Abstract

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden today all enjoy a reputation for strong labour movements, which in turn are widely seen as part of a distinctive regional approach to politics, collective bargaining and welfare. But as this volume demonstrates, narratives of the so-called “Nordic model” can obscure the fact that experiences of work and the fortunes of organized labour have varied widely throughout the region and across different historical periods. Together, the essays collected here represent an ambitious intervention in labour historiography and European history, exploring themes such as work, unions, politics and migration from the early modern period to the twenty-first century.

“Enhanced with the inclusion of illustrations, tables, maps, and a seven-page index, [this volume consisting of] thirteen erudite and informative articles by experts in the field of labor and trade unionism is very highly recommended for college and university library International Studies in Social History collections in general, and European Labor and Trade Unionism History supplemental studies reading lists in particular.” · Midwest Book Review

“Though these essays range widely, they are held together by an excellent common effort to set each chapter within the broader Nordic context. This is a top-rate contribution to the historiography on European labour movements.” · David Kirby, University College London

“This welcome book provides very interesting and well-argued views on a rich variety of topics in recent and current Nordic labour history research, and on the current state of art in Nordic labour relations and movements.” · Pauli Kettunen, University of Helsinki

Mary Hilson is Professor of History at Aarhus University, Denmark. She is the author of Political Change and the Rise of Labour in Comparative Perspective: Britain and Sweden 1880-1920 (2006) and The Nordic Model: Scandinavia since 1945 (2008).

Iben Vyff is Head of Communication at Elsinore Museums, Denmark. Her research has been concerned with the cultural turn in Cold War studies, Americanization and gender. She is co-author of Dansk Skolehistorie: Hverdag, vilkår og visioner gennem 500 år, which received the History Book of the Year Award from the Danish History Council in 2015.

Silke Neunsinger is Associate Professor in Economic History and Director of Research at the Swedish Labor Movement Archives and Library. Her research has been concerned with feminist labour history, the history of social movements and methodology. She is currently working on a global history of equal remuneration.