This book discusses the interrelationship between practices of collective self-interpretation, in this case national identity construction, and integration policies, using the example of Denmark and Sweden. Though both countries are considered to be socially progressive and modern, not least by themselves, the author makes the novel and provocative argument that both Denmark and Sweden are caught in a (discourse) paradox when it comes to integration policy, which stands in the way of successful immigrant integration. The author uses an innovative approach to reconstruct the Danish and the Swedish national identity by using social studies schoolbooks and novels as research material, thereby adding an interdisciplinary dimension to the book. About the author Marilena Geugjes is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Germany. She earned her doctorate in Political Science at Heidelberg University. Her research focuses on migration and integration policy, local politics, and the role of the police. .

This book discusses the interrelationship between practices of collective self-interpretation, in this case national identity construction, and integration policies, using the example of Denmark and Sweden. Though both countries are considered to be socially progressive and modern, not least by themselves, the author makes the novel and provocative argument that both Denmark and Sweden are caught in a (discourse) paradox when it comes to integration policy, which stands in the way of successful immigrant integration. The author uses an innovative approach to reconstruct the Danish and the Swedish national identity by using social studies schoolbooks and novels as research material, thereby adding an interdisciplinary dimension to the book. About the author Marilena Geugjes is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Germany. She earned her doctorate in Political Science at Heidelberg University. Her research focuses on migration and integration policy, local politics, and the role of the police.

The four Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway, have all held referenda on their relationship to the European Union in the 1990's. These referenda catalysed heated debates: should Finland and Sweden give up neutrality? Should Denmark follow the European Union's move towards higher degrees of integration? And, had there been enough change in Norway to reverse the rejection of European Community membership in 1972? These key questions about the future of European integration are addressed in this highly topical book by examining the crucial role played by national identity.

This volume includes chapters by junior and senior scholars hailing from Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania, all of whom sought to understand the social and cultural implications surrounding how people take responsibility for the ways they speak or write in relation to a place—whether it is one they have long resided in, recently moved to, or left a long time ago. The contributors to the volume investigate ‘responsibility’ in and through language practices as inspired by the roots of the (English) word itself: the ability to respond, or mount a response to a situation at hand. It is thus a ‘responsive’ kind of responsibility, one that focuses not only on demonstrating responsibility for language, but highlighting the various ways we respond to situations discursively and metalinguistically. This sort of responsibility is both part of individual and collectively negotiated concerns that shift as people contend with processes related to globalization.

This collection addresses the ways that Nordic countries have approached the issue of bringing ethnic minorities into the societal mainstream. With multicultural incorporation as an option, the authors explore the potential impact of the politics of identity in societies with social democratic welfare states committed to redistributive politics.

Transnational tendencies have led to a pluralistic legal environment in which emerging and established legal actors, regulatory levels and types of legal norms co-exist, compete and interact in complex ways. This challenges and changes not only how legal norms are created, applied and enforced but also when these actors, norms and processes are considered legitimate. The book investigates how states and non-state actors interact in transnational settings and pays attention to the understudied question of what effect transnational tendencies have on the legitimacy of legal actors, norms and processes. It seeks to confront three fundamental questions: Has legitimacy significantly changed? Who creates norms and with which consequences for legal procedures and norms? The book considers the question of legitimacy from a broad range of legal perspectives, including environmental law, human rights law and commercial law. It maps out the contours of legitimacy today with an emphasis on the reactions of central actors like states and courts to transnational tendencies. The book thereby provides a conceptually powerful structure within which to further debate the complexity of transnational tendencies in law and proposes innovative approaches to problem solving while designing pathways for further reflection on the development of law in a transnational context.

This open access book shows how the politics of migration affect community building in the 21st century, drawing on both retrogressive and progressive forms of mobilization. It elaborates theoretically and shows empirically how the two master frames of nostalgia and hope are used in local, national and transnational settings, in and outside conventional forms of doing politics. It expands on polarized societal processes and external events relevant for the transformation of European welfare systems and the reproduction of national identities today. It evidences the importance of gender in the narrative use of the master frames of nostalgia and hope, either as an ideological tool for right-wing populist and extreme right retrogressive mobilization or as an essential element of progressive intersectional politics of hope. It uses both comparative and single case studies to address different perspectives, and by means of various methodological approaches, the manner in which the master frames of nostalgia and hope are articulated in the politics of culture, welfare, and migration. The book is organized around three thematic sections whereby the first section deals with right-wing populist party politics across Europe, the second section deals with an articulation of politics beyond party politics by means of retrogressive mobilization, and the third and last section deals with emancipatory initiatives beyond party politics as well.