Citizenship in Nordic Welfare States: Dynamics of Choice, Duties and Participation in a Changing Europe

This book offers an innovative analysis of the ways in which the relationship between citizens and welfare states - social citizenship - becomes more dynamic and multifaceted as a result of Europeanization and individualization.

Written by interdisciplinary contributors from politics, sociology, law and philosophy, it examines the transformation of social citizenship through a series of illuminating case studies, comparing Nordic countries and other European nations.

Dealing with the following areas of national and European welfare policy, legislation and practice:

• activation - reforms linking income maintenance and employment promotion
• scope for participation of marginal groups in deliberation and decision-making
• impact of human rights legislation for welfare and legal protection against discrimination and social barriers to equal market participation
• coordination of social security systems to facilitate cross-border mobility in Europe
• pension reform - efforts to make pension systems sustainable.

Citizenship in Nordic Welfare States will be of interest to students and researchers of social policy, comparative welfare, social law, political science, sociology and European studies.

Bjørn Hvinden is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.

Håkan Johansson is Researcher and Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Växjö University, Sweden.