Scandinavian Politics: Iceland, Bergen summer school

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Two very quick notices.

1. The Economist this week has a special briefing on Iceland's economic woes (www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12762027).

2. Beneath this message is a copy of a call for papers for the NordWel Summer School 2009, June 7th-12th 2009, in Bergen.

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Call for papers: NordWel Summer School 2009, 7-12 June 2009, Bergen
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:20:53 +0200
From: Anna Alanko

Dear recipients,

could you please forward the below message to suitable e-mail lists?
Thank you for your co-operation.

Best regards, Anna Alanko

**
CALL FOR PAPERS:

NordWel Summer School 2009:

"State, Society & Citizen - Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Welfare
State Development"

Bergen, 7-12 June 2009

NCoE NordWel in cooperation with the Rokkan Centre, the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion and the
Department of Comparative Politics at University of Bergen is
organizing a summer school in Bergen, 7-12 June 2009.

We welcome Ph.D.-students and young researchers from different
backgrounds both within and outside the Nordic countries to
participate in discussing the history of the welfare state, its
preconditions and how we ought to study it.

We invite proposals for papers that deal with welfare and welfare
state in a broad historical perspective.

Please find the detailed call for papers attached or at the NordWel
home page http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/summer-school/

PhD students and young researchers interested in participating in the
summer school should send an abstract (1/2 page) and a short biography
by email no later than 10 February 2009 to coordinator Anna Alanko
via e-mail: anna.alanko@helsinki.fi

With best regards,

Anna Alanko
Coordinator
NCoE NordWel
Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical
Foundations and Future Challenges

Dept. of Social Science History
P.O. Box 54 (Snellmaninkatu 14A)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki

Tel +358 (0)9 191 249 58
Fax +358 (0)9 191 249 42
E-mail anna.alanko@helsinki.fi
Www: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/
NordWel_summerschool_ Call for papers 2009.doc

Scandinavian Politics: PSA conference, Swedish pre-electoral alliance

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Two items for your attention - one administrative, one political.


1. First, some bad news. Very reluctantly, I've decided to withdraw our panel from the PSA conference in Manchester in April. The composition of the panel was more or less in place. But the problem really lies with me. I've recently agreed to a couple of fairly weighty commitments, which I felt I couldn't really say no to, and my schedule for the new year was looking untenable.

I feel really bad about reneging on this. Apologies.


2. Meanwhile, in Sweden, amid the gathering gloom (meteorological and economic), a new pre-electoral alliance was formed this week. Nearly two months after they had announced a would-be coalition between themselves and themselves only, the Social Democrats and the Greens held a joint press conference with the Left, the party they had so publicly excluded from their original plans. Exactly as the four parties of the "Alliance for Sweden" did before their victory in 2006, the three newly allied parties on the centre-left have appointed working groups to thrash out what will, supposedly, become a joint platform in the 2010 campaign (although the Left's most recent congress ruled that out).

The price of its admission was concessions from the Left on economic, especially fiscal, policy. "We're not happy about them", said Lars Ohly, the Left's leader, about the rules on, inter alia, budget procedure, "but we accept them. We've made a big sacrifice to get this co-operation going," he said (DN 8/12). Yet, by all accounts, he was much the chirpiest of the four party leaders (including the Greens' duo) who announced the new, expanded alliance. What's going on?

The Greens' leaders are highly pragmatic, and they've barely disguised their contempt for what they see as the deeply conservative and oppositional instincts of Ohly's Left Party. By contrast, they get on like a house on fire with the Social Democrats' leader, Mona Sahlin. Her dilemma, though, must have been acute.

(1) The new alliance's working parties have their work cut out if they are to agree on common policies when the Left is far more radical than its two partners. It's hard to see how any common line on foreign and security policy, which is especially important to the Left, can be found. And any association with the Left is bound to cost the Social Democrats the support of some centrist parts of the electorate. No wonder Sahlin wasn't exploding with glee at the press conference.

(2) She could have gone to the election alone, without commitments to any other party and ready to negotiate with all others afterwards, as the Social Democrats have always done (and as some in the previous leading clique, including her predecessor as leader, want it to continue doing). But that may well have cost it a lot of votes. The lesson Sahlin draws from 2006 is that voters like to know what government constellation they're voting for. An unattached Social Democratic Party could not have given a convincing answer this "government question".

(3) The original two-party alliance with the Greens had two major flaws. First, even if, between them, the two parties had won back the median position in parliament, they would still almost certainly have relied for their majority on the Left, which would not have been a happy situation for them. (The prospect of this outcome would probably also cost the Social Democrats votes.) Second, and even more seriously, major parts of Sahlin's own party have shown themselves to be deeply hostile to an exclusive arrangement with the Greens. Indeed, it was opposition with the labour movement, the extent of which she had failed to anticipate, that forced her to withdraw this original plan.

What Sahlin and the Greens' would very probably prefer is a deal with one or two of the centre-right parties currently committed to the governing coalition. But only one thing could conceivably bring that about. If the far-right Sweden Democrats break through into parliament in 2010, thus very possibly depriving both blocks of a majority, it's likely that both alliances would crumble and some cross-block majority would be constructed to marginalise the extremists. Yet Sahlin and the Greens would, at the same time, certainly be appalled if Swedes were to elect these "idiots", as one of the Greens' leaders recently described the Sweden Democrats. Such are the dilemmas that politicians face.

And what are the Left's calculations in all this? That is a good question. Their top figures rarely give the impression that they are really that keen to get into government. So why compromise now?

Although a radical, unattached position might be expected to maximise their votes and preserve their ideological purity, the Left's leaders may have made another analysis. In what is likely to be a really miserable couple of years for the Swedish economy, they may have guessed that Swedish voters - or a good deal of them, anyway - will by 2010 prefer a party, even a radical party, to show that it is prepared to shoulder responsibility and make compromises with others when necessary, rather than standing in glorious isolation. Still, I detect little appetite in the party to make further policy sacrifices beyond those Ohly made such a big deal of at this week's launch of the new alliance.


Anyway, happy Christmas and new year to all on the list.

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics

Hej to all on the Scandinavian politics list,

Various notices.


