The interdisciplinary research project Nordic Branding investigated how the imaginaries of the Nordic region, countries, and models are constructed and appropriated and used in politics and in law.
In scholarship, there is no shortage of glowing descriptions of the region’s global performance. The Nordics are ‘moral superpowers’ (Dahl 2006), ‘agents of a world common good’ (Bergman 2007), ‘havens of gender equality’ (UN-CEDAW 2003), and the ‘referent’ for welfare states (Esping-Andersen?1990).
Our starting point was that these striking and consistent descriptions of the Nordics were suggestive of a “brand” – specific, simple, and stable. These statements, however correct or not, can be themselves treated as research objects. We can ask how and why did these ideas and narratives of exceptionalism emerge? Who drove their development? And how are they used strategically in politics and practice?
The project also seeks to advance the theory of branding, particularly its use as?an analytical concept.
The project involved 42 researchers from the University of Oslo and beyond. The disciplines covered included law, sociology, criminology, psychology, history, political science, economics, marketing, and anthropology.
Project Leader and Cross-Cutting projects: Eirinn Larsen
Social Welfare Pillar: Sidsel Roalkvam
Gender Equality Pillar: Inger Skjelsb?k
Rights & Democracy Pillar: Malcolm Langford
Project Coordinator: Charlotte Aslesen
Host: Department of Public and International Law
Administrative contact person: ?yvind Henden
Cooperation
The project brought together leading branding experts with experts on social models from the University of Oslo and fourteen other institutions in the Nordic region and UK. These included:?
Dataset of indexes - the Nordics in global rankings
In an effort to map and study how global indices affect nation branding, Nordic Branding researchers developed a dataset of 78 global indices.
Project background
The dataset assists in research projects designed to investigate the claim that Nordic countries top every global ranking, and understand the drivers of global rankings, asking how indices shape societal success, politics, and identity. Assuming that global rankings have an effect on global and national perceptions, indices may play a role in nation and policy branding. The dataset allows one to study the dynamics of nation branding and the creation of a ‘Nordic brand’ through investigating how the Nordics actually perform. The project does not study whether the indices are accurate. Given the diversity of indices, where only some are annual, the rankings span across many years.
Variables
The dataset includes information about who publishes the index, which sources of data make out the foundation for the index, which issue areas the indices cover, and the rank of Nordic countries in the last available index (01.07.2020). On publishers, the dataset separates between research institutes, international organizations, civil society, interest group/corporations, and states, to be able to study whether certain groups dominate specific issue areas. The issue areas identified are social, economic, infrastructure, governance, global contributions (i.e. aid), global perspectives, and gender.?
Methodology
Indices from the data were identified partly through targeted searches and partly based on a list collated in Cooley A and Snyder J (eds) (2015) Ranking the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The project team developed the coding manual, and the data was hand coded by two researchers at Nordic Branding/UiO:Nordic.
Do-gooders at the End of Aid
Book project on 'Branding Nordic Humanitarianism in the 21st Century'
How has gender equality been branded as a central element of the Nordic model? And how is it politicized in different contexts? The book project on Gender Equality as branding took a closer look.
About the book project
This book aimed at studying the so-called Nordic model of gender equality as an imaginary as well as an activity of imagining. Our focus was to investigate these processes outside as well as inside the Nordic region, in the recent past as well as in present. Former studies of this model have focused mostly on the policy development and achievements of individual Nordic states, or the Nordics as a region. The Nordic model of gender equality has also been studied by politicians and bureaucrats world-wide, looking for new solutions to old questions, or the reverse – referred to as a model to avoid. Together with the rising index-industry, these former studies have reinforced the notion of the Nordics as especially woman-friendly. Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, but also Denmark and Finland perform well in the global indexes. But, how is gender equality used in imagining the Nordics countries, by whom – when and where? And for what purpose and with what result?
The strong and persistent image of the Nordics as so-called ‘havens of gender equality’ is an invitation to scholars to rethink the approaches we use when studying the Nordic model of gender equality. We approach the Nordic model of gender equality as a transnational imaginary and practice of imagining, which is different from seeing it as a fact. Instead, we examine the construction and use of ideas related to the development and circulation of country specific policies of gender equality, the societal organization of the Nordic countries, the structure of the economy, the role of the state and the perception of its long-lasting egalitarian culture. The chapters in the book explore the politics of imagining when it comes to gender equality and branding the Nordics, taking a critical look at the Nordic policies and practices related to this imagining This practice or activity has an almost unlimited number of actors and agents from an almost unlimited number of countries and places. We will just cover some of them in this book, including how the Nordic countries’ are imagining themselves by the aid of gender equality.
In this way, the book also show how gender equality has been a major force in the processes of branding the Nordics: The politics of imagining has helped creating gender equality as a Nordic brand.
Events
Gender Equality as Branding: Moving Beyond Nordic Exceptionalism
This project gathered scholars to examine the branding of Nordic aesthetics inside and outside of the Nordic region.
Nordicness, or Nordicity, is a prominent theme today in the cultural industries. Nordic design and fashion, new Nordic cuisine, or Nordic noir are just a few among numerous familiar cultural expressions in the Nordic countries and outside of them. These aesthetics are often facilitated by economic competition but also political projects that depict or promote a Nordic model.
Events
Conference 30-1 December 2017: Branding Nordic Aesthetics
Publication
The project will produce an edited volume on Nordic Aeasthetics.
