Sustainable welfare policies in the making: Global challenges to the Nordic welfare model (SN4100)

There are no specific requirements for this course.

International exchange students select courses when applying for exchange.

Application deadline: 15 April.

In recent years, the Nordic countries have been put under stress by a number of global challenges: climate change, the financial crisis, digitalisation, migration, energy distribution, and demographic change. Such challenges have sparked political debate about how to adapt the Nordic welfare state systems in order to meet these crises, and still preserve the key characteristics of the model. 

This provides us with a lense to study political change and how it comes about, and the role of factors such as path dependency, austerity, agenda setting, ideology and interests, in policy making this again provides us with the tools to discuss if and how the Nordic model can sustain itself, and how the solutions and adaptations chosen sets it apart from welfare models in other countries and regions. How is sustainability addressed in these processes - and what are the normative foundations for the discussion?

The course is based on lectures, class exercises, homework assignments and assigned literature. Students are expected to read the course literature and actively participate in the course meetings, emphasising dialogue.

For more information about this course, take a look at the course description (student.oslomet.no).

There is no semester fee for exchange students.

The exam in the course is a supervised individual exam of six hours.