1. PSA CONFERENCE, April 2009 (www.psa.ac.uk/2009). There may be room for just one more paper on our panel. Let me know sharpish if you're keen.


Here are some additional items that might be of interest.


2. LONDON EVENTS (courtesy of Mary Hilson)

Book launch: Helsinki Catch - European Security Accords 1975

The book deals with the CSCE process (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, later OSCE) from the Finnish perspective and covers the period of CSCE's early phases, including the negotiation of the so-called Helsinki Accords up to the end of the Cold War and the transformation of Europe. The author is one of Finland's most renowned CSCE experts, Ambassador Markku Reimaa, who participated in the Conference throughout its various phases and led the Finnish delegation at the Stockholm Conference on Confidence and Security-building Measures and Disarmament in Europe.

The seminar will take place at UCL, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Room 433, 16 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW (for maps and directions please see www.ucl.ac.uk/maps). The event is organised by the Finnish Embassy, and will be followed by a reception to which all attending the seminar are invited. If you would like to attend, or if you would like further details, please contact Ms Anna-Leena Raittinen at the Embassy of Finland on 020 7838 6237 or anna-leena.raittinen@formin.fi. RSVP by Friday 21 November.

PS: Don't forget the UCL Nordic-Baltic Study Day on 28th November (www.ucl.ac.uk/~tjmsrcm/NBRG/NBRGHomepage.htm). All are welcome, but places are limited (due to the size of the room) so please let me know (m.hilson@ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible if you would like to attend.


3. SCHOLARSHIPS AND STIPENDIUMS FROM MANCHESTER

The Democracy, Citizens and Elections Research Network (DCERN) at the University of Manchester (www.dcern.org.uk) would like to publicise upcoming opportunities for visiting research positions/fellowships at Manchester. Schemes are open to international and domestic doctoral students and those holding their PhD and vary from one month up to three years. For further information see:

* University of Manchester Simon and Hallsworth Fellowships for early-career scholars in social sciences and political economy to conduct a programme of research at the University of Manchester. www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/simonhallsworth/
Deadline Jan 2009
* University of Manchester Simon and Hallsworth Visiting Professorships to enable established researchers to come to Manchester for a period of 2 - 12 weeks to work with colleagues. Applications due in Jan 2009. Further details available from dcern@manchester.ac.uk .
* Newton fellowship scheme - aims to attract the best postdoctoral researchers to the UK for up to two years. They cover a range of disciplines, including the social sciences. Applications for October 2009 are now open. You can find out more at
www.newtonfellowships.org/
* The British Academy visiting fellowship scheme enabling early-career scholars to attend a UK institution for 2-6 months (deadline 12 Jan):
www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/intl/visfells.cfm

Please email dcern@manchester.ac.uk for further details on this or any of the above opportunities.


4. CALL FOR PAPERS: Annual European Graduate Conference on Political Parties (AEGCPP - www.aegcpp.org.uk), Monday 16th February 2009 at the University of Birmingham.


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: [Fwd: PSA Conference 2009]

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Just a quick note to let you know that our panel proposal for the 2009 PSA conference has been accepted. See the link below for further details.

Let me know if you're interested in presenting something in Manchester in the spring.

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: PSA Conference 2009
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:16:14 -0000
From: PSA Conference 2009
Reply-To:
Organization: PSA
To: Nicholas Aylott

Dear Nicholas Aylott,

Thank you for submitting your panel proposal *Panel130 * for the 2009
Manchester PSA conference. The number and quality of the proposals we
received for the conference was very high. We are writing to confirm
acceptance of this panel for the conference. Please note: there are a
number of individual papers that we are seeking to accommodate in the
programme, where space permits. We will contact you if we find an
appropriate additional paper for your panel.

Further information about paper submission is available on the PSA web
site here .

Best wishes

Moya Lloyd & Ruth Kinna

Scandinavian Politics: events in London

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

The following two events in London may be of interest to some. Details are provided by Mary Hilson of the Department of Scandinavian Studies, University College London.


1) Conference: Nordic Media in Theory and Practice, UCL, 7-8 November
2008

Organised by Reuters Institute for Study of Journalism in Oxford, in association with Department of Scandinavian Studies at UCL. For more information see http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/news/item/article/nordic-media-in-theory-and-practice-7-8-november.html


2) Baltic-Nordic Study Day, UCL, 28 November 2008

This event launches a new research group on the Baltic-Nordic region, linking the UCL Department of Scandinavian Studies and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. The Study Day will bring together researchers from UCL and other universities in London and the
CEELBAS (www.ceelbas.ac.uk) network. See
www.ucl.ac.uk/~tjmsrcm/NBRG/NBRGHomepage.htm or follow the link
from the UCL Department of Scandinavian Studies homepage (www.ucl.ac.uk/scandinavian-studies/welcome). All are welcome to
attend.


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: mobility fellowships, Nordic politics latest

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Five brief notices.


1. We still have places for one or two papers in the panel proposal submitted to the organisers of the PSA CONFERENCE in Manchester next April (www.psa.ac.uk/2009). Do let me know if your interested.


2. A communication on POSTDCOC MOBILITY from Helsinki University.

-----
The Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical Foundations and Future Challenges (NordWel) announces mobility fellowships for postdoctoral researchers working within the research themes of the Centre.

The mobility fellowship covers a 2 - 12 months visit in one of the institutions participating in the Centre in the time period between 1 July 2009 - 31 December 2010 (please see the attachment for details).

For more information see NordWel's web site: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/

Call for Applications as attachments.
-----


3. No one will have failed to notice that the BANKS CRISIS spread devastatingly into Europe last week. I won't comment on the collapse of Iceland's three main banks, except to refer you to a nice, concise article in this week's Economist (www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12382011); and to speculate gloomily that, with those banks' debts apparently amounting to nine times Iceland's GDP, some very lean years are surely in store for the country.

Rumours persist that Swedish banks' exposure to the collapsed property-bubble in the Baltic states could yet land at least one of them in severe difficulty - although, interestingly, there has also been criticism that such rumours haven't been investigated more energetically by Sweden's economics journalists.