What is the role of the Nordics in international and transnational criminal justice??
For more than a century, the internationalization of criminal justice has evolved along two paths, which correspond to two distinct fields of research: one associated with law enforcement and policing, and another with human rights and international law. On one hand, certain crimes with an international connection - organized crime, terrorism, money laundering and tax evasion - are historically linked to national law enforcement, the police in particular, and to street-level crime. On the other hand, specific crimes of international concern – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other kinds of ‘crimes of the powerful’ – are associated with the high politics of foreign ministries, and have generated the creation of new international institutions, such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the permanent International Criminal Court.
This project?contributed new perspectives on the discussion of the relationship between the high and the low politics of transnational criminal justice by investigating the linkages between the two from a Nordic perspective. By zooming in on Nordic approaches to criminal justice, the workshop will analyze the connection between high and low politics in judicial, penal and police cooperation. As different national ideas and practices of criminal justice engage other national systems, the Nordic systems are often perceived and promoted as having ‘exceptionally’ positive characteristic such as low imprisonment rates and ‘humane’ prison conditions. By investigating Nordic criminal justice cooperation with particular attention to high and low politics, law and policing, the workshop will contribute new perspectives on how these countries have interacted with other systems and what role the perception and promotion of their own system have played in these interactions.
Events
Workshop Mar. 1-2, 2018: Nordic exceptionalism in the high and low politics of justice-making elsewhere
The purpose of the project was to?explore how international law has been constructed and applied in Nordic public spheres and abroad.
Background
International law has traditionally enjoyed significant attention in the Nordic countries. It occupies an important position in domestic debate and is often thought to have significant influence on relevant policy areas. Nordic governments have an outspoken ambition to comply with international law and to promote further development of the international legal system. International law has also occupied an important place in Nordic legal scholarship and there is a long history of joint Nordic discourse on topics of international law, with dedicated Nordic conferences and specialist journals such as the Nordic Journal of International Law. Since the early 20th Century, several international lawyers from the region have made important contributions to the development of international law, theoretically and practically.
At the same time, there has been ambivalence, even opposition, in the Nordic states towards international norms and instruments. This contradictory position has been historically less visible but has been the subject of growing research; and in the past few years this ambivalence is much more recognizable in government policy. In the field of human rights, expulsion of foreign citizens and restrictive measures towards refugees and migrants, perception of the Nordics as exceptional in respecting and implementation of international law has come under challenge. Moreover, various legal cases in the ICJ and elsewhere have challenged the idea that Nordic conceptions of international law are necessarily universal.
Focusing on Nordic conceptions, understandings and scripts allows for a broader investigation of the position and relevance of international law in the Nordic societies. The application of a Nordic perspective permits, on the one hand, comparisons between the five Nordic countries. On the other hand, it provides a basis for confirming or challenging the common perception that there is a joint Nordic perspective on international law.
Nordic peace raises many questions about;?the emergence and development of Nordic peace, how Nordic peace has become internalized in the self-identity narratives of the different nations, and the extent to which, in more recent years, Nordic peace has become reconceptualised as a brand.
Background
The Nordic countries are often held up as exemplars in debates about international politics. Be it in terms of their proclaimed environmentalism, their promotion of gender equality, or their support for humanitarian causes and multilateral peace support through the United Nations, the Nordic countries are often depicted as world leaders. In particular, the region is frequently characterized as almost unique in having managed to escape the otherwise (apparently) ubiquitous security dilemma and its attendant logics of mistrust and mutual suspicion, which it is claimed necessitate that states adopt a cautious and limited approach towards multilateral cooperation. In contrast, the region is often depicted as comprising a prima facie example of a Deutschian security community (Deutsch et al 1957), a region where stable expectations of peaceful change prevail and upon which the successful development of Nordic economic development has depended.
Although questions can be raised about this image – not least because the so-called Nordic peace was preceded by the occurrence of numerous wars (Wiberg 2000), while even during its proclaimed existence fractious intra-Nordic disputes have not been uncommon (Archer and Joenniemi 2003) – the image continues to be upheld. Indeed, this image has been internalized such that regional leaders often depict Norden as being fundamentally ‘world leaders in peace’. Indeed, to this extent, peace has often been depicted as a Nordic export and competitive edge, with this no less evident than in the extent to which the region is often depicted as possessing unique expertise in conflict resolution and where Nordic peace has become cultivated as a global brand (Browning 2007) – most evident in the annual awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Events
Conference 18-19 March, 2019: Nordic Peace revisited?- Call for papers.
The Implementation Paradox: Child Rights in Norway
An interdisciplinary book project on measuring child rights in Norway edited by Malcolm Langford, Marit Skivenes, and Karl S?vig.
Background
Within a short span of twenty-five years, the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC) has emerged as a central yardstick in assessing policies and practices concerning children. While many of the key elements in the CRC were legally embedded in Norwegian law before ratification, the treaty has helped trigger a series of legal and institutional reforms. It is also notable that in the nascent global index on children’s rights (Kids Rights Index), Norway performs exceptionally well on certain output indicators, particularly health, life and policy environment.
However, the level of compliance and implementation by Norway with the CRC continues to attract criticism in a number of areas. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has been particularly critical in the areas of asylum, child protection, disability and poverty. These concerns and others are not only championed by non-governmental organisations and the Children’s Ombudsmen but are reflected in the scholarly literature. Norway also scores poorly on children’s rights to education and protection in the Kid’s Rights Index.
