Master of Arts Thesis Euroculture University of Groningen (Home) Uppsala University (Host)

Master of Arts Thesis

Euroculture

University of Groningen (Home)

Uppsala University (Host)

December 2009

Nordic Identity and European Identity:

Conflict or Coexistence?

The Case of Sweden

MA Programme Euroculture

Declaration

I, Ilona Filimonova hereby declare that this thesis, entitled “Nordic Identity and European Identity: Conflict or Coexistence? The Case of Sweden”, submitted as partial requirement for the MA Programme Euroculture, is my own original work and expressed in my own words. Any use made within it of works of other authors in any form (e.g. ideas, figures, texts, tables, etc.) are properly acknowledged in the text as well as in the List of References.

I hereby also acknowledge that I was informed about the regulations pertaining to the assessment of the MA thesis Euroculture and about the general completion rules for the Master of Arts Programme Euroculture.

Abstract

Keywords: Identity construction, Nordic identity, European identity, national identity, discourse

analysis, Sweden.

Nordic identity has often served as a political argument in the debates on European integration, proving that Norden is very different from and superior to Europe. Nordic identity is especially influential in Sweden, which has been regarded as ‘the model’ Nordic society. This paper focuses on the possibility of European identity construction in the Nordic region with Sweden as a case study. The research questions formulated in the paper are whether European identity can be formed in Sweden, is there is a process of European identity construction and how is the possible European identity related to Nordic identity, considering that they are supposed to be in conflict with each other.

The first chapter of the thesis examines theoretical basis for the research, with the concepts of collective identity and multiplicity of identities as the foundations for it. The second chapter analyses the notion of Nordic identity with a focus on Sweden. The last chapter provides implications of the discourse analysis theory which the research is based on and analyses selected speeches of Swedish government members thus following the formation of discourse on Europe in Sweden.

Abstract... 3

INTRODUCTION ... 5

CHAPTER 1. EUROPEAN IDENTITY IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE... 8

COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES... 8

MULTIPLE IDENTITIES... 10

HISTORICAL MYTHS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY... 11

EUROPE AS A COLLECTIVE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION... 12

THE IDEA OF EUROPE... 13

THE MEANINGS OF EUROPE... 15

CONCLUSION... 17

CHAPTER 2. NORDIC/SWEDISH IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION... 18

INTRODUCTION... 18

THE EMERGENCE OF THE IDEA OF NORDIC IDENTITY AND ITS EARLY DEVELOPMENT... 19

WELFARE STATE... 21

NEUTRALITY AND PEACEFULNESS... 25

CONCLUSION. NORDIC MEANING OF EUROPE... 27

CHAPTER 3. DISCOURSE WITHIN SWEDISH POLITICAL ELITE... 30

BASICS OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS THEORY... 31

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND NORDIC IDENTITY... 33

ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECHES... 35

CONCLUSION... 43

CONCLUSIONS... 45

Introduction

Nordic countries share many common features, such as geopolitical position, small size of the states, social-democracy, high degree of ethnic homogeneity. The countries of the region are also part of a discourse of Norden, highlighting cultural, political and moral peculiarities of the region1. When debating EU membership in Northern Europe, the issue of special Nordic identity often appears to be an important argument. When EU membership (or relations with EU) is discussed, it is often stated that for Nordic countries European integration is not a question of economics, but a question of psychology, identity and culture2. The idea of Nordic identity seems to be strong enough to serve as a political argument, though its existence is hard to prove and the notion itself has not been clearly defined. Nordic identity is particularly important in Sweden, which was the most powerful of the Nordic country and often looked upon as “the model” Nordic society. This is the main reason why I chose Sweden as a case study to research the relations between Nordic identity and possible European identity.

Sweden has been a full member of EU since 1995. The reason for application was the economic crisis which Swedish welfare system faced in the beginning of the 1990s. There was a big discussion considering joining EU among Swedish political elite whether Sweden should be “Europeanized” after many years of staying aside from European Union, or whether it should “Swedinize” Europe by promoting its missionary ideas, especially Swedish welfare state, on European level3. The reaction to entering EU within Swedish society was mixed and the resistance towards entering the Union was very strong. On the referendum on membership, only a slight majority voted for joining EU and it made the decision generally ambiguous, marking Sweden as a reluctant member state. In the 1990s EU agenda played a rather secondary role in Swedish politics4. Insecurity in public’s support made elite’s attitude towards membership confusing and unclear. However, recently the situation seems to be changing.

Swedish attitude towards the EU can be analyzed in different ways, and in my thesis I focused on the aspect of identity construction. European identity is regarded as an important component of integration process because the existence of shared identity ensures legitimacy of the Union. The existence of European identity or the possibility of its development is a highly debated topic. It is particularly interesting in the countries which are traditionally regarded as Eurosceptic,

1_{Hansen, L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European integration and national identity. The challenge of the Nordic states.}

Routledge, London and New York, p.11.

2_{Igebritsen, C. (1998). The Nordic states and European unity. Cornell University Press, p.98.} 3_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p. 145}

like Nordic states. The problem which I identified for my research was the possibility of European identity construction in the Nordic region and how it is being formed, if it is, with Sweden as a case study. The research questions are: Can European identity be formed in Sweden and is there a process of European identity construction? What are the relations between the possibly developing European identity and Nordic identity like?

My intention was to focus on the elite discourse, and not on the popular opinion, because identity is usually shaped and promoted by national elites. New ideas need to be adapted in the national context, and to be accepted they should resonate with national identity and national understanding. Thus I tried to explore whether European identity can correspond with Swedish self-consciousness and national myths and how the elites would try to reformulate the ideas about the country and Europe in order to change the perception of the EU.

The issues which need to be addressed in order to conduct this research are the following:  The concept of European identity;

 Multiplicity of identities and possibility of a conflict between multiple identities;  Nordic identity construction;

 The relation between Nordic identity and European identity;

 The relation between Nordic identity and Swedish national identity;  What is the role of Nordic identity in relations between Sweden and EU;  Elite discourse on Nordic and European identity.

For the last part of the thesis I apply method of discourse analysis. The discourse analysis theory was most relevant for this type of research because it focuses on the analysis of communications in politics, media or institutions and regards discourse as a form of social practice5. Through discourse social actors constitute identities, and identity construction is in the focus of this research.

