Particularities of the Nordic: Challenges to Equality Politics in a Globalized World

The Nordic countries are in international rankings included as some of the most gender equal societies in the world (see e.g. the Global Gender Gap Index and the Gender Equality Index developed by the European Gender Equality Institute, EIGE), and scholars have demonstrated that the discourse and politics of women’s rights and gender equality has become an intrinsic part of the Nordic national identities and politics of belongings (Gullestad 2006). In spite of these achievements, Nordic scholars suggest that the increasing impact of globalization present major challenges for addressing multiple inequalities in power and resources (Melby et.al. 2008; Siim and Skjeie 2008). The chapter aims to analyse the challenge from globalization to the Nordic welfare and gender regimes and discuss the potentials and limits of this approach to equality from historical and comparative perspectives. The main research question is how to redesign equality politics to address intersecting inequalities according not only to gender and class, but also according to age, ethnicity and nationality. This in turn raises theoretical and normative questions about how to reframe the Nordic approach to equality and justice from intersectional and transnational perspectives.