4. Danish party politics displays yet more instability, this time affecting the Social Liberals (insightfully chronicled, as usual, by Jacob Christensen, http://jacobchristensen.name/2008/10/14/amnitzb%c3%b8ll/). But it's Sweden where the fun has really been occurring recently.

Amind the financial crisis, some eyebrows were raised at the timing of a press conference on Wednesday October 8th, at which the Social Democrats and the Greens announced an alliance between them, with the goal of forming a full coalition government after the next election. Even odder, perhaps, was that this alliance was given a specific shelf-life - until 2020, to be precise. But the main talking point was the clear statement that the Left Party, the third member of the quasi-coalition of 1998-2006, was to be exluded from the alliance. This was because of the Left's refusal to be bound to the fairly stringent fiscal norms that all the other parties accept - a radical position that might be an electoral liability for office-seeking parties that were associated with it.

The reaction of the Left was predictably angry: its leaders repeated their pledge to vote against any government that excludes them, including a coalition of Greens and Social Democrats. But what the Social Democratic leader, Mona Sahlin, appears to have "totally misjudged" (to quote a Swedish political columnist) was the subsequent reaction from within her own party. From all quarters of the labour movement came furious protests that it was too soon to marginalise the Left.

Within a couple of days, and to the Greens' obvious frustration, Sahlin had backtracked. The government issue remained open, she said, and talks with the Left would continue. A year and half after becoming party leader, Sahlin's authority has been powerfully weakened. There are also serious doubts now about her cautious, ongoing attempts to nudge the Social Democrats towards the political midfield. And Swedish voters are little the wiser about how the three left-of-centre parties will present themselves in opposition to the governing Alliance for Sweden (whose four leaders have pledged to deepen their parties' co-operation) in 2010.


5. For anyone who's noticed a certain stagnation in our group's website, there are technical problems that I'm trying to resolve with the PSA webmaster.

Best,

Nick.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: PSA conference

The deadline for submitting panel proposals to the conference (www.psa.ac.uk/2009) has been extended to october 10th.

We have or two places left in nascent panel-proposal that has the rather broad theme of Nordic and Baltic relations. Would anyone fancy climbing on board? We could do with a chair for the panel, too, if anyone is available.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

[Fwd: Call for papers: Labour Markets and Welfare States. The Nordic Model in Comparative and Transnational Historical Perspectives]

Possibly of interest to some on the Scandinavian Politics list...
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Call for papers: Labour Markets and Welfare States. The Nordic Model in Comparative and Transnational Historical Perspectives
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:25:33 +0300
From: aalanko@mappi.helsinki.fi

Dear recipient,

could you please forward the below call for papers to your e-mail lists?
With best wishes, Anna Alanko

**

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Labour Markets and Welfare States. The Nordic Model in Comparative and
Transnational Historical Perspectives

The conference "Labour Markets and Welfare States. The Nordic Model in
Comparative and Transnational Historical Perspectives" takes place in
Stockholm, 13-15 May 2009

Organizers: The Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State
- Historical Foundations and Future Challenges (NCoE NordWel) in
cooperation with the Department of History, Stockholm University.

Since the 1930s, the Nordic countries have been singled out as a
special case in international politics. In comparative welfare state
research the concept The Nordic Model has become a standard term.
However, the Nordic model is often and inadequately described in terms
of distinct social policy configuration when it is better seen as a
particular complex of welfare policies, labour market institutions,
and gender relations which has emerged in the Nordic countries over
the last century. According to this interpretation, two principles
characterize the model. On the one hand, a universalist idea of social
rights based on citizenship, and on the other hand, the normalcy of
wage work as the social form of labour.

The second international conference organized by the NCoE NordWel is
devoted to the historically contingent interconnectedness of welfare
states and labour markets. We invite proposals for papers that analyze
these complex relations in a broad historical perspective covering the
period from ca 1900 to the present. Papers can be both theoretical and
empirical in their approach. They can deal with particular cases,
focus on national themes or have a comparative/transnational
perspective. Among the suggested themes are

* Comparative analysis of labour markets and welfare states

* Gender, wage work, family policies and welfare states

* Labour market policies and activation policies - continuities and
discontinuities

* Sectorialized wage work (health care, social services) in the making
of welfare states

* Unions, employers and welfare states

* Migration, global labour markets and national welfare policies

* Changing and competing concepts, images and definitions of work and welfare

Paper proposals (1/2 page) should be submitted to the following e-mail
address: nils.edling@historia.su.se. The deadline for submissions of
abstracts is December 15, 2008. Authors of submitted abstracts will be
notified not later than January 15, 2008.

NCoE NordWel will provide accommodation for all participants with
accepted papers. Travel grant can be applied for in connection with
abstract submission.

Nordic Centre of Excellence The Nordic Welfare State - Historical
Foundations and Future Challenges, NCoE NordWel, is a
multi-disciplinary, cross-national research network of seven partner
units in Nordic universities. The Centre started its activities in
March 2007 as a part of NordForsk Centre of Excellence. For more
information, see: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/.

--
Anna Alanko
Coordinator
NCoE NordWel
Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical
Foundations and Future Challenges

Dept. of Social Science History
P.O. Box 54 (Snellmaninkatu 14A)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki

Tel +358 (0)9 191 249 58
Fax +358 (0)9 191 249 42
E-mail anna.alanko@helsinki.fi
Www: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/

Scandinavian Politics: PSA conference; new book

Dear all,

Three items in this newsletter.


1. PSA CONFERENCE In Manchester in April 2007 (www.psa.ac.uk/2009). The deadline for panel proposals is September 28th - that is, within a fortnight. So far, we've had two suggestions:

(a) "privacy-related" issues, epitomised by the ongoing broughhaha in Sweden over the proposed surveillance law (see below);

(b) "ethics and Nordic military policy".

If anyone would be interested in presenting a paper related to one of these topics, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with the relevant person.