For the first two chapters I used literary analysis, focusing on collective identity studies, concept of European identity and Nordic identity. The topic of Nordic identity in relation to European identity is not developed enough, particularly the current developments when many few Nordic countries are European Union members. This analysis represents an attempt to describe relations between Norden and Europe through the theory of identity.

5_{Wodak R., de Cillia R., Reisigl M., Liebhart K. (1999). The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh}

Chapter 1. European identity in theoretical perspective

Collective identities

The theoretical basis of my analysis is the concept of identity, which I understand here as a “group consciousness, collective ‘we’ feeling”, using Delanty’s definition6. The concept of identity is based on the following implications:

 Identity emerges in relation to social action and is constructed.  Identities are about self-understanding.

 Identity implies certain relation between self and the other, where both are constructed. Identity is based on a difference and exists within self-other relations.

 Identities can be overlapping and mixed7

.

Identity can be collective and individual, and since the focus of analysis in my thesis is the identity of Norden, it is important to note that identity can be formed in relation to places and regions. Regional identity forms a sense of belonging to a place and an idea that this particular place is different from other places8. The idea of a region is constructed socially and culturally through features seen as characteristics of the region, as customs, language, way of life, environment. Regional identity is perceived by both people within the region and people outside the region.

Collective identity is defined as a group self-understanding, a collective feeling of belonging. Collective identity exists when a group or a community is defined in contrast to other groups by attributing meaning to itself which is stable over time9. Identity links past social relations to the present and sometimes also includes future social relations, by relating to the ideas of salvation or mission, for example. As Eder argues, constructions of identity are formed within social relations of the present and are created in a way which allows permanent change of social relations to be written into identity so that society could see itself and be seen from the outside as having a constant identity through time10. Delany’s approach is that identity has flexible boundaries and can change with time and circumstances. But it is also argued that collective identities tend to be continuous and

6_{Delanty G., Rumford C. (2005). Rethinking Europe: Social theory and implications of Europeanization. Routledge,}

p.51

7

Ibid., p.51

8_{Jones, M., Olwig, K.R. (eds.). (2008). Nordic Landscapes Region and Belonging on the Northern Edge of}

Europe.University of Minnesota Press, p.11

9_{Eder K. (2009). A Theory of Collective Identity: Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity’. European}

Journal of Social Theory. Vol. 12 (4), pp. 427-447, p.428

10_{Eder K. (2009). A Theory of Collective Identity: Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity’. European}

rather durable, even if a large number of individuals within community do not have a sense of connection with it, because a community needs certain stability in its understanding of self.

Collective cultural identity is a “sense of shared continuity on the part of successive generation of a given unit of population”, “shared memories of earlier periods, events and personages in the history of the unit”, “a collective belief in a common destiny of that unit and its culture.”11 There are important differences between individual identity and collective identity. Individual identity is usually defined by situation, by the circumstances and can be optional.

Collective identity is rooted in the idea of group consciousness and focuses on the similarities and shared beliefs that a social group poses. Early analysis of the concept attached ‘core’ characteristics to collective identity, such as psychological features or regional characteristics which formed a sense of self12. But with rising critique towards essentialism and acceptance of the constructivist approach, collective identity began to be seen as being socially constructed and activated depending on present social or political situation. In an influential work by Benedict Anderson, national identity was defined as “imagined community”, which basically can be applied to any collective identity.

A collective identity does not summaries individual identities of group members, but as a whole constitutes a group consciousness. Delanty distinguishes between collective identities and wider societal or civilization identities - “cultural categories which can be the basis of different collective identities, but are not themselves identities in the same sense as more concrete collective identities”13. Societal identities are collective representations, “the ideas that symbolize the identity of a society”; they refer to self-understanding of a society14.

11_{Smith A. (January 1992). National Identity and the Idea of European Unity. International Affairs (Royal Institute of}

International Affairs 1944-). Vol. 68 (1). pp. 55-76, p. 58

12_{Cerulo K.A. (1997). Identity Construction: New Issues, New Directions. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 23,}

pp.385-409, p. 386

Multiple identities

Most scholars agree on the fact that individuals possess multiple identities, which may or may not overlap15. Multiple identities can be conceptualized in different ways. Feldman’s approach to ‘nested’ identities suggests nesting as a principle of organizing multiplicity of identities. The relationship between identities is then organized in a hierarchical way where identities are subunits of a wider identity or identities (for example, local – national - European)16. This approach is rather limited though and does not give an insight into largely overlapping and mixed identities. The other concept is crosscutting identities, which means that some members of one identity group can also be members of another17. The third way to conceptualize the relations between multiple identities is a ‘marble cake’. “The various components of an individual’s identity cannot be neatly separated on different levels as the concepts of nestedness and of cross-cutting identities both imply18”. It suggests that identity components are mixed and blended into each other and influence each other.

While researching the topic on multiple collective identities I found out that multiplicity of identities is mostly analyzed through psychological approaches and focus is on individual identity while finding theory of multiple identity in relation to social sciences proved to be problematic. But psychological theory has some assumptions which I found useful for my topic. In the contemporary psychological studies of the ‘self’ concept, it is acknowledged that self is differentiated and composed of multiple aspects. In case of social multiple identities, multiple selves are believed to be organized into a certain structure, since sociologists see society as being differentiated but still organized19.

It is typical for the researchers to regard self construction of multiple identities in hierarchical way, thus meaning that identities are ordered in relation to each other (Stryker, Rosenberg, Burke, Mc. Call and Simmons). Hierarchy can be formed in different ways, for example, Rosenberg based the organization on the concept of psychological centrality, where the components of self differ in the degree of centrality or peripherality, whether they are primary or secondary. The importance of the components of identity is defined by the individuals themselves in this model.20

15

Risse T. (August 2003). The Euro between national and European identity. Journal of European Public Policy. Vol. 10(4), pp. 487-505, p. 488

16_{Freeman M.A. (2003). Mapping Multiple Identities Within the Self-Concept: Psychological}

Constructions of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict. Self and Identity. Vol. 2(1), pp. 61-83, p. 67

17_{Risse T. (August 2003). The Euro between national and European identity. Journal of European Public Policy. Vol.}

10(4), pp. 487-505, p. 490

18_{Ibid, p.491}

19_{Stryker Sh., Serpe R.T. (1994). Identity Salience and Psychological Centrality: Equivalent, Overlaping, or}

Stryker suggests to structure the hierarchy of multiple identities on the basis of identity salience, which means “readiness to act out an identity as a consequence of the identity’s properties as a cognitive structure”21. Thus identities are organized according to the chance that they will be evoked in certain circumstances. Stryker applies the concept of identity salience in order to explain the priority of multiple identities. He suggests that identities which are higher in hierarchy have more probability to be activated and thus are more self-defining. In this way salience can be defined in behavioral terms rather than in psychological.22 Identity salience concept attempts to provide an answer to the question why one behavioral option gets chosen over another. “The relative salience of identities is a function of commitment to the roles to which the identities are attached” where commitment is defined by social and personal costs of not fulfilling a role based on the identity23. In my research I will use the concept of identity salience for collective identity construction of a community or a nation. In case of Nordic region, the assumption is that Nordic identity has a higher position in the hierarchy than European identity.

