| ISSN: | 1640-1808 |
How Nordic Solidarity Failed the COVID-19 Test: Uncoordinated Pandemic Responses and the Decline of Nordic Health Cooperation
1
Faculty of Social Sciences (SAM), OsloMet, Norway
Submission date: 2023-07-25
Final revision date: 2024-01-26
Acceptance date: 2024-02-12
Online publication date: 2024-04-02
Publication date: 2024-04-02
Corresponding author
Problemy Polityki Społecznej 2024;65(2):1-26
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The inability of Nordic governments to coordinate their COVID-19 pandemic responses on social distancing and travel restrictions has puzzled observers and raised concerns for the future of Nordic cooperation. However, little academic attention has been directed so far to the collective Nordic response to the pandemic. In a first comprehensive account of Nordic health coordination and cooperation during the pandemic, this article investigates a paradox: how did one of the oldest regional unit in Europe, with the current ambition of becoming the “most sustainable and integrated region in the world in 2030”, become one of the most inconsistent and divided once the pandemic hit? This paper argues that the recent developments have roots in the overall decline of the Nordic regional model. Increasingly based on broad commitments and informal coordination, Nordic solidarity has showed its limits in a time of crisis – leaving the Nordic project on the brink of marginalization between the domestic and European levels.
FUNDING
This paper is part of the HARBOR project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101024986.
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| ISSN: | 1640-1808 |
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