While various reports have provided a comprehensive overview of Norway’s performance on children’s rights, few offer a rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. This book would therefore seek to provide a complementary perspective with a focus on quantitative measurement (with in-country and comparative European-specific indicators) and a richer interpretive gloss through grounded qualitative research. For instance, the afore-mentioned Kid’s Rights Index suffers from numerous design and reliability problems making its general usefulness doubtful.
Project
This project sought to analyse the current state of implementation of children’s rights in Norway. It assessed whether the current structural framework contributes to real change for children and young people. The project was initiated and is supported by Save the Children Norway. The organisation is especially interested in identifying the extent to which policies and laws successfully incorporate and implement children’s human rights in the public and private sphere, particularly in areas where children’s rights are especially vulnerable.
In addition to the book project, we will publish a report (in Norwegian) summarizing findings on measuring?child rights in Norway.
Editors
Malcolm Langford, Professor, University of Oslo
Marit Skivenes, Professor, University of Bergen
Karl S?vig, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Authors
Asgeir Falch-Eriksen, Senior Researcher, Oslo Metropolitan University
Christian Wendelborg, Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Elisiv Bakketeig, Senior Researcher, Oslo Metropolitan University
Hadi Str?mmen Lile, Associate Professor, ?stfold University College
Hilde Lidén, Research Professor, Institute for Social Research
Hilde ?vrljuga S?tre, Research Fellow, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Inger Aasgaard, Adviser, Utlendingsnemnda
Ingrid Egeland Thorsnes, Policy Officer, European External Action Service
Jan T?ssebro, Professor,?Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Karl S?vig, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Kirsten Sandberg, Professor, University of Oslo
Kristin Skj?rten, Researcher, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Studies
Linda Gr?ning, Professor, University of Bergen
Malcolm Langford, Professor, University of Oslo
Marit Skivenes, Professor, University of Bergen
May-Len Skilbrei, Professor, University of Oslo?
Nina Drange, Researcher, Statistics Norway
Tone Fl?tten, Managing Director, FAFO
Tori Loven Kirkeb?, Researcher, University of Oslo
The Limits of the Legal Complex: Nordic Lawyers and Political Liberalism
An interdisciplinary, collaborative book project.
Sitting atop most global indexes on core civil rights (not to speak of political and social rights), the Nordic states seem curiously devoid of visible legal complexes; representing seemingly the antithesis of turbocharged legal adversarialism (Kagan 2001; Hirschl 2011). If such a Nordic phenomenon exists, it might undercut the empirical (and normative) thrust of the legal complex project. Not only is the legal profession absent in struggles for political liberalism but this grouping appears relatively unimportant for its survival and sustenance.
This collaborative project brought together leading scholars working on the legal complex and/or the politics of the legal profession in the Nordic states. The objective was to interrogate possible Nordic exceptionalism and its implications for prior research on the legal complex.
Authors
Malcolm Feeley, Professor, University of California (Berkeley)
Malcolm Langford, Professor, University of Oslo
Esa Konttinen, Professor, University of Jyv?skyl?
Hans Petter Graver, Professor, University of Oslo
Johan Karlsson Schaffer, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg
Mikael Rask Madsen, Professor, University of Copenhagen / Director of iCourts, Centre of Excellence
Ragnhildur Helgadóttir, Professor, Reykjavik University
Book launch- Limits of the Legal Complex: Nordic Lawyers and Political Liberalism
Nordic Branding along with the research group Law, Society, and Historic Change are launching the book Limits of the Legal Complex: Nordic Lawyers and Political Liberalism edited by Professor Malcolm Langford and Professor Emeritus Malcolm Feeley (UC Berkeley).
Time and place:?May 11, 2022 3:00 PM?–?4:15 PM,?Rettshistorisk samling,Domus Bibliotheca, UiO
The book questions the view that political lawyers are required for the development of a liberal political regime, with case examples across the Nordic region. Its contributors consist of high profile academics from across the region.
The book is available for purchase at the Oxford University Press website. It is also published on Open Access and is available at the same link.
The book launch takes place in Rettshistorisk samling on the ground floor of Domus Bibliotheca at the central city campus, Faculty of Law. The venue can be accessed via the the building's old library.
Programme
15:00-15:10 Introductory remarks by editor Malcolm Langford
15:10-15:35 Talk by book contributor Johan Karlsson Schaffer (University of Gothenburg)
15:35-15:45 Comments by Dag Michalsen
15:45-16:15 Discussion
Description from the OUP website
This insightful volume provides a comprehensive account of the history and politics of lawyers of the last 200 years in the Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. Topping most global indexes of core civil rights, these states have been found to contain few to no visible legal complexes. Where previous studies have characterized lawyers as stewards and guardians of the law that seek to preserve its semi-autonomous nature, these legal complexes have emerged in a manner that challenges the standard narrative. This book offers rational choice and structuralist explanations for why and when lawyers mobilise collectively for political liberalism. In each country analysis, authors place lawyers in nineteenth century state transformation and emerging constitutionalism, followed by expanding democracy and the welfare state, the challenge of fascism and world war, the tensions of the Cold War, and the latter-day rights revolutions. These analyses are complemented by a comprehensive comparative introduction, and a concluding reflection on how the theory of the legal complex might be recast, making The Limits of the Legal Complex an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners alike.
