Ethnic diversity, social policy and the Scandinavian welfare states: Similar or different policy responses?
Year: 2011
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: It is widely acknowledged that immigration – and integration policies in the Scandinavian countries differ in several ways: Denmark is known for its very harsh tone and many rigorous rules, while Sweden is often idealized as a country founded on diversity, pluralism and equality. What has in particular been in focus in previous research is the rhetorical level (how the political elite in the three countries ‘talk’ about immigration and integration issues) and the political climate. From this literature it appears striking, how different issues of immigration and integration policy have been political debated and discursively constructed in Sweden and Denmark. But the question is whether these differences also holds true at the practical policy level (output)? At the other hand, when it comes to welfare policies, and the institutional and political structure of the three Scandinavian welfare states in general, the existence of a distinct ‘Scandinavian welfare model’ is widely acknowledged and all three countries are in general seen as very ambiguous when it comes to living up to ideals about solidarity, universalism, equality and redistribution. But is this fairly harmonic picture of a Scandinavian welfare model downsized, when we are dealing with immigrants? The paper sheds light on these two rather broad questions by examining recent reforms of income maintenance schemes in Denmark, Norway and Sweden specifically targeted at newly arrived immigrants as well as long-term receivers of social assistance with an immigrant background during the last 20 years (1990-2010). To which extent to we see similarities versus differences and what are the implications of these reforms?
Author: Karen Nielsen Breidahl
Institution: Aalborg University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2183372737