Historical myths and the construction of collective identity

Historical myths and memory play a key role in the construction of identity of a nation or a larger community. History serves as a framework for identity construction, where certain myths are chosen to provide an ‘essence’ of the community and create a unifying feeling of belonging. Historical myths are subjects of constant reconsidering depending on the events and development in the present, thus being “a translation or representation of the past in the present”24. Historical myths create and support values and characteristics of the community and provide continuity of its sense of identity. Bo Stråth uses Spinoza’s view on historical myths to analyze various constructions of national identities. In this approach, historical myths represent imaginary view society has of itself25. Myths cannot just be invented; they need to be resonated with the society. They do not represent false historical information, rather a specific ‘reading’ of history which contains beliefs of the community about itself. For this reason, political elites do not succeed in creating identity of the community if it not based on recognizable myths. Myths go through the process of selection and

21_{Ibid, p. 17} 22

Cassidy C., Trew K. (1998). Identities in Northern Ireland: Multidimensional approach. Journal of Social Issues. Vol. 54 (4). pp. 725-740, p. 727

23_{Stryker Sh., Serpe R.T. (1994). Identity Salience and Psychological Centrality: Equivalent, Overlaping, or}

Complementary Concepts? Social Psychology Quaterly. Vol. 57 (1), pp. 16-35, p.19

24_{Stråth, B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

Beyond. Bruxelles, Peter Lang.p.19

reconstruction; depending on the changing present, history is rewritten and myths are continuously reformulated. This process cannot happen radically though because the most important myths of the society determine its self-understanding and thus need to poses certain continuity.

Myths constitute a part of the reality as long as the community believes in them, thus they shape reality. Foundation myths, the ones which society rests upon, have the power of legitimacy of the social order. Myths provide meaning and become basic elements of politics and social cohesion26.

Europe as a collective identity construction

Trying to define ‘European identity’, Delanty and Rumford point out that it can be defined on different levels. It can be defined on a personal level, where it is important to keep in mind that the amount of individuals expressing European identity does not equal to the existence of identity of European society. “A collective identity derives not from numerous personal identities, but from a distinctive social group or institutional framework that articulates a collective identity”27.

They believe that identity of EU can be seen as a collective vision of European identity which Brussels is trying to establish through cultural policy, symbols, educational policy, etc. This vision of European identity understands EU identity in a way similar to nation-state identity, but on a larger scale.

These authors also suggest that can regard European identity from the perspective of societal identity. In this way, European identity will be wider than EU dimension. European identity in this perspective means a pluralistic concept of identity, an umbrella of national, regional, political identities united by a cultural conception of Europe. “As a cosmopolitan societal identity, European identity is a form of post-national self-understanding that expresses itself within, as much as beyond, national identities”28. Europe can be defined as a civilization constellation.

Basing on these theoretical assumptions, Delanty concludes that there is no tension between national and European identities. National identities are changeable and negotiatable, quite open to cosmopolitan influences. Delanty and Rumford suggest that European identity is a representation of collective identity and thus can be analyzed theoretically in the same way as national identity29.

26_{Stråth, B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

Beyond. Bruxelles, Peter Lang.p.26

27_{Ibid, p. 54} 28_{Ibid p.56}

29_{Delanty G., Rumford C. (2005). Rethinking Europe: Social theory and implications of Europeanization. Routledge,}

National identities become liquid due to the changes brought by globalization. Within the European space, national and European identities are largely mixed and overlapped.

Some researchers (Delanty and Rumford, Malmborg, Stråth) point out, that all national identities in Europe contain some elements of European identity30. Thus we can suggest that there already exists a relationship of complementarity between national and European identity. But since identities always exist in relation to the Other, in the process of nation-building Europe was often set in opposition to the nation and represented the Other in the identity construction. Thus in a peculiar mixture, Europe can be part of both, ‘us’ and ‘them’ in the context of national identities.31

The concept of European identity was introduced to public political debate in 1973 at the European Community summit in Copenhagen. The reason behind bringing the concept of identity to political agenda was the lack of legitimacy which was felt in EC. The process of integration was facing a crisis in the circumstances when the dollar collapsed and the oil process went down. Since 1970s the questions of legitimacy and democratic accountability of EU were discussed together with the issue of European identity32. The European identity was designed on EU level to give EC new legitimate foundation and to define a new role for EC on the international level and to connect regional (local) level with European level, bypassing nation-state.

European integration and debates on European identity were developing together with academic and political search for the roots of Europe in history and culture. The idea of Europe became a political idea after the end of the Cold War. Europe emerged to be seen as a cultural entity with shared values, based on heritage of classical Graeco-Roman civilization, Christianity and the ideas of Enlightenment, Science, Reason, Progress and Democracy as its essential elements33. This idea of Europe united by cultural heritage and political values is often seen as a basis for European identity. The idea of Europe in this understanding will be elaborated in the following section.

The secularized idea of Europe originated in 15-16th century with Renaissance and Enlightenment becoming the basis for new cultural construction of Europe which came to replace a religious identity. As a result of Enlightenment, the idea of Europe became focused on the idea of progress, which gained the meaning of European modernity. In his analysis of development of the

30_{Ibid, p.54}

31_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p. 23}

idea of Europe, Delanty argues, that the “new ideological idea of Europe did not exist as an alternative to the nation-state order; it was closely connected to the idea of Europe as a system of nation-states”34.

In the 17th century the idea of Europe emerged in popular consciousness as an “orientation for secular identity”35. It was a period of change in European history when Christendom as a unifying concept was declining. The idea of Europe rose to be a platform for western political identity and came to represent its cultural model in the period of time between Renaissance and French Revolution. By the end of 17thcentury the idea of Europe as a world-view was established in its new form with the idea of progress, civilization and Christianity being the important components36.

