The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States

This book proposal offers a coherent and significant contribution to the contemporary collaborative modes of the Nordic welfare states.  We provide critical perspectives on the collaborative turn in the Nordics and elaborate on how coproduction plays out in policies, civil society, and institutional changes in public and civil organizations. Co-production through partnerships and collaboration with citizens, the public sector, and civil society is on the political and administrative agenda of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. However, the degree and shape of co-production differ among the four countries. Many place coproduction as the (new) answer to well-known challenges of Nordic welfare states, such as increasing complexity, wicked problems, democratic deficit, and economic scarcity - and now situating a welfare state in transformation. This is also the case if we investigate the international arena for coproduction. However, an interesting difference underlines the importance of Nordic research. The current body of theories and concepts within the field of coproduction has been initially developed in the context of the so-called ‘residual’ welfare states such as Great Britain, the US, Holland, and Belgium. This context differs significantly from the social democratic welfare states of the Nordic countries in terms of the ‘contract’ between the citizens and the welfare state and the role of the public-service professionals. Consequently, important questions arise, addressing the specific conditions for co-production in the Nordic welfare states – that this book seeks to address. The Nordic welfare model provides a global point of interest. Thus, the collaborative turn in Nordic dressing is to be investigated for its potential, pitfalls, and if this is a transformation or an adaptation. Linda Lundgaard Andersen  is Professor at the Department of People and Technology at Roskilde University, Denmark. Bernard Enjolras  is Director in the Center for the research on civil society and voluntary sector and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research (ISF), Oslo, Norway. Ari Nieminen is Senior Lecturer at Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, Finland. Johan Vamstad is Associate Professor at the Center for Civil Society Research, Marie Cederschiöld University