The Changing Meanings of the Welfare State

<p> In discussions of economics governance and society in the Nordic countries the welfare state is a well-worn analytical concept. However there has been much less scholarly energy devoted to historicizing this idea beyond its postwar emergence. In this volume specialists from Denmark Finland Sweden Norway and Iceland chronicle the historical trajectory of the welfare state tracing the variable ways in which it has been interpreted valued and challenged over time. Each case study generates valuable historical insights into not only the history of Northern Europe but also the welfare state itself as both a phenomenon and a concept.</p>