European identity as a concept was strengthened in the 18th century during Enlightenment which was the expression of it. At the same time, Europe was being formed as a cultural model. The idea of European unity was elaborated in the writings of Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, Burke, Hume37. Delanty argues that the idea of European identity had more to do with the elite cosmopolitanism and was not established on a large scale in people’s minds; it also was not seen as an alternative for the nation-state model.

19th century was characterized by the movement of nations-building and national identity construction. The idea of Europe in this construction has always come secondary, since European unity was not the goal. “A relation of complementarity took shape in the course of the 19th century by which the idea of Europe came to signify the normative claims of civilization...”38. 19th century was the period of nationalism with emerging nation-states and general strengthening of the national idea. Delanty argues, that there are two dimensions of European idea in the 19th century. Europe became the cultural model with nation-state being its political representation.

By the mid 19th century the idea of Europe was commonly referred to but it remained subordinated to the nation-state order. Nation-building and construction of national identity were flourishing. 19th century was also the age of romanticism, a non-political movement with a strong feeling of nostalgia for the past. Romanticism was responsible for forming the idea of European

33

Strath B. (2002). A European Identity: To the Historical Limits of a Concept. European Journal of Social Theory. Vol. 5 (4). pp. 387-401, p. 388

34_{Delanty G. (1995). Inventing Europe : idea, identity, reality. Palgrave, p. 65} 35_Ibid

cultural unity, based on art, architecture, literature. European cultural homogeneity was constructed through the revision of the memory but it remained a part of different national contexts.39

The meanings of Europe

Under the theoretical concepts that social identities are constructed and changeable, it can be assumed that since both, nation and Europe are ‘imagined communities’, belonging to both does not contradict each other and European and national identities can coexist. ‘Marble cake’ model deals with the way national identities include Europeanness and vice-versa. But the definition of Europe also varies depending on the national context. The image of Europe is not constant in the national viewpoint; it changes depending on historical events and circumstances, since collective identities tend to change, though the change does not happen frequently.

There are many understandings of Europe, both as cultural model and political form, shaped through history. Malborg and Strath argue that “so many meanings of Europe have emerged precisely because there has never been such a thing as ‘Europe’, in an essentialist sense, but only as imaginations”40. They argue that there are different meanings of Europe embodied in national cultures and identities and these meanings have been elements of national self-images. “Europe is a constant and contested value flow.”41Europe as an idea has been a part of national identities through history, and in some cases it has been written into national identity, in others it has been a challenge or even a threat to the national identity.42

In order to deal with multiplicity of national images of Europe, I will turn to narrative concept of European identity, presented by Klaus Eder. As any identity, collective identities have a narrative dimension which means that they can be analyzed as the stories that communities tell about themselves “in order to give continuity to their existence”43. Eder suggests to analyze Europe from the narrative perspective and to see it through stories that emerge in the European social relations. Europe is an interesting case since it provides a platform for coexistence of multiple stories, which can even contradict each other.

From the point of constructing a collective identity, there are three versions of the narratives in Europe: 1. the success story of the European integration, the basis for a European citizenship

39_{Delanty G. (1995). Inventing Europe : idea, identity, reality. Palgrave, p.82} 40_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p.3} 41_{Ibid, p.8}

42_{Ibid, p.10}

43_{Delanty G., Rumford C. (2005). Rethinking Europe: Social theory and implications of Europeanization. Routledge,}

model of identity. 2. Stories about European culture and its shared past. 3. Story which describes Europe as a hybrid collective identity44. The three narratives create different versions of Europe which have different boundaries, thus “European identity emerges as something with varying boundaries, depending upon which story we tell.”45

Eder distinguishes three network structures of social relations to provide a basis for defining European identity: supranational, post national and transnational identity constructions of Europe. Supranational model is the foundation of the integration story of Europe; post national refers to the second story, about united cultural Europe, while transnational model follows the ‘hybrid Europe’ story.

Supranational story is the one told by official Brussels. Supranational model connects national narratives with supranational entity through the centre, without the necessity to connect national stories among themselves. The closer national story is to the centre, the more elements of European story it possesses. This model requires a distinct story of the supranational entity, separate from the national stories.

Post national model is based on the connection between national stories. In this case, “European identity appears as a network of national narratives”, and national stories are interconnected with each other, without connection to the centre46. In post national model, national stories merge into a shared European story since interaction requires them to modify their narratives rather than create their stories in solitary. Thus European history is revisited and rewritten; the past and present are redefined through modification. The examples of this process can be retelling of WW2 or Holocaust stories47.

Transnational model focuses on narrative of hybridity and equality of national stories within Europe. Unlike in the first two models, where Europe is imagined as having a ‘core’, which is realized through social relations, in this model Europe is renegotiated and a new understanding is formulated. Eder refers to transnational model as “reflexive storytelling” which combines and mixes different narratives48.

Klaus Eder’s concept demonstrates that depending on the way one understands Europe; national meanings of Europe play a different role in relation to European identity. He believes that

44

Eder K. (2009). A Theory of Collective Identity: Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity’. European

Journal of Social Theory. Vol. 12 (4), pp. 427-447, p.433

45_{Ibid, p.437}

46_{Eder K. (2009). A Theory of Collective Identity: Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity’. European}

Journal of Social Theory. Vol. 12 (4), pp. 427-447, p.439

transnational model is the most promising because it allows creating a European narrative consisting of “dynamic combination of different stories”, thus European identity will be in a constant process of creation and recreation49.

Conclusion

In this chapter I described the theoretical basis for my research on Nordic identity and its relation to European identity. The most important conclusions of this theoretical overview are the following.

The concept of collective identity is the basis of the analysis. Collective identity can be defined as a group self-understanding and a collective feeling of belonging. Collective identities can be multiple and the elements can be overlapping but also be contested. There are few approaches to analyze the structure of multiple collective identities, for example, nested identities, crosscutting identities, and the ‘marble cake’ approach. Many researchers regard multiple identities in a hierarchical way, seeing a specific order in the way multiple identities relate to each other. For my research I focused on the concept of identity salience. Stryker suggests to structure the hierarchy of multiple identities on the basis of identity salience, which suggests that identities are organized according to the probability to be evoked under specific circumstances - the identities which are higher in hierarchy have more chances to be activated.