2. NEW BOOK on Swedish social democracy. One of the members of this list, Dimitris Tsarouhas. now of Bilkent University (dimitris@bilkent.edu.tr), has produced this book, published by IB Tauris (www.ibtauris.com). The publisher's website summarises Social Democracy in Sweden thus:

"What is the future of social democracy in the age of globalization? The Swedish model, long the paradigm for socially responsible capitalism, was pronounced dead in the 1990s, but a new Swedish model has emerged and is thriving. Europeanisation and globalization were expected to erode social democracy, placing limits on the power of organized labour to negotiate with capital. Here Dimitris Tsarouhas shows why and how this did not happen. Tracing the emergence of the original model to its institutional and political origins, he garners rich empirical evidence to show the resilience of the fundamental nature of Swedish social democracy in the face of changing policies, institutions and labour relations. 'Social Democracy in Sweden' is an important reassessment of European social democracy and the impact of globalization."

I'm sure this will be of interest to a lot of other members of our list.


3. BRIEF REVIEW OF RECENT NORDIC POLITICS.

* The centre-right Swedish government, having got to half way in the parliamentary term, must be wondering how it allowed defence and security to dominate the political agenda. It is still far from certain that its surveillance (FRA) law will get through parliament (which reopens tomorrow), such is the unease among the coalition's backbenchers. Then, last week, perhaps in the light of foreign minister Carl Bildt's eyebrow-raisingly hawkish response to Russia's behaviour in the Caucasus, the government decided to review its much-criticised defence policy.

Meanwhile, the three left-of-centre opposition parties are still miles ahead in the polls. Recently, Social Democratic leader Mona Sahlin confirmed the widely held assumption that, if possible, her party will return to office after the next election in coalition rather than alone. Whether that coalition would include both the Left Party and the Greens, or just the Greens, is still unclear, however - and this may prove to be the current government's last trump card. The Left's leadership wrote an uncompromisingly radical article on economic policy last week that makes it hard to see a basis for a deal with the other two parties.

* The war in Georgia has prompted mixed but generally more measured reactions in Finland. The authors of a parliamentary report on national security policy, which in the summer dismissed the idea of a military threat to Finland from Russia, told Hbl last week that nothing had happened to change their opinion.

* In Norway, the Progress Party is making ever more progress in the opinion polls, to the extent that it is now talking about what it would do in government after the next election, in autumn 2009. Its governing prospects are hindered by the refusal of Christian Democrats to contemplate joining it in a coalition, and of the Liberals even to consider passively supporting a government that included Progress. But some Conservatives are tempted by the idea of coming to an arrangement with Progress. And the party's leader, Siv Jensen, has even mooted the idea of its forming a single-party minority government, even if it could only survive a short time.

* As usual, however, it's been Denmark where politics has been liveliest. (Thanks to Jacob Christensen and Flemming Juul Christiansen for their thoughts on a draft of the following resumé.)

Last week Bendt Bendtsen stepped down as Conservative leader, minister of the economy and commerce, and deputy prime minister (he will now run for the European Parliament). After a unanimous vote in the Conservative parliamentary group, he was replaced in all three roles by Lene Espersen, minister of justice for the last seven years. The latest opinion polls do not suggest that the move has given the Liberal-Conservative coalition a shot in the arm, which is what it needs.

One of its difficulties was caused by the uncertainy about the future of the Lisbon treaty, which forced the government to shelve its plans for referendums on scrapping some or all of the exemptions that Denmark has from some EU policy areas. More serious has been the challenge posed over the summer to the government's flagship policy, on immigration, by the European Court of Justice, which has been aggravated by the poor management of the issue by Birthe Rønn Horbech, the integration minister, and her department.

Another problem is the historic agreement, concluded a month or so ago, in which the Socialist People's Party agreed a shadow budget proposal with the Social Democrats. This agreement makes a coalition between these two parties, and probably also the Social Liberals, that much more likely. The Socialist People's Party's office-seeking course, which has involved much more centrist positions (by Danish standards) on, especially, economics and ethnic-minority integration, has won it big rewards in the opinion polls. Some of its own leading figures are less enthused, though.

Finally, New Alliance, which won parliamentary seats for the first time in 2007, has tried to draw a line under months of disastrous infighting and defections by changing its name, to Liberal Alliance, and its policies, also in a liberal direction. However, its support in opinion polls remains almost non-existent. More on these and other issues in Danish and Nordic politics can be found on Jacob Christensen's excellent blog (jacobchristensen.name).


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: PSA conference 2009

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

It might still be summer for some, especially those in Britain (summer in the sense of the calendar, rather than the weather, anyway). But here in chilly, rainy Stockholm, preparations for the new academic year are well underway. And it's thus time encourage you to start thinking about the 2009 PSA conference, on April 7th-9th (www.psa.ac.uk/2009).

An added attraction this year is that the conference will, for the first time, be held in a proper conference centre rather than a university campus. That this particular conference centre is in Manchester is another attraction. All the more reason, then, for a good Scandinavianist turnout.

If anyone is interested in presenting a Nordic-flavoured paper at the conference, or indeed of organising a panel, please let me know (I've been informed that "it will be your responsibility as convenor to submit the panel proposals for your specialist group").

As for the panels' composition, there are stricter guidelines than usual. "All panels", apparently, "should have a minimum of three papers and a maximum of four. Participation by graduate students is limited to one paper per panel proposal."

If you have some research on the go that you think could usefully receive some feeback around next spring, do let me know.

Best,

Nick.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: question about MPs and parties

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Robin Pettitt of Kingston University has asked me to send out the following question to the list.

"There is a clause in the Danish Constitution (§ 56) which states that 'members of parliament are bound only by their own convictions and not by any directions from their voters'.

"Is anyone aware of any other country in Scandinavia or beyond having a similar clause, or of any literature dealing with constitutional rules protecting the independence of MPs from their voters/parties? Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated."

Please reply directly to Robin (r.pettitt@kingston.ac.uk).

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a prodcutive summer, however you define productive.

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: Swedish drama, workshop report, new books

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Several items of interest.


1. SWEDEN'S BUGGING LAW. There's been British-style parliamentary drama in Sweden this week. A new law that permits the state to monitor all electronic communication that traverses the country's borders, even without any suspicion of crime, was approved by parliament late last night. (I won't comment on the symbolism of Sweden's football team getting torn apart by their Russian opponents at pretty much the same time.)

