Helen Bay is Director and Researcher at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo, Norway, and former Professor of Political Science at Oslo University College. Her main research interests are welfare politics and public opinion.The contributors to this book are political scientists and sociologists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.