In the theory of collective identity of a community, historical myths as foundations for identity feelings have a significance. Myths create a sense of belonging and shared values through writing and rewriting of history. Historical myths are foundations of national identities, as well as larger communities, like Norden or Europe.

In this chapter I also provided an overview of European identity and the idea of Europe as a widespread myth in the foundation of the identity construction. The historical development of the idea of Europe demonstrated that the idea of shared European culture and even politically united Europe existed for a long time though only within elite groups. It is also important that the idea of Europe existed within national contexts, not above them. Within nation-states Europe was provided with different meanings, sometimes constituting a harmonious part of national identity, sometimes representing ‘the Other’. Klaus Eder’s narrative model of European identity shows in what ways national identities can be ‘written’ into European identity.

In the following chapter I will analyze the construction of Nordic identity with Sweden as the most vivid representative of Norden in this way.

Chapter 2. Nordic/Swedish Identity Construction

Introduction

Nordic identity is a complex construction which is hard to define. Nordicity can be regarded from the point of cooperation through political structures as well as non-state actors, forming horizontal connections between Nordic societies. It can also be analyzed from the identity perspective, community feeling, independent from the formal Nordic cooperation, which may be the basis for the cooperation and the most essential part of Nordicity50. “Norden has assumed, in a number of ways, a kind of domestic quality; on occasions there exist almost no borders at all in cultural and institutional terms... Nordic configuration has been able to establish a constructive and harmonious relationship to nationhood in each of the countries concerned”51. Nordic cooperation is unique in many ways and represents an example of success for European integration particularly because above the institutional cooperation it includes a bond of Nordic identity52.

Norden is a macro-region, united by many common characteristics, common historical and cultural roots and the long history of formal cooperation as well as informal bonds. It is often looked upon as a ‘meso-level between the national and international level’53. I will argue in my analysis that it is an incorrect way of regarding Norden because of specific features of identity construction of this region.

Norden can be regarded as an identity construction based on history. Strath suggests regarding Nordic identity as a myth in a sense that the idea of Nordic community is symbolically and mythically based54. It is also suggested to approach Norden as “a permanent process of problem resolution” with constant process of production of meaning, dissolution of meaning and new production of meaning with certain historical and cultural constants55. The basis for Nordic identity construction has been the nation-states. This is especially true in case of Sweden, where Nordic identity has been deeply incorporated into national self-image making Sweden ‘the’ Nordic society. Sweden is also seen internationally as the main representative of ‘Scandinavian’ or ‘Nordic’ model and the terms are often used as interchangeable. Sweden has become a “model society” for various

50_{‘The Encounter between the Nordic and the Northern. Torn Apart but Meeting Again?’ in Lehti, Marko and Smith,}

David, J., (ed.s), Post-Cold War Identity Policies. Northern and Baltic Experiences. Frank Cass: London, 2003, pp. 128-157, p. 9.

51_{Ibid, p.9}

reasons including it being so closely connected to the concept of Norden in its self-image56. In this chapter I will describe the construction of, Swedish and Nordic identity, keeping in mind their deep connection, interdependence and overlapping.

The emergence of the idea of Nordic identity and its early development

The idea of Nordic identity has gone through certain stages in its development. In the 16th -17th centuries the idea of a distinctive Nordic character first emerged. Gothic myths evoked at this time brought into light the idea of superiority of the North in comparison to the rest of Europe57. At the end of 17thcentury an influential work of Olof Rudbeck “Atlantica” was written, which established the basis for Swedish identity construction. Sweden then was a great power on the international arena, needing ideological basis for its politics. In “Atlantica” Rudbeck interpreted the history of civilizations to prove the ultimate superiority of the North and Sweden particularly. The main idea of his work was that the world originated in Scandinavia, which he saw as the mythological Atlantica. He argued for the North and Sweden to be “the island of the gods”, Atlantis. Rudbeck provided foundation for claims of superiority and uniqueness of the North and Sweden in particular58. “Rudbeck’s myth of Atlantis embodied in quintessential form the Swedish state ideology of ‘Gothism’. Gothism was not eradicated from the thinking of the nation when Sweden’ political role as a major power ceased in the 18thcentury”59.

Many of the original Rudbeck’s ideas on the cultural construction of the North found their further development in the second half of the 19th century when they were generalized and used to create the idea of common North. Rundbeck and his son also began the construction of Northern nature as culture, an understanding of mysticism of nature which became a part of identity construction. Feeling for the Nordic nature became almost “civil religion from below”60. Northern Light is an important symbol of the North, an embodiment of ‘natural theology’ – almost religious feeling towards Northern nature which has a great significance in the identity construction.61 Northern Light still has this meaning in Sweden - most recently, the Northern light has been used as a symbol of Swedish EU presidency: a golden S-shaped curve wandering around a blue colored

56_{Mouritzen H. (February 1995). The Nordic Model as a Foreign Policy Instrument: Its Rise and Fall. Journal of Peace}

Research, 32 (1), pp. 9-21, p. 11.

57_{Lehti, M. (Spring 2003). Transformation from Progressive Nordics to Reluctant Europeans. Geopolitics 8 (1),}

pp.211-218, p.215.

58_{Sorensen O., Strath, B. (eds.). (1997). The cultural construction of Norden. Scandinavian University Press, p.104} 59_{Ibid, p.105}

globe encircled with a Nordic light. Romantization of Northern nature led to a peculiar perception which Bernd Henningsen described as “a feeling for life in which nature and culture are not separated, in which the cultural consideration of nature... transcends the limitations of human existence, and thus nature becomes a condition of culture itself”62.

The 19th century was the time when political, economic and social changes demanded a cultural identity construction63. It was a time of serious political crisis for Sweden with the loss of Finland and for Denmark with the loss of Norway. It was important to mobilize national feelings within the county. The concept of Swedish national identity emerged and developed in the first half of the 19thcentury through such important developments as Gothism and Scandinavianism.