As you might expect, and as Jacob Christensen has observed on his excellent blog (http://jacobchristensen.name/2008/06/16/fra/), this law has been massively controversial. It has no visible support anywhere in the Sweden outside the governing parties (although it was actually the previous Social Democtatic government that initiated it). Indeed, several MPs from three of the four right-of-centre coalition parties threatened to vote against the bill. Departure from the party line by only four of them would have deprived the government of a majority. But several last-minute concessions persuaded all but a couple of Liberal MPs to support their government.

Among the many interesting aspects of this episode are (a) the threatened breakdown in parliamentary-party discipline, which is unusual in Sweden, and (b) the fact that several of the rebel MPs were both young and elevated up their respective parties' lists in the 2006 election by their high proportions of personal preference votes.


2. WORKSHOP REPORT. Last week a very interesting and, by all accounts, successful workshop took place in London. The theme was Political Outsiders in Swedish History. A report written by the organiser, Mary Hilson of UCL, is attached as a text file.


3. NEW BOOKS. Concidentally, Mary Hilson has just published a book on modern Nordic history that I suspect will be extremely useful for both teaching and research.

www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=329

Equally useful will be a new edition of David Arter's textbook, Scandinavian Politics Today, which will be out in September.


Meanwhile, enjoy summer.


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be
interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a
message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send
something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional
messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/



Political Outsiders in Swedish History


A workshop with the above title was held at UCL on Friday 6 June 2008, organised by the Nordic History Group (UCL Department of Scandinavian Studies), in co-operation with Lund University and Malmö University College, and with financial support from the Political Studies Association's Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group and the UCL Centre for European Studies.

The aim of the workshop was to bring together historians and political scientists to explore one of the fundamental assumptions about the so-called Swedish model, namely that Swedish political history is seen as having been characterised primarily by a political culture of compromise and consensus. Traditionally, the crucial turning point for the establishment of the Swedish model was understood to be the 1930s, when several historical milestones - notably the 1933 'cow-deal' and the 1938 Saltsjöbadsavtal - established a political settlement that was to endure for most of the twentieth century.

Recent historical scholarship has traced the roots of the model back to the Enlightenment or even earlier, citing the institutions of early modern peasant society as the forerunners of a distinctively Swedish political culture of compromise and consensus. Within Swedish historical writing, and within more general perceptions of Sweden, both externally and internally, the 'consensus view' of Swedish history has thus become established as a Swedish Sonderweg, and even to take on the characteristics of a national myth. However, given the apparent demise of some aspects of the model in recent years, a re-assessment of its historical roots seems timely, and appropriately enough, this workshop on national myths in Swedish history was held coincidentally on the Swedish national day.

The political outsiders discussed in the papers presented at the workshop were all outsiders in a double sense: they were often radicals in their own day, but they also stand outside mainstream Swedish historiography. Five papers were presented. Lars Edgren (Lund University) discussed the little-known C19th Lund radical Nils Rudolf Munch af Rosenschöld, drawing on his journal Fäderneslandet to examine links between democracy, nationalism, anti-semitism, gender and sexuality in a political movement largely ignored by Swedish historians. Irene Andersson's (Malmö University College) paper examined the women's organisation Frisinnade Kvinnors Riksförbund to present a more nuanced view of gender politics in the first decade of full citizenship, in the 1920's - a decade that many contributors discussed as a 'lost decade' in Swedish history writing.

Stefan Nyzell (Malmö University College) dealt with suppressed aspects of the history of the Social Democratic Party itself, taking as his point of departure the so-called Möllevången riots in Malmö in 1926. Magnus Olofsson (Lund University) presented work from his recent doctoral thesis on the rural protest movements in Skåne in the 1860s, showing how farm tenants used various forms of violent and non-violent protest to assert their rights against larger landowners. Finally, Mary Hilson (UCL) presented an overview of recent historiographical developments, emphasising the role of contingency in the development of the so-called Swedish model in the first half of the twentieth century.

Comments on all the papers were provided by two political scientists, Lee Miles (University of Liverpool) and Christine Agius (Salford University). There was general agreement that while it was important to acknowledge the often peaceful nature of Swedish political development seen over a long historical period, the role of conflict in Swedish society at different times should not be overlooked. Also the role of international politics in steering internal Swedish developments was emphasised.

The small size of the workshop (about 12 participants overall) allowed for wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics, and useful parallels were also drawn with the other Nordic countries, Denmark in particular. The workshop was an excellent example of the cross-fertilisation and useful exchange of ideas that can arise from inter-disciplinary collaborations between historians and political scientists in this way.

It is hoped that this work will eventually result in the publication of a volume with the same title.


Mary Hilson, UCL
June 2008

Fwd: Call for Applications: Mobility fellowships for PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers]

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

The following announcement may be of interest to some on the list.

Otherwise, I hope that everyone is easing themselves into summer mode, whatever that mode actually involves for each of you!

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/


-------- Ursprungligt meddelande --------
Ämne: Fwd: Call for Applications: Mobility fellowships for PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers
Datum: Tue, 27 May 2008 20:54:59 +0300
Från: Heidi Haggrén
Till: k.charles@ucl.ac.uk,francesca.parenti@iue.it,"Nicholas Aylott" ,schulte@werknetz.com,info@espanet.org,henvendelser@fosam.uio.no,hiscj@hum.au.dk,sekretariatet@nsuweb.net,anewby@STAFFMAIL.ED.AC.UK

Please circulate this Call for papers to all potentially interested.

Best wishes,
Heidi Haggrén

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CALL FOR PAPERS

NordWel mobility fellowships

The Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State ? Historical
Foundations and Future Challenges (NordWel) announces mobility fellowships for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers working within the research themes of the Centre. The mobility fellowship covers a visit in one of the institutions participating in the Centre.

For more information see Call for Applications:
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/mobility/mobility-fellowships/call-for-applications/.

The deadline for applications is 16 June 2008 by 3:45 pm.

