Nordic Social Attitudes in a European Perspective

Nordic Social Attitudes in a European Perspective

Author: H. Ervasti

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1848444990

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For outsiders, the popularity and social sustainability of the extensive scope of Nordic welfare states, such as the strong role of the state and high levels of taxation, remains something of a mystery. Making use of recent international survey data, this important book goes some way towards solving this mystery. It underlines the remarkable success of Nordic welfare institutions which help to maintain not only low rates of poverty and inequality, but high levels of well-being, trust, social capital and political participation. Jochen Clasen, University of Edinburgh, UK Nordic welfare states have long enjoyed a leadership position in the provision of social welfare. They are now caught up in the current of thorough-going reform that is sweeping across Europe. This book uses data from the European Social Survey in fresh and innovative ways to demonstrate the resilience of Nordic models and to show how political discourses are changing across a whole range of policy areas. Peter Taylor-Gooby, University of Kent, UK This book addresses the effect that institutional settings typical to the Nordic countries have upon people s attitudes and behaviour. Placed within a European comparative perspective, the analyses presented by the contributing authors centre around issues relating to the welfare state, politics, family and work, as well as cultural concerns including economic morality and religiosity. Despite differences between the Nordic countries, the overall impression given is of a shared outlook and way of life. In the European context, the Nordic countries particularly stand out as a distinct group therefore demonstrating their institutional similarities. Providing highly rigorous and up-to-date data, with a wide coverage of topics, this book will be of great interest to academics and students in sociology, social policy and political science. It will also appeal to anyone interested in the Nordic countries in general.


Social Capital and Health Inequality in European Welfare States

Social Capital and Health Inequality in European Welfare States

Author: M. Rostila

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-02-04

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1137305665

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Drawing on cross-national European data from the European Social Survey as well as Swedish national survey data and registers, this book investigates social capital in relation to health and health inequalities in European welfare states.


Handbook of Social Capital

Handbook of Social Capital

Author: Gert Tinggaard Svendsen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 1848447485

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Given the current global economic crisis that has its root causes in the psychology of the marketplace every bit as much as any other factor, the Handbook of Social Capital is timely, insightful, informed, informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking reading. . . A compilation of impressive and extensive scholarship, the Handbook of Social Capital is strongly recommended for academic and professional library reference collections. Library Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review The Handbook of Social Capital