Gothism developed to be an influential ideology for the development of Nordic identity. In 1809 the Gothic Society was created; it was a small organization which did not exist long but the writings of its members had a significant influence within intellectual circles of the 19th century Sweden. The members of the Gothic society regarded mythical Gothic past as a source of pride, renewal and redemption for the country. They believed that “nature had given the Nordic peoples physical strength and courage, and they did not degenerate until they exchanged the ‘seriousness and power of the North’ for ‘the wantonness of Southern Europe.’”64 The redemption was seen in finding the way back to the roots, to the ‘original national character’. 19th century Gothism had a great significance for the development of Swedish identity. Gothism is deeply connected with the idea of liberty and is rooted in idealization of the Northern peasants as free, independent people, -the embodiment of democratic order. Peasant mythology depicted a peasant as -the bearer of -the values of Enlightenment – freedom and spirit of democracy. “The free peasants were historically derived from the Viking Age and a mystical past in which … they were not only free but equal.”65 Northern peasantry was land-owners and could participate in democratic structures - local self-government institutions. The free Northern peasantry was contrasted to European serfdom.

Poet and historian Erik Gustaf Geijer had a huge impact on formation of Swedish self-consciousness through his historical work on the Swedish people and his literary work focusing on Swedish national character represented by peasants. His writings as well as the work of other fellow literators created the myth of unique free peasantry. Geijer’s ideas about the free Swedish peasant

62_{Sorensen, O., Strath, B. (eds.). (1997). The cultural construction of Norden. Scandinavian University Press, p. 114.} 63_{Ibid, p.95}

64_{Jocob Adlerbeth quoted in Hansen L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European Integration and National Identity: the}

Challenge of the Nordic States. Routledge, p. 133

65_{Stråth, B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

remained in the Swedish culture ever since66. Peasant values of Norden are connected to peripheral position of the region, the concept of Nordic nature and the value of poverty – at least until certain point in the 20thcentury67.

N. F. S. Grundtvig was Danish pastor and writer whose cultural influence in Denmark was as huge as Geijer’s in Sweden. Grundtvig’ fascination with Nordic mythical past and Romanization of peasants as carriers of spirit of freedom had a serious influence on Swedish intellectuals as well. Grundtvig contrasted people of North who were “natural” with their unique mythology and culture to the rest of Europe, which was not68. In the 19th century Scandinavianism emerged - a literary movement which focused on region’s cultural and historical unity. It did not have political consequences but influenced the cultural ties within Norden, creating the common identity construction - shared history, Icelandic literature (sagas), art, cultural bonds, such as widespread folkschools, interpersonal connections, elite interaction69. The “Nordic Mythology” written by Grundtvig in 1808 represented the idea of a common cultural Norden. A peculiar combination of the Gothic mythology and Vikings past through the figure of the free peasant as a representative of truly Nordic culture was established. In the 19thcentury the self-image of Norden as an ideal of freedom and authenticity was created.70

Nordic identity concept truly flourished with the end of nation-states formation in the late 19th century. In fact, Nordism was never used as a foreign policy instrument but as an instrument for an establishing of community feeling within the region. In the process of Nordic identity construction, the moral superiority of the North appeared at the times when it lost its great significance in international politics. Interestingly enough, as we will see later, in the 20th century the moral supremacy was used as a political instrument.

Welfare state

In the late 19th century the concept of folk was developed into folkhemmet – a term created by ideologists to describe a concept of National Socialism where Sweden should have become a home for the people. The folk concept combined with Protestant ethic merged into an important element of Swedish (and generally Nordic) culture – the values of personal freedom and central

66_{Hansen L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European Integration and National Identity: the Challenge of the Nordic States.}

Routledge, p. 135

67_{Goyz N. (2003). Norden: Structures that do not make a region. European Review of History. Vol. 10 (2), p. 331} 68_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p.128}

place of individual in the society71. Swedish welfare state was regarded as “the realization of Folkhemmet, the ‘people’s home’”72. Welfare state is one of the most significant contemporary elements of Swedish identity and represents much more than a set of social-democratic policies.

Values of social welfare state can be seen as originating from the values of Nordic Enlightenment, values of freedom and equality, which constituted the concept of folk and understood the state as folkehemmet. The Nordic identity construction has always possessed a sense of moral superiority of the North, starting from early ideas of distinctiveness of Norden to the supremacy of the welfare state. Idealized version of Swedish welfare state represents itself as a combination of “a strong and good state”73 and autonomous individual, an order where solidarity can be combined with equality and independence.

In 1913 Swedish Parliament approved legislation on the world’s first universal old age and invalidity pension programme. These benefits were also established as a social right, rather than traditional charity. At about the same time other social rights were introduced by the government: a labour inspectorate, compulsory occupational injury insurance and a poor relief system74.

The introduction of universal suffrage in Sweden in 1920 empowered the people and made Social Democratic party reconsider its focus on the working class and use national motives in their party policies. In late 1920s Albin Hansson, the leader of Social Democrats and future Prime Minister introduced the idea of folkhemmet – Sweden as a ‘home’ for its people. The process of replacement of the socialist class concept with the idea of folk was finished in the 1930s through connecting Swedishness and social-democratic values, when in 1930s Social Democrats redefined themselves as a folk party rather than a class party75. Folklig-national doctrine was developed which understood Nordic and thus Swedish democratic traditions as part of ‘soul of Swedish people’76. By incorporating partly historical, partly mythical elements of Nordic/Swedish identity construction into its policy, Social Democratic party was able to include its values in the national self-consciousness. In the concept of folkhemmet “the historically rooted identification of the national with the democratic came together with singular power, ethos and demos merging in what came to be the central metaphor of the national socialist Swedish welfare state”77.

71_{Strath, B. (ed.), Europe and the Other and Europe as the Other, Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2000, p. 364}

72_{Hansen L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European Integration and National Identity: the Challenge of the Nordic States.}

Routledge, p. 131

73_Ibid

74_{Boje T.P., Olsson H., Sven E. (1993). Scandinavia in a New Europe. Scandinavian University Press, p. 74} 75_{Stråth, B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

Beyond. Bruxelles, Peter Lang.p.379.

The social compromise between capitalism and protectionism was achieved in 1933 through compromise between non-protectionist Social Democratic Labour Movement and protectionist agrarians, the Farmers’ Party. In this decision, workers agreed to support tariff barriers and domestic monopolies, while in return the farmers agreed to back social housing and economic support to the unemployed. The second important compromise which established the fundament for Swedish social democratic state was made in 1938 between trade unions of Social Democratic Labour Movement and Employers Confederation. The parties agreed on a system of wage negotiations and peaceful settlement of industrial disputes, which formed centralised system of negotiations.