--
Heidi Haggrén, M.Soc.Sc.
Coordinator
NCoE NordWel
Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical
Foundations and Future Challenges

Dept. of Social Science History
P.O. Box 54 (Snellmaninkatu 14A)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki

Tel +358 (0)9 191 249 58
Fax +358 (0)9 191 249 42
E-mail heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi
Www: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/

CfP_NordWel-fellowships_post-doc-researchers.doc

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Scandinavian Politics: Political Outsiders

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Mary Hilson at University College London has organised a very interesting one-day workshop on Political Outsiders in Swedish History, to take place on Friday June 6th 2008. It features collaboration between British and Swedish historians and political scientists, and it will receive some of its funding from our group. More details can be found here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/scandinavian-studies/political_outsiders

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: turbulence on the Danish left

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

It feels like Nordic politics has been going through a bit of a quiet spell recently. A couple of party leaders (the Finnish Social Democrats, the Norwegian Centre Party) have announced that they're stepping down. The "highly leveraged" Icelandic economy is either going through a slightly rough patch or is poised for total meltdown, depending on who you believe. Most of you will have read about the resignation of the Finnish foreign minister, after some rather inappropriate SMS correspondence.

In Sweden, the Greens' top people have signalled that they want to reconcile their party to EU membership, which could have interesting consequences for their relations with the Social Democrats. There are currently big healthcare strikes in Denmark and Sweden, and both countries have experienced public spats about academic freedom, which Jacob Christensen has written insightfully about (http://jacobchristensen.name/2008/04/15/an-academic-debate-and-other-catfights/).

But otherwise it's been fairly sedate - with, I would say, one interesting exception.

As usual, this exception can be found in Denmark. It concerns the recent behaviour of the Socialist People's Party and, in particular, its leader, Willy Søvndal. One interesting development was his openness to a deal with the right-wing government over holding new referendums on Denmark's longstanding opt-outs from the Treaty on European Union, including EMU. (The Lisbon treaty, meanwhile, was pushed through parliament yesterday, the government having been determined to avoid a referendum.)

More striking, though, was Søvndal's reaction to the wave of unrest that some Danish towns experienced in February, at the same time as the cartoons-of-the-prophet controversy briefly blew back into life. Among other things, he argued that while discrimination against immigrants was a problem, it was "not an open excuse to burn cars". Nor were immigrants the only ones to suffer immigration; so too did groups within the indigenous population, such as young women, sometimes at the hands of "young men with another ethnic background". He also laid into some of the more radical Islamic organisations. For "those with a Muslim background in Denmark", he declared, "the solution to their problems - which I recognise and understand - is not to be found through more religion" (Politiken Feb. 20th 2008).

Now, this position is entirely consistent with a secular left-wing analysis of anti-social behaviour and, especially, religion's role in public life. But it is nevertheless a sharp break with the Scandinavian left's usual position on the plight of many immigrants in the region, which is - putting it very simply - that the host society is to blame for marginalising them. Reactions have ranged from furious attacks on Søvndal from Social Liberals, and from some in his own party, to gleeful congratulation from the governing parties. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Socialist People's Party's opinion-polls figures have gone through the roof.

Meanwhile, the torture for the Social Democrats continues in ever more paradoxical forms. In such good times, economic issues, especially tax, are tricky enough for the party. But on social and ethical issues like immigration and freedom of speech, the Social Democrats are simultaneously being pulled leftwards by the Social Liberals, the party nominally to their right, and powerfully rightwards by the Socialist People's Party, the party nominally to their left and which now stands pretty much level with them in the polls.

The contrast with the immigration debate in Sweden just could not be greater.

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian politics: temporary jobs

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,


- Nick Sitter, who works in the Department of Public Governance at the Norwegian School of Management BI, tells me that his department is advertising two fixed-term one-year vacancies for the academic year 2008/2009, for Norwegian-speakers. The application deadline is May 7th.

See: www2.hr-manager.net/bi_handelshoyskolen/syndication/Advertisement.aspx

Alternatively, go to the school's homepage (www.bi.no) and click on "Ledige stillinger" near the bottom.


- Meanwhile, we at Södertörn are advertising for two new lecturers, one specialising in international relations, the other in gender. The deadline is April 30th.

See: www.sh.se/ledigajobb


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: conference, summer school, MSc

Dear all on the Scandinavian politics list,

I attach files on three things that might be of interest: a conference on the Nordic welfare state, a summer school on the same topic, and an MSc in Political Economy.

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested. To join the Scandinavian Politics mailing list, send a message to me, the convenor (nicholas.aylott@sh.se). If you want to send something to the list, or if you don't want to receive these occasional messages, just let me know. See also www.psa.ac.uk/spgrp/scandinavia/



Ämne:
Call for papers: Workfare policies and welfare state legitimacy, 11-12 September 2008, Bergen
Från:
Heidi Haggrén
Datum:
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:20:02 +0200
Till:
"Nicholas Aylott" ,schulte@werknetz.com,info@espanet.org,henvendelser@fosam.uio.no,hiscj@hum.au.dk,sekretariatet@nsuweb.net

Please circulate this Call for papers to all potentially interested.

Best wishes,
Heidi Haggrén

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Call for papers:

Workfare policies and welfare state legitimacy

Conference 11-12 September 2008 at
Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies, Bergen

Arranged by Nordic Centre of Excellence, NordWel: The Nordic Welfare State
– Historical Foundations and Future Challenges:
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/


CONFERENCE THEME
A common trend in the welfare policies of many European countries is the
increase in measures targeted at ‘high risk’ groups, such as the long-term
unemployed. These policies can be seen as a reaction to problems related to
an increasing differentiation in the labour market, problems related to
long-term unemployment and to the growth of immigrant groups.

The political answers to this problem have been similar all over the Western
world. The general trend of the reforms have been towards ‘active measures’
rather than passive, ‘sanctions’ rather than positive incentives, ‘duties’
rather than rights. These are key elements in a ‘new welfare contract’
between the citizen and the government, saying that ‘high risk’ recipients
groups have to meet certain participation requirements in order to receive
welfare benefits. This trend implies i.a. a move from universal welfare
programs and services, to selective, means-tested ones.

This conference puts focus on those types of policy measure that can be
summarized under the term of ‘workfare’. This literally means
‘work-for-your-welfare’, but should here include all kind of policies that
involve certain participation requirements of the welfare recipients.