Contributors
The book is edited by Malcolm Langford and Malcolm Feeley.?The contributors of the book are?Johan Karlsson Schaffer (University of Gothenburg),?Mikael Rask Madsen?(University of Copenhagen),?Hans Petter Graver,?Esa Konttinen?(University of Jyv?skyl?), and?Ragnhildur Helgadóttir (Reykjavik University).
Malcolm Langford is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo and one of the editors of the book.
Johan Karlsson Schaffer is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Global Studies, the University of Gothenburg and contributed the chapter ?Sweden: The legal complex in struggles for political liberalism?.
Dag Michalsen is Professor of Legal History at?the University of Oslo and is the leader of the research group?Law, Society, and Historic Change.
2021
Closing Conference: Nordic Branding – the Politics of Exceptionalism
The closing conference of the project Nordic Branding—The Politics of Exceptionalism takes place 21.-22. October 2021. Highlights are a keynote lecture by Nadia Kaneva on “Simulation Nations” and presentation of new books on branding and circulating Nordic humanitarianism, gender equality, criminal justice, lawyering and the welfare model.
Time and place:??–?,?Professorboligen, Digital
Information
The Nordics have been described as ‘moral superpowers’, ‘agents of a world common good’ and ‘havens of gender equality’. Over the last five years, the Nordic Branding project has investigated how these labels of exceptionalism emerged and asked: How were these images constructed? Who created them? How are they circulated and maintained? And how are they used in politics and practice?
The closing conference of the project, supported by UiO:Nordic, is a bookend for our official work and offers a time to reflect on the work that has been done, as well as being a?step in the ongoing work?of brand research.
The event begins with a keynote speaker from the University of Denver—Nadia Kaneva. She will deliver the keynote lecture “Simulation Nations: Hypermediation and the Remaking of the National”.
The event features a series of panels with researchers from the universities of Oslo, South-Eastern Norway, Helsinki, Gothenburg,?S?dert?rn, Warwick, Aarhus, Southern Denmark, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute,?and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) on the construction and circulation of Nordic models, cooperation and identity in diverse fields.
A special feature is many of the newly published and submitted books:
The event, titled "World Champions of Gender Equality" ("Verdsmeistrar i likestilling") explores the Nordic brand of gender equality: Its historic trajectory,?how we "prove" this brand through ex. global indexes, and how this brand?is used by the Nordics domestically and internationally. It also asks how realistic this brand really is.
The event is part of a lecture series called Constructions of the Nordic?("Konstruksjoner av Norden") and all of the upcoming lectures in the series can be found in the National Library's event calendar (nb.no).?
The lecture is free and open to the general public. Tickets can be reserved through the National Library's website. It is not necessary to reserve tickets to gain entry, but it does guarantee a seat. The lecture will also be streamed online at the National Library's website as well as on Facebook.
Further information
Eirinn Larsen is the project leader for Nordic Branding and Professor of History at the University of Oslo.
29th May 2021: "Vikingar: Nordens mest kjente merkevare?" with Jón Vi?ar Sigur?sson
Discussion at The Norwegian Festival of Literature about Vikings as a commercial brand for the Nordic region?and its cultural value globally.
The event takes place physically in Lillehammer, Norway, but digital participation?is also available.
"Vikingar: Nordens mest kjente merkevare?"?takes place on Saturday the 29th May, and features Professor of History and?Head of the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History?Jón Vi?ar Sigur?sson, as well as Bergsveinn Birgisson,?Mona Ringvej, and Tore Skeie.?
The event explores the concept of Vikings as a commercial brand for the Nordics- and its cultural value globally. Both historians and?
This event is made in collaboration with the University of Oslo.
Further information
Jón Vi?ar Sigur?sson?is the Head of the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (IAKH) and is Professor of Medieval History at the same department.
The Norwegian Festival of Literature takes place between 25th and 30th May, 2021.?
27th May 2021: "Litter?r festaften" with Eirinn Larsen and Tore Rem
An event at?The Norwegian Festival of Literature which discusses the Nordic region and what we are known for- gender equality, democracy, societal balance, and?the projection of these?brands.
The event takes place physically in Lillehammer, Norway, but digital participation?is also available.?
?"Litter?r festaften"?takes place on Thursday 27th May.?Our project leader?Eirinn Larsen?and?the Director of UiO:Nordic?Tore Rem, as well as?Bergsveinn Birgisson, Birger Emanuelsen,?Cathrine Holst, Jon St?le Ritland, Kalle Moene,?Lars Mytting, Marit Eikemo,?Nils Petter Molv?r, and Tore Renberg.
This event discusses the Nordic region and what we are known for- gender equality, democracy, societal balance. It involves a discussion about precisely?these - or the projection of these - societal values?between?Eirinn Larsen, Kalle Moene, Cathrine Holst and?Tore Rem.
Further information
Eirinn Larsen?is the leader of Nordic Branding and?professor of History at the University of Oslo.
Tore Rem?is the director of UiO:Nordic and is?Professor of English Literature at the?University of Oslo.
The Norwegian Festival of Literature take place between 25th and 30th May, 2021.?