These compromises created framework for Swedish social-democratic policy and the institutions later established, were able to realise it. Starting from 1940s welfare sector began to grow, the tendency which continued until 1970s. The peek of the welfare state development was in 1960s, as in most European countries, when full employment programmes were developed, educational reforms to prolong compulsory schooling were introduced, as well as pension reform and building of public health sector78.

The most important instruments and goals of Swedish welfare policy are the following:79  Manpower policy, meaning training and retraining as an instrument of achieving full

employment. The goal of this policy is to balance the demand of different sectors of economy and apply specific measures to the sectors with a higher possibility of unemployment.

 Social security system which encourages labour participation, since most cash benefits to the working-age population are paid out in relation to what would be paid to wage-earners. Pensions to the elderly and disabled consist of two parts: a non-taxed flat-rate benefit to everyone and a non-taxed earnings-related benefit to those, who have been employed.

 Free or highly subsidized welfare services. These include policy mainly towards children, or families with children, the handicapped and the elderly.

 Subsidies for agricultural and housing sectors.

Though Nordic models of welfare are different, they share certain essential characteristics which are values of universalism, solidarity and decommodification (freedom from the market). Universalism as a basic value of the Nordic welfare means that welfare programmes are available to all citizens. Solidarity is intended to improve class divisions and regional inequality. Solidarity and

universalism are connected, since solidarity reaches its maximum if all the citizens are included in the policy80. Decommodification refers to “the ability of Scandinavian citizens to live independently of the market, because their personal choices are not governed by market considerations”81. Freedom from the market also implies that social programmes of health care, education, pensions, etc are directed at the entire population, not only the poor groups.

As R. Cox argues, these characteristic of Nordic welfare state can be regarded in a narrow as well as broad way. Narrow definitions of the welfare model mean that these core values should result in specific policies. Narrow approach to the Nordic model usually results in a conclusion that the old model of welfare became irrelevant or that possible reforms will lead to a departure of the original model. But the broad reading of the model argues that as long as the new measures correspond with the core values, the policies are true to the Nordic welfare model. “Narrow conceptions of the core values require specific policy solutions. Broad conceptions of the core values allow for a number of different policy combinations”82. There is a fundamental agreement in the society on the values of the welfare model shared by the citizens which leads them to support certain policies and reject the others.

The cultural resonance of the welfare state in the Nordic societies and particularly in Sweden is the most basic reason for the importance of the welfare model for the society. Ideas and values can be foundations for policies, which is true in case of underlying values of the welfare model. Nordic welfare model continues to be the basis for identity construction and for policy-making and have defined in many ways the attitudes towards EU integration. R. Cox explains the stickiness of the welfare model with the ‘path-dependancy of ideas’, which means a tendency of the society to hold on to comfortable values in changing circumstances and to shift their ideas in order to adjust their expectations. “The causal effect of ideas is not to influence the world, but to alter our individual or collective perceptions of it, so that our value systems are preserved”83. The reluctance to give up on the welfare model leads to actual reinvention of the ideological foundations of the model so that it would adjust to new circumstances, but without giving up on the “social democratic consensus” itself.

79

Boje T.P., Olsson H., Sven E. (1993). Scandinavia in a New Europe. Scandinavian University Press, p.81

80_{Cox R. (April 2004). The Path-dependency of an Idea: Why Scandinavian Welfare States Remain Distinct. Social}

Policy & Administration. Vol. 38 (2), pp.204-219, p. 209

81_{Ibid, p.210}

82_{Cox R. (April 2004). The Path-dependency of an Idea: Why Scandinavian Welfare States Remain Distinct. Social}

Policy & Administration. Vol. 38 (2), pp.204-219, p. 206

Neutrality and peacefulness

During the Cold War welfare elements were tightly linked to the concept of neutrality and the Third World morality, thus representing Sweden as an ideal society able to play an important international role because of its virtues84. Idealized vision of Sweden included such characteristics of Swedish model as democracy, prosperity, modernity and neutrality and led to the image of Sweden as messiah whose “holy mission “ was to spread these values in the world85. Self-image of Sweden was often set off against the rest of Europe which was much farther from the ideal of progress. Nordic model or ‘Swedish model’ of a welfare state constituted the basis of Cold War Swedish identity. The ‘morality’ of Swedish identity construction leads to a situation when Sweden could be influential in international politics only as long as it represented an ‘ideal state’. Economic difficulties which welfare model faced in the 1990s had a great influence on Swedish self-understanding since, as A. Ruth argued in his essay on “The mythology of modern Sweden”, social-democratic order is in the “core of national culture” in Norden.86

During the Cold war marginal position of the Nordic states was seen as an asset, as a distance from military confrontations of the great powers, and thus, as a superiority. ‘Nordic distinctiveness’ has been a characteristic of Nordic societies through history and means understanding of Nordic societies (from inside and from outside) as being different from European centers of power and Western development and thus also independent. As Ole Waever argues, “in the distance from ideological polarization, we could cultivate a social model combining the best of both worlds and generally in a picture of two parties locked into confrontation, the third almost automatically gets the attention and the attractiveness of being independent of the circular logic of confrontation”87. The special geopolitical position of Norden, with its distance from the destructive Cold War conflict, Swedish policy of neutrality and peacefulness, together with successful welfare model, created the international image of Sweden.

Swedish neutrality has a long history, but during the Cold War it was firmly established as Swedish security policy. This policy has been internationally oriented and based on a belief that involvement with the ‘great powers’ could endanger Sweden and remaining non-allied is the best

84_{Stråth, B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

Beyond. Bruxelles, Peter Lang.p. 395

85_{Ibid, p. 132}

86_{Ruth A. (1984). The second new nation: the mythology of modern Sweden. Daedalus 113 (2).}

87 _{Waever, O. Working Papers 11. Balts, Books and Brussels. Nordic Idnetity and Cooperation after the Cold War.}

option. Sweden put most of its international efforts in Nordic cooperation, support for the UN and active support of the Third World countries.88

Swedish policy of neutrality is another important aspect of Swedish identity which played a central part in the EU integration discourse. In addition to the ‘morality’ of Swedish welfare state, the policy of neutrality emphasised Swedish morality in the foreign relations. Of course, despite being morally positive, the neutrality concept was quite pragmatic, helping to keep Sweden safe from any possible conflict between the big powers, but its ideological influence is important in this analysis.89 Swedish approach to international relations was rejecting Realpolitic; instead, focus was on a moralist vision of the world order, respect for international law and democratic values. This approach revealed itself in the politics of neutrality and refusal to follow the same politics as the Great powers, including joining NATO and negative attitude to EU integration. In the 1950s Swedish “third-way identity” emerged out of the concepts of anti-Europeaness and neutrality. Sweden established an image of the supporter of Third world liberation movements in contrast to European colonial powers90. The neutrality and Third World identity referred to the idea of Norden/Sweden being in between East and West, “bridge-building self-image.”91

In the 1960s, in the political and intellectual discourse Sweden was referred to as the “world’s conscience”92. In his essay on Nordic identity, Arne Ruth notes that Swedish international politics and domestic politics with a focus on equality were regarded as complementary values. This new image of Sweden led to consolidation of the understanding of EC as the negative other, since they were regarded as “colonial powers...that economically and politically exploited poor countries”93.