The aim of conference is to approach the question of the effects of workfare
policies on welfare state legitimacy from various perspectives and regarding
different policy levels:
- the normative level (general values guiding welfare policies, social
policy ‘goals’ in the different countries),
- the structural or systemic level (including the specific organisational
structures for realizing workfare policies, the role of workfare policies in
relation to other social policy measures and their role in the changing
modes of social and economic regulation), and
- the level of workfare policy practices (the implementation of workfare
policies), as well as the level of outcomes of measures taken.

Relevant themes for the conference are:
- How is workfare conceptualised in contemporary welfare discourses?
- What are the origins and paths of international diffusion of workfare ideas?
- How does workfare relate to older emphases of work and employment ?
- What are the structure and reasons for political support for workfare
ideas in different countries?
- How are workfare policies legitimized in the public debate in different
Nordic and non-Nordic countries?
- What are the impacts of workfare policy goals on structural and
institutional design, and do these affect the legitimacy of the system?
- What are the attitudes and experiences, and their respective determinants,
of those engaged in implementing welfare policies at a ‘grass-root level’?
- How legitimate are workfare policies among the general population in
different countries?
- What are the effects of workfare policies, especially from the viewpoint
of the most vulnerable groups?
- How could we theoretically interpret workfare policies in the context of
the changing forms and function of the state (e.g. discussions on ‘welfare
state’-‘workfare state’ and ‘welfare state’-‘competition state’)?


CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
More detailed information on the programme will be available in March.
See https://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/


SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACT
Dead-line for abstract submission is 7 May 2008.
An abstract must include: ½ page and full contact details of author. The
abstract should be sent to the following e-mail address:
Helena.Blomberg@helsinki.fi


ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER PROPOSALS
Information about the acceptance of paper proposals will be sent out to
authors by 7 June 2008.

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL COSTS
Accommodation will be paid for the participants accepted to present a paper.
Travel grant can be applied for in connection with abstract submission.


Nanna Kildal Pauli Kettunen Helena Blomberg
Stein Rokkan Centre for University of Helsinki University of Helsinki
Social studies



-- Heidi Haggrén, M.Soc.Sc. Coordinator NCoE NordWel Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical Foundations and Future Challenges Dept. of Social Science History P.O. Box 54 (Snellmaninkatu 14A) FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Tel +358 (0)9 191 249 58 Fax +358 (0)9 191 249 42 E-mail heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi =



Ämne:
Call for Papers - NordWel Summer School 2008: State, Society & Citizen – the Multilayered Historicity of the Welfare State
Från:
Heidi Haggrén
Datum:
Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:45:44 +0200
Till:
"Nicholas Aylott" ,schulte@werknetz.com,info@espanet.org,henvendelser@fosam.uio.no,hiscj@hum.au.dk,sekretariatet@nsuweb.net

Please circulate this Call for papers to all potentially interested.

Best wishes,
Heidi Haggrén

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NordWel Summer School 2008

State, Society & Citizen – the Multilayered Historicity of the Welfare State

Date: 21-26 August 2008
Place: Helsinki
Organisers: NCoE NordWel in cooperation with the Danish Research School for
History and Nordic Research School for Contemporary History.


We invite Ph.D.-students and young researchers from different backgrounds
both within and outside the Nordic countries to participate in discussing
the history of the welfare state, its preconditions and how we ought to
study it.

Old and new perspectives on the welfare state

Welfare States has and can be studied from a number of theoretical and
methodological approaches, with various chronological perspectives and with
a focus on different empirical phenomena. As stated in the title “State,
Society & Citizen – the Multilayered Historicity of the Welfare State” our
aim is to stimulate cross-disciplinary and multi-perspective discussions on
the welfare state as a historical phenomena and concept.

The welfare state is to be understood as a broad concept and papers at the
summer school can include papers on welfare institutions; historical and
social preconditions; ideas, visions and critiques; transnational and
comparative perspectives as well as studies of agents and social movements.

The Summer School will – inspired by new trends with in welfare research -
challenge our often very narrow national and contemporary understanding of
the welfare state. Our aim is to bring together Ph.D.-students and young
researchers and stimulate a discussion that will challenge and maybe bring
us beyond well established concepts and understandings.

We invite proposals for papers that deal with welfare and welfare state in a
broad historical perspective. Papers can be both theoretical and empirical
in their approach. They can deal with national themes or have a comparative
perspective. The list of possible themes seems almost infinite but papers
could deal with topics such as

* The historical development of social security and service systems
including both the 20th Century as well as the long historical roots and
preconditions for the contemporary welfare state
* The political history of the welfare state including political and
ideological discussions on welfare, the role of political parties as well as
the role of social movements.
* Visions of society including the role of ideology, the history of
theories about society, social movements and alternative visions of the good
society, discussions on gender equality, the welfare state as utopia or
dystopia in politics or arts.
* Conceptual perspectives on the welfare state including the role of
ideology and ideas, the use of theories and theoretical perspectives.
* Transnational perspectives including policy transfer, export of
welfare systems, the relationship between the national and international,
and the role of international organizations and ideas
* The normative underpinnings of the welfare state model including value
systems of the welfare state, gendering of welfare systems, the normative
charges of work, the role of religion and contemporary challenges to the
normative foundation.
* Institutional perspectives including the relationship between local
and national (state and municipality), between the public and the private,
policy studies and the role of expert and knowledge.

Teachers include, among others, Bo Stråth (University of Helsinki, Finland),
Janet Nyman (Open University, UK), Adalbert Evers (Giessen University,
Germany), Pauli Kettunen (University of Helsinki, Finland), Pirjo Markkola
(Åbo Akademi University, Finland) and Klaus Petersen (University of Southern
Denmark, Denmark).

The summer school is designed for Nordic and international PhD students and
postdoctoral researchers. The course is composed of a series of guest
lectures and workshops. Guest lectures and senior scholars will act as
discussants in the workshops as well as the PhD students.

The course program will be updated on the NordWel home page at
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/.

Participants who complete the summer school successfully are credited with
10 ECTS credits.

Course fee

The Course fee is 100 Euros. Travel costs and accommodation will be financed
by NCoE NordWel and the Danish Research School for History.