2020
Explaining Swedish Exceptionalism on COVID-19: Nordic Perspectives
Is the Swedish approach to Covid-19 exceptional? Can we explain the approach based on history or the political system? In this webinar we bring together scholars and scientists from the Nordic countries to try to explain the divergence.?
Time and place:??–?,?https://uio.zoom.us/j/68916251448
Background
During the last two months, differences in Nordic approaches to Covid-19 have attracted global attention. Sweden's milder lockdown has puzzled observers that have associated the state with strong forms of social control, with its “corona model” now being hailed by the American right.
Moreover, Sweden’s divergence from its neighbors in the early stages of the lockdown has raised questions about the idea of a collective Nordic model.? It has triggered intense cross-Nordic debates – as journalists and opinion defend vigorously their own national approach – and provided a natural experiment for researchers. The differences between the Nordics provide a foundation for comparative research on managing pandemics in countries so often considered similar."
Weighing in on the ongoing debate, we seek?to explain the Swedish approach from a Nordic perspective. The idea is to unpack 'Swedish exceptionalism', considering how or whether the difference in approach to Covid-19 is an exceptional case, or if it follows from the history and political context of the different Nordic countries. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, we hope to have a fruitful discussion on the political, administrative and social differences between the countries, in order to better understand the diverging Nordic approaches.
The panel
Bo Rothstein, Professor, University of Gothenburg
Bo Lidegaard, Author and Managing Director, Macro Advisory Partners-Europe, and former Editor in Chief of Politiken
Johan Strang, Professor, University of Helsinki
Kristin Sandvik, Professor, University of Oslo?
Moderators
Professor Tore Rem, University of Oslo / Professor Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo
Participants include experts in the field from all the five Nordic countries. Contributions to the seminar will form part of an edited book to be published in English, most likely with Oxford University Press.
The seminar is free and open to those interested, but registration is necessary.?
Program
June 6
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch
12:30: Welcome. Dag Michalsen, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
12:35 Panel 1: Theory and Trends
Chair: Malcolm Langford, Professor, University of Oslo
Small States, Geopolitics and Nordic Constructions of International Law. Iver Neumann, Institute Director NOVA, Oslo Metropolitan University
Scandinavian Realism and International Law.?Johan Strang, Lecturer, University of Helsinki
International Courts and Nordic Politics.?Mikael Madsen, Professor, University of Copenhagen
Concluding Comment.?Geir Ulfstein, Professor, University of Oslo
14:30 Coffee and cake
15:00 Panel 2: Structural Themes in International Law
Chair: Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Law of the Sea.?Kristina Siig, Professor, Syddansk Universitet
International Economic Law.?Ivar Alvik, Professor, University of Oslo
Security Law and Institutions.?J?rgen Skjold, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Concluding Comment.?Kjersti Lohne, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oslo
16:15 Coffee break
16:30 Panel 3: Structural Themes in International Law
Chair: J?rgen Skjold, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Migration.?Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Professor, University of Copenhagen
Human Rights.?Johan Karlsson Schaffer, Docent, University of Gothenburg
Concluding Comment.?Anne Hellum, Professor, University of Oslo. Amanda Cellini, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
19:00 Dinner for speakers?
June 7
09:00 Panel 3: Nordic Actors in International Relations
Chair: Ivar Alvik, Professor, University of Oslo
Nordic Professor-Politicians and International Law.?Dag Michalsen, Dean, University of Oslo
Nordic Judges in International Courts.
Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Malcolm Langford, Professor, University of Oslo
?yvind Stiansen, Researcher, University of Oslo
Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.?Daniel Behn, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Concluding Comment
Alla Pozdnakova, Professor, University of Oslo
Tori Loven Kirkeb?, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
11:30 Planning and way forward. Dag Michalsen, Malcolm Langford, Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen, Ivar Alvik, J?rgen Skjold
In contemporary political mythology Norden is both a region of peace – a quintessential Deutschian ‘no-war’ security community of social cohesion and societal resilience – and a region for peace – as active proponents of multilateral peace support, humanitarian and development aid and a rules-based international order. Although questions can be raised about this image it is one that endures, with regional leaders often depicting the Nordic countries as being ‘world leaders in peace’. Indeed, peace has often been portrayed as a Nordic export and competitive edge, with this no less evident than in how the region is often described as possessing unique expertise in conflict resolution and where Nordic peace has been cultivated as a global brand – most evident in the annual awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Given the prevalence of such images it is surprising that academic analyses of the phenomenon have been relatively limited. Those that do exist have generally sought to account for the emergence and endurance of Nordic peace either by arguing that it was a product of the Cold War balance of power and/or that it has been fundamentally reliant on the region’s (proclaimed) high levels of cultural commonality and convergence. Both explanations can be challenged. However, broader questions related to the historical development of Nordic peace, its mobilization in foreign policy and its infusion into the identity politics of the region have received less coverage. Meanwhile, discussion of contemporary challenges and potential opportunities for Nordic peace is limited. With the ‘post-Cold War era’ now increasingly depicted as over, and in a context of new regional, European and global challenges, the time is ripe for revisiting theoretical and empirical debates about Nordic peace, and in particular considering how ‘Nordic peace’ is being re-inscribed for a new age.