Through the welfare model, neutrality and Third World role, Sweden (and Norden in general) established a self-image based on belief in superiority of its model. Ole Waever points out that in this identity construction it is crucial for Norden to live up to the “ideal model”, otherwise it loses its meaning. “Unlike identities that rest on being inherently better, which are relatively invulnerable to actual outcomes, Nordic identity is deeply affected by contemporary events and overall images of them.”94

88_{Hansen L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European Integration and National Identity: the Challenge of the Nordic States.}

Routledge, p. 152

89

Strath B. (ed.). Europe and the Other and Europe as the Other. Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2000, p. 373

90_{Ibid, p. 371}

91_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p.140}

92_{Hansen L., Waever O. (eds.). (2002). European Integration and National Identity: the Challenge of the Nordic States.}

Routledge, p. 152

93_{Malmborg M., Strath B. (eds.). (2002). The meaning of Europe. Oxford, p.139}

Conclusion. Nordic meaning of Europe

The idea of Norden being aside from Europe and being morally superior to it is deeply embedded in the discourse of Nordic identity. The Nordic element served as a demarcation line from the rest of Europe - Norden is non-European, meaning anti-imperialistic, non-Catholic, peaceful, social democratic. The term “Norden” itself, used instead of ‘Northern Europe’ underlines its distinction from the rest of Europe. The traditional way of defining Norden is in opposition to Europe, not as being part of Europe. I believe, the relation between Norden and the idea of Europe is more complicated, and a sense of belonging to Europe coexists with strong anti-European elements in the identity construction.

In Sweden the anti-European elements were incorporated into identity construction on the early stage, as I tried to show, in its anti-Catholicism, mythologisation of the North as the land of freedom and democracy. Through Swedish history, European Other was regarded in terms of hostile Catholic Other, in addition to being capitalistic and conservative. “Catholic Other” remained a negative opposite in the debates on Swedish model in 1950s and 1960s and it formed Swedish attitude to European Community in these years. Sweden was seen as progressive, Protestant and social democratic, thus superior. “In the most extreme Social Democratic rejections of the European project, the EC was described as a collection of states characterised by a more primitive social organisation than Sweden.”95 In Sweden, Europe and Catholicism were seen as a “threat to Swedish way of organising society.”96 Enlightenment values were the basis for progress, and in the case of Norden had its own peculiarities. Nordic version of Enlightenment idealised Northern peasantry, free from serfdom which represented freedom, democracy and equality that Norden possesses in contrast to the rest of Europe. It was also largely impacted by Protestantism, - a Christian Enlightenment. In the combination of essays “Cultural Construction of Norden”, Witoszek argues that Christianity and Enlightenment were combined in Norden, which she refers to as “pastoral” Enlightenment with the priests playing central role in the modernisation process. Protestantism has set itself strongly apart from Catholicism in many European countries; hence in Norden, Catholicism was seen as a hostile concept and understanding of Europe was tied to it.

Nordic romanticism contributed to creating mythological common cultural North, based on Gothic and Viking myths and romantisation of the peasantry. The process of constructing Norden was thus similar in many ways to the construction of Europe as a cultural concept. Norden also had

95_{Stråth B. (ed.). (2000). Myth and Memory in the Construction of Community: Historical Patterns in Europe and}

Beyond. Bruxelles, Peter Lang, p.392

a universalistic meaning to it, which particularly flourished during the Cold War with influential ideas of Scandinavian welfare state and neutrality. Demarcation from Europe was reinforced in the 1930s when Sweden wanted to stay away from authoritarian regimes and confrontation developing in Europe. Anti-European element and the neutrality as the main cornerstones of Swedish international politics existed before, but they were mostly developed during the Cold War.

Nordic identity was well ‘written’ ideologically into Cold War: Nordic countries were ‘low tension’ regimes, prosperous welfare societies, belonging to Europe but also being superior to European model. “Norden is thus singled out as a rather special group of small, highly developed and peaceful nation-states with detached relationship to the Realpolitik logic as well as the dominant European centers of power”97. With the end of the Cold War, the source of confrontation and demarcation was gone, and the distanced position of the Nordic states began to be regarded as marginalisation and backwardness, distance from the centre of development and influence.

Despite undeniable sense of belonging to Europe, Norden developed a deep feeling of superiority to Europe, which was incorporated into Swedish national context (as well as in national contexts of other Nordic states) and constitutes the essential element of Swedish identity construction.

I would argue that in the case of Nordic identity, Norden was developed as an ‘alternative’ Europe. By this I mean that though there was a sense of belonging to European cultural umbrella, many key elements of Nordic identity were constructed in opposition to the specific idea of Europe which has developed in the region. For an objective observer, it is clear that Norden shares the same European basic values of Christendom, Enlightenment and Romanticism, but within the Northern region, Europe was perceived as something contrasting to Nordic values. Norden was constructed not as a regional identity within larger European identity, but as a competing with Europe concept, striving to prove its superiority. In the same way as Europe, Norden constitutes a part of each national identity of Nordic nation states rather than goes beyond national identities of the Northern states. Nordism is “above all a reinforcing element of national identities in the North, with the Nordic peasant and the welfare state as predominating components”98. Nordic identity can be described as a societal identity (Delanty), as a cultural umbrella which does not exist on its own, but manifests itself through Nordic nation-states. Nordic identity consists of the individual nation-state identities, thus being independent “variations” of Nordicity.

97_{‘The Encounter between the Nordic and the Northern. Torn Apart but Meeting Again?’ in Lehti, Marko and Smith,}