How to apply

PhD students and young researchers interested in participating in the summer
school should send an abstract (½ page) and a short biography by email no
later than 30 April 2008 to coordinator Heidi Haggrén:
heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi, + 358 9 191 24958.

Contact

For inquiries or comments, contact Coordinator Heidi Haggrén via e-mail:
heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi, or by phone: + 358 9 191 24958.

NordWel Summer School 2008 will cooperate with Concepta Helsinki Summer
School 2008: Introduction to Conceptual History (http://www.concepta-net.org)

Organizing committee

Professor Pauli Kettunen, Dept. of Social Science History, University of
Helsinki
Professor Pirjo Markkola, Department of History, Åbo Academy University
Professor Klaus Petersen, Centre for Welfare State Research, Univ. of
Southern Denmark

Contact: Heidi Haggrén: heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi, + 358 9 191 24958.

-- Heidi Haggrén, M.Soc.Sc. Coordinator NCoE NordWel Nordic Centre of Excellence: The Nordic Welfare State - Historical Foundations and Future Challenges Dept. of Social Science History P.O. Box 54 (Snellmaninkatu 14A) FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Tel +358 (0)9 191 249 58 Fax +358 (0)9 191 249 42 E-mail heidi.haggren@helsinki.fi =

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Scandinavian Politics: financial news

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Just a quick note about financial matters.

The PSA's specialist-groups sub-committee has agreed to give £800 towards our activities this year. This is a good result, due largely to various efforts and initiatives last year, which contributed to what must be our relatively high level of activity among specialist groups. Thanks again to those who organised things. This is what we need to continue.

1. If anyone would be interested in receiving funding for an event, let me know. It could be a seminar, a workshop - anything that is concerned with (a) political science and (b) Nordic politics will be considered.

Our biggest donation last year was £750 for a conference, and something similar could be on offer this year. I've already had one pretty firm suggestion submitted, so that one is first in the queue. But we may well have room to fund additional projects.

2. As last year, around £150 is available to postgraduate students attending the PSA conference in Swansea in April 2008, to help with travel and the conference fee. Those interested should get in touch with me as soon as possible.

Best, from a gloomy Stockholm that's "enjoyed" its mildest winter since 1756,

Nick.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College, Stockholm
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: Danish New Alliance near collapse and PSA Conference 2008

Dear all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Two items.


1. First, here's a reminder from the local organiser about registration for the PSA conference.

-------- Ursprungligt meddelande --------
Ämne: PSA News PSA Conference 2008
Datum: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 23:03:39 -0000

We are approaching a key deadline in registration for the 2008 Political
Studies Association Annual Conference at Swansea University 1-3 April.
You need to register by Monday 15 February. Registration after that
time will incur a £40 surcharge and no guarantee of on-site
accommodation. You are strongly urged to register as soon as possible.
Please go to the conference website at www.psa.ac.uk/2008
and you can either register on line from the
registration page or download a registration form and send by post.

We look forward to seeing you in Swansea in April.

----------------------------------------

2. Meanwhile, Danish politics just gets more and more dramatic.

You'll recall that on Jan 22nd this newsletter described a tense parliamentary situation for the government over asylum policy, caused by the resignation of a former Conservative leader from that party's parliamentary group. In the event, the government was let off the hook by parliamentary debutants New Alliance. Its MPs, facing political death in any new election, agreed to a compromise with the governing majority. But this had knock-on effects.

First, one of New Alliance's MPs and founders, ex-Conservative Gitte Seeberg, refused to accept that her party could reach a deal that included the government's support party on the far-right, the Danish People's Party. After all, marginalising the Danish People's Party had been one of New Alliance's primary objectives. She resigned from the party last week. That was bad enough for New Alliance. Yesterday it got worse. One of its more glamourous MPs, Malou Aamund, not only resigned from the party, she also joined the Liberals.

After this latest round of parliamentary musical chairs, the Liberals, Conservatives and the Danish People's Party have their parliamentary majority back, and New Alliance looks - to quote Jacob Christiansen at Umeå University - well and truly doomed.


Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: Danish parliamentary cliffhanger

Dear all on the Scandinavian Poltiics list,

There's an interesting parliamentary situation developing in Denmark.

You'll recall that the incumbent coalition government of the Liberal and Conservative parties, supported by the far-right Danish People's Party, scraped back into office in November's election. But its slim one-seat majority is now under threat over the treatment of asylum-seekers.

Two things have put the government's majority in danger on this question. One was the post-election decision of a former Conservative Party leader, Pia Christmas-Møller, to leave the party's parliamentary group and sit as an independent. Indeed, it is Christmas-Møller who has tabled an amendment to the government's policy proposal (her amendment would allow asylum-seeking famlilies whose applications had been rejected, but whose homelands are too dangerous to send them back to, to live away from special accommodation centres sooner). The second development is the decision by the two MPs from Greenland to back this amendment, rather than maintaining their customary reluctance to get involved in Danish domestic politics.

The result is that the government could well lose the vote in parliament tomorrow. That does not necessarily mean that it will fall; it could simply choose not to interpret the issue as one of confidence. Formally, it is even entitled to ignore the decision. But there's already speculation that the Liberal prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, might even be tempted to call a snap election. This sounds drastic. But with the Social Democrats experiencing yet another round of infighting (leading party figures from Copenhagen launched a left-leaning discussion group last week), and with Christmas-Møller and the five New Alliance MPs almost certain to lose their seats, it might just be a tempting prospect for the government.

Tomorrow's parliamentary vote will be worth watching.

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper

Scandinavian Politics: review of 2007

Hej to all on the Scandinavian Politics list,

Mary Hilson of University College London (m.hilson@ucl.ac.uk) has kindly offered members of the list an exclusive preview of her summary of Nordic politics in 2007, which she's compiled for the Annual Register (a journal that, according to its website, "began publication in 1758...[and]...is now published by Longmans").

Mary writes that the Register's editor "has agreed that I can circulate this to the list, as long as it is made clear that this is appearing in the Annual Register and that it should not be quoted or cited without permission." Mary also says that she would welcome "any comments on content, accuracy, etc".

I attach the entry.

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/statsvetenskap