Program
March 18
Public event - PRIO, Hausmanns gate 3
10:00 – 10:30: Key note - Peter Wallensteen, Professor, Uppsala University
Moderators: Torunn Tryggestad (PRIO) and Malcolm Langford (UiO)
10:30 – 12:00 Panel discussion
Moderators: Torunn Tryggestad (PRIO) and Malcolm Langford (UiO)
Ingibj?rg Gissladottir, Director,?OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Kai Eide, Former diplomat, Norway
Pernille Kardel, Diplomat, Denmark
Pertti Joenniemi, Senior researcher, University of Copenhagen
The Lutheran heritage and political developments in the Nordic community, Hans Morten Haugan, Professor, VID Oslo
Revisiting the early Nordic Peace Movement: Fredrik Bajer and the Pan-Scandinavian Origins of 'Nordic Peace', Frederik Forrai ?rskov, PhD fellow, University of Helsinki
End of Nordic Peace, Johan Strang, Professor, University of Helsinki
15:00?– 15:15?Coffee
15:15?– 17:00?Panel 2 – Nordic peace identities and brand(s)
Moderator: Inger Skjelsb?k
Mapping Nordic Cooperation and the potential of the “Nordic peace brand”, Isabel Bramsen and Anine Hagemann, Postdoc and PhD fellow University of Copenhagen
Nordic Peace between geopolitics and status, Kristin Kam?y, Griffith’s Asia Institute
A Community of the Like-Minded or Geopolitics of Small States? Development as Peace in the Nordic Commitment to NIEO in the 1970s and Agenda 2030 in the 2010s, Carl Marklund, Postdoc, S?dert?rn University
Finnish Commitments to a Post-Cold War CSCE and a New Russia, Bradley Reynolds, PhD fellow, University of Helsinki
18:30 Conference dinner for participants at Süd?st
March 19
09:00 – 10:30 Panel 3 Theorizing Nordic Peace
Moderator: Marko Lehti
Stuck in the middle with you, Benjamin de Carvalho and Hallvard Leira, Senior researchers NUPI
Are we a happy family? A sociology of Norden, Thiago Babo, PhD Fellow, Unviersity of S?o Paulo
Nordic identity without Nordic Peace? Ontological security in the 21st century, Matilda Af Hallstrom, PhD Fellow, University of Helsinki
Fantasy, Ontological Security and the Stickiness of the Nordic Peace Brand, Christopher Browning, Professor, University of Warwick
10:30 – 10:45 Coffee
10:45 – 12:15 Panel 4 - Nordic Peace as model for others
Moderator: Malcolm Langford
Exporting Nordic Peace: Can the Nordic Model Operate in the Postsocialist EU? Robert Imre, Researcher, University of Tampere
‘‘Sae come aa ye at hame wi’ Freedom’: Imagining Scotland’s future role and relationship with a Nordic-style peacebuilding’, Struan Kennedy
Time’s arrow: Adaptation in the Norwegian peace and its discursive mechamism, Javier Fabra-Mata, Norwegian Church Aid
The Nordic countries are often held up as exemplars in debates about international politics. Be it in terms of their proclaimed environmentalism, their promotion of gender equality, or their support for humanitarian causes and multilateral peace support through the United Nations, the Nordic countries are often depicted as world leaders. Nordic peace, however, also raises many questions. Theoretically and historically important questions can be asked as to how the emergence and development of Nordic peace can be best explained and accounted for.
There are also important questions to consider as to how Nordic peace has become internalized in the self-identity narratives of the different nations, and the extent to which, in more recent years, Nordic peace has become reconceptualised as a brand. It is also important, therefore, to consider how Nordic peace has been integrated into the foreign policy approaches of the different nations, and also to interrogate the extent to which (self-)understandings of Nordic peace may have changed over time. This latter is particularly pertinent in a context of renewed militarism within the region, where Nordic peace is being refashioned towards a new regional and global context.
The aim of this event is to invite reflections from a set of uniquely knowledgeable observers who have different experiences and observations to discuss the trajectories, manifestations and challenges of the concept of Nordic Peace.
Program
10:00– 10:05: Welcoming remarks by PRIO director Henrik Urdal
10:05 – 10:30
Key note - Peter Wallensteen, Professor, Uppsala University
10:30 – 12:00 Panel discussion?
* Ingibj?rg Gissladottir, Director, ODIHR (OSCE)
* Kai Eide, Former diplomat, Norway
* Pernille Kardel, Diplomat, Denmark
* Pertti Joenniemi, Senior researcher, University of Copenhagen
* Peter Wallensteen, Professor, Uppsala University
Moderators: Torunn Tryggestad (PRIO) and Malcolm Langford (UiO)
About the panel
Ingebj?rg Gissladottir is Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Gissladottir was Minster of Foreign Affairs on Iceland from 2007-2009, and has previously served as country representative to UN Women in Afghanistan.
Kai Eide is a former Norwegian diplomat. While working as a diplomat Eide served as UN Special Representative to Afghanistan and Special Envoy to the UN Secretary General in Kosovo and has served as ambassador for Norway to OSCE and NATO.
Pernille Kardel is a Danish diplomat with more than 25 years of experience from diplomacy and international cooperation. Most recently she served as UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon. Before that she was the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Pertti Joenniemi is a researcher at the Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland. Joenniemi previously worked as a?senior research fellow at the Danish Institute for International Studies at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI).
Peter Wallensteen is Senior Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and Senior Research Professor Emeritus?of Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame.?Until 2015 he directed the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) and led the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University 1972-1999.
