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Palgrave Macmillan

Democracy and the Economy in Finland and Sweden since 1960

A Nordic Perspective on Neoliberalism

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ilkka Kärrylä

    1. Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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  • Applies a conceptual history perspective to the problem of economic democracy, a timely and important topic
  • Develops an underexplored area of research on the history of economic democracy in Finland
  • Examines three concepts in Sweden and Finland: economic democracy, industrial democracy and enterprise democracy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political History (PSPH)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 1-22

  3. Economic Democracy as a Contested Concept

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 23-73

  4. Enterprise Democracy: Employee Power or Consultative Cooperation?

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 75-117

  5. Collective Ownership as a Form of Economic Democracy

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 119-160

  6. New Economic Paradigm Narrows the Horizon of Democratization

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 161-210

  7. Last Struggles for Economic Democracy

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 211-249

  8. From Democratization to Liberalization

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 251-305

  9. Conclusion

    • Ilkka Kärrylä
    Pages 307-324

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 325-364
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Keywords

About this book

This book explores the relationship between democracy and the economy in contemporary political thought and policy-making. Using the concepts of economic, industrial and enterprise democracy, the author focuses on the history of Finland and Sweden during the latter part of the twentieth century. The three concepts are discussed in relation to various political groups, such as social democrats, conservatives and liberals, and the reforms that they were associated with, painting a picture of changing economic thought in the Nordic countries, and the West more generally. Arguing that the concept of democracy has evolved from representative parliamentary democracy towards ‘participation’ in civil society, this book demonstrates how the ideal of individual freedom and choice has surpassed collective decision-making. These shared characteristics between Finland, Sweden and other Western countries challenge the view that the Nordic countries have been exceptional in resisting neoliberalism. In fact, as this book shows, neoliberalism has been influential to the Nordics since the 1970s. Offering an innovative and conceptual perspective on European political history, this book will appeal to scholars interested in Nordic political history and modern European history more generally.

Reviews

“Kärrylä provides a meticulous analysis of the changing meaning and significance of concepts of economic democracy in the history of Sweden and Finland. His well-written book is of interest not only to historians of Sweden and Finland, but more broadly to social scientists with an interest in the meaning of democracy … . the book is valuable for all those who want to learn from the dilemmas of the past for the prospect of democratization in the future.” (Micha Fiedlschuster, H-Soz-Kult, hsozkult.de, March 6, 2023)

“A fascinating work of conceptual history, which analyses the contested political objective of economic democracy to show how the market mechanism has won out as a principle of social organization in the Nordic countries since the 1960s. Kärrylä’s meticulous, nuanced and authoritative account sheds new light on the neoliberalization of western societies and is highly relevant for current debates about the relation between democracy and the economy.”  

—Niklas Olsen, Professor of History, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and author of The Sovereign Consumer: A New Intellectual History of Neoliberalism

"Democracy and the Economy is a well-written, concise account of economic democracy debates in Sweden and Finland from the wage earner funds debates to the neoliberal era. It explains the importance of the wage earner funds idea, of enduring relevance to political economic debates today."

—Jenny Andersson, Professor, Department of the History of Ideas and Science, Uppsala University, Sweden


Authors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Ilkka Kärrylä

About the author

Ilkka Kärrylä is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Nordic Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland. He received his doctorate in Political History from the University of Helsinki in 2020. He specializes in the political and intellectual history of Europe and the Nordic countries, especially the history of economic thought and policy.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Democracy and the Economy in Finland and Sweden since 1960

  • Book Subtitle: A Nordic Perspective on Neoliberalism

  • Authors: Ilkka Kärrylä

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Political History

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80631-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-80630-9Published: 02 October 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-80633-0Published: 03 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-80631-6Published: 01 October 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2946-5176

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-5184

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 364

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: History of Modern Europe, Political History, European History, Modern History, Economic History

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