Whereas both diplomacy and peace processes used to be virtually all male terrains with little concern for gender issues, diplomatic interactions have recently seen a large influx of women and much more focus on gender justice. In 2018, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege for their work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. We invite you to an afternoon of talks and discussion of these groundbreaking developments.
What is a feminist foreign policy, and does it work?
What difference does the entry of women into diplomacy make?
How do international efforts address sexualized violence in conflict?
Ambassador Ann Bernes from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs will speak about the experiences of pursuing a feminist foreign policy, and leading researchers on gender, diplomacy and peace from the GenDip Program at the University of Gothenburg and the Centre on Gender, Peace and Security of PRIO (Peace Research Institute in Oslo) will present their latest research findings. Among these researchers, professor Inger Skjelsb?k of PRIO is a deputy member of the Nobel Committee that selects the annual Nobel Peace Prize.
Gender Equality as Branding: Moving Beyond Nordic Exceptionalism
Nordic Branding is hosting a publication-driven workshop on Gender Equality June 20-21.
Time and place:??–?,?Refsnes Gods
The Nordic Gender Equality Model brand emerged in the 1990s after a period of strong Nordic State feminism and emergence of prominent female politicians. Gender-conscious family policies and female quotas for corporate boards represent its two most distinguishable features. These policies also reinforced and helped modernise the welfarist dimensions of the general Nordic brand. This workshop will explore how (i) gender equality has been branded as a central element of the Nordic model; and (ii) how it is politicized in different contexts.
2017
Branding Nordic Aesthetics
International conference on branding Nordic aesthetics in Oslo.
Nordicness, or Nordicity, is a prominent theme today in the cultural industries. Nordic design and fashion, new Nordic cuisine, or Nordic noir are just a few among numerous familiar cultural expressions in the Nordic countries and outside of them. These aesthetics are often facilitated by economic competition but also political projects that depict or promote a Nordic model.
This conference will gather scholars to examine the branding of Nordic aesthetics inside and outside of the Nordic region. The conference organisers aim to focus on studies at the meeting point of aesthetics and industry, or of art and business, in a socio-political context.
Program
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 30
11:30 WELCOME
Welcome and Lunch
12:30 PANEL 1 Chair: Mads Mordhorst, Copenhagen Business School
‘The emotional value of Sweden’: The advertising industry and professionalized export promotion in the 1950s. Nikolas Glover, Uppsala University
Branding Democracy. Jeff Werner, Stockholm University
13:30 BREAK
13:35 PANEL 1 CONTINUES Chair: Mads Mordhorst, Copenhagen Business School
Nordic Branding and the Politics of Exceptionalism Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo
Discussion
15:00 BREAK
15:15 PANEL 2 Chair: Veronique Pouillard, University of Oslo
‘The Nordic’ as Style. Ingvild Torsen, University of Oslo
Norwegian Wood: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Ecological Design. Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo
16:15 BREAK
16:20 PANEL 2 CONTINUES
Chair: Veronique Pouillard, University of Oslo Mads Mordhorst, Copenhagen Business School
Discussion
19:30 DINNER Dinner for speakers at Brasserie 45, Stortingsgaten 20, 0161 Oslo
FRIDAY DECEMBER 1
09:00 PANEL 1 Chair: Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo
Valhalla Modernism: The Aesthetic Branding of ‘Danish Hygge’. Malene Breunig, University of Southern Denmark
Cultural inspired packaging design in an age of global influence. Margaret Rynning, Westerdals Oslo School of Art, Communication and Technology (presenting) and Nancy Takeyama, Nanyang Technological. University School of Art, Design and Media
Profiling Danish Design – Fashioning and Maintaining the Everyday as
Aesthetic Brand. Mads Nygaard Folkmann (presenting) and Hans-Christian Jensen, University of Southern Denmark
10:30 BREAK
10:45 PANEL 2 Chair: Andreas M?rkved Hellenes, University of Oslo/Sciences Po
tourism and place branding. Anne Marit Waade, Aarhus University
The Reinvention of Nordic Terroir and the Making of Gastrotourism Places. Szilvia Gyimothy, Aalborg University
Branding the Nordics and clothing the world – Helly Hansen before the
new Millennium. Bj?rg Holsvik, ?stfoldmuseene
12:15 LUNCH
13:00 PANEL 3 Chair: Patrick Bernhard, University of Oslo
Dugnad for the Displaced. Kristian Bj?rkdahl, University of Oslo
‘Norway could be Europe’s green battery’ – The forming of the narrative of Norway as a leading renewable energy producer (1880-1945). Julia Erol, University of Trondheim/Heidelberg University
Nordic Happiness and Swedish Solutions. The Swedish Pavilion at Expo’37 in Paris. Andreas M?rkved Hellenes, University of Oslo/Sciences Po
Nordic Branding Kick-Off Conference
The conference will contain plenary sessions to discuss analytical themes, present research plans, and decide on the future schedule for Nordic Branding.
Nordic Branding Kick-Off Conference, Refsnes Gods Hotel
Day 1, Monday 12 June 2017
The bus leaves at 10:30 from Universitetsplassen (Address: Karl Johans gate 47) Estimated arrival at Refsnes gods: 11:45
1. Opening Session: 12:00-13:00
Welcome: Malcolm Langford, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
Presentations:
Branding Nordicity Christopher Browning, Reader, University of Warwick Comment: Exporting Nordicity Kjersti Lohne, Postdoctoral Fellow in Criminology, University of Oslo
Lunch 13:00-14:00
2. Cross-Cutting: 14:00-15:45
Introduction: Véronique Pouillard, Associate Professor of History, University of Oslo
Presentation: Studying Agents and Audiences Mads Mordhorst, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School
Roundtable:
Branding Agents Svein Ivar Angell, Associate Professor of History, University of Bergen
Nordic Cooperation Johan Strang, Lecturer, University of Helsinki
The Image and Public Diplomacy of the Nordics Andreas M?rkved Hellenes, PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo and Sciences Po Paris.
Coffee 15:45-16:15
3. Social Welfare and Humanitarianism: 16:15-18:15
Introduction: Sidsel Roalkvam, Associate Professor, SUM, University of Oslo
Presentation: Branding Nordic development cooperation. Sunniva Engh, Associate Professor of History, University of Oslo
Roundtable I:
The Nordics and Empire. Kristian Bj?rkdahl, Researcher, SUM, University of Oslo
Branding Nordic Humanitarianism. Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Professor of Legal Sociology, University of Oslo
Roundtable II:
Nordicity and Peace. Cecilia Bailliet, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
Development and Gender. Anne Hellum, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
'The Ebola Crisis and Norwegian branding. Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée, Research Assistant, SUM, University of Oslo
Dinner at hotel restaurant: 19:30.
Day 2, Tuesday 13 June 2017
4. Gender Equality: 9:00-11:30
Introduction: Inger Skjelsb?k, Associate Professor in Social Psychology, University of Oslo
Presentation:
Nordic Prostitution Model. May-Len Skilbrei, Professor of Criminology, University of Oslo (with P. ?stergren)
Roundtable I:
Gendered diplomacy. Ann Towns, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Gothenburg
Nordic Branding of Gender. Sigrun Marie Moss, Research Fellow in Social Psychology, University of Oslo
Coffee
Roundtable II:
Branding Suffrage. Eirinn Larsen, Associate Professor of History, University of Oslo. A Maria M?rk, M.A. Student in History, University of Oslo
Branding Gender equality. Irma Erlingsdóttir, Associate Professor and Director Center for Gender Research, University of Iceland
Nordic Masculinity.? Karen Victoria Lykke Syse, Associate Professor, SUM, University of Oslo
Lunch & Pillar Planning 11:30-12:30
5. Rights, Democracy and Environment: 12:30-14:15
Introduction: Johan K. Schaffer, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Gothenburg
Presentation:
Crimmigration: A New Nordic Model? Katja Franko, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
Greening the Nordics. Hallvard Notaker, Associate Professor of History, University of Oslo
Roundtable:
Norway, Religion and the European Convention on Human Rights. Kjersti Brathagen, Lecturer, H?gskolen i Telemark, Norway
The Ombudsmen.? Ole Kristian Fauchald, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
Nordic criminal models. Johan Boucht, Professor, Faculty of Law
Branding the Nordics to Roma.? Dorina Damsa, Research Fellow in Criminology, University of Oslo
Nordic Business and Human Rights Practices Tori Loven Kirkeb?, Senior Executive Officer, PluriCourts, The University of Oslo
6. Closing Session - Way Forward 14:30-16:00
Introduction: Haldor Byrkjeflot, Professor of History and Academic Director of UiO:Nordic, University of Oslo
The bus leaves at 16:15 from Refsnes gods
Estimated arrival at Universitetsplassen: 17:30
In media
What is Norway as a brand?
A podcast episode from Morgenbladet discusses Norway as a brand: Perceptions about the country's values, achievements, and character.? Features project leader Eirinn Larsen and project participant Kristian Bj?rkdahl.
Norway: Uncovering Gender and Branding in the Nordics with Eirinn Larsen
A new podcast episode from Nordics.info featuring our project leader Eirinn Larsen. The overall theme of the episode concerns gender equality as a Nordic brand.
The full episode can be found under?Nordic.info's own webpage as well as on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and many other podcast outlets.
Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen guest appearance on DR Deadline
Professor Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen appeared as a guest on the Danish broadcaster DR's programme Deadline on 14th May, 2020.?Gammeltoft-Hansen appeared on the TV programme to discuss legal as well as economic consequences the global pandemic has caused in the world.?
EKKO: Sp?rretimen- Norsken, svensken og dansken
Eirinn Larsen was a guest at the NRK radio programme EKKO on 20. October 2020.
An interview by Markus Bernsen, published on 10. August 2020, which centres around cruise ships as a symbol of capitalism and what has happened to the cruise industry after the pandemic, particularly with the disease outbreak on the cruise ship Diamond Princess.
Cruise ship industry and the pandemic
An interview by Markus bernsen, published on 17. December 2020, which centers around the death of cruise ship mogul?Knut Ullstein Kloster, which occured simultaneously as the cruise ship industry as a whole was nearing rock bottom in light of the COVID-pandemic.
Universitetsplassen LIVE: The Nordics in the world 2020
A half-hour long panel about the many perceptions and images of the Nordic region and how they might have been affected by the events of 2020.? Took place on 12. August, 2020 between 16:00 and 16:30.?The participants were Hilde Sandvik, Sunniva Engh, and Malcolm Langford. The panel was moderated by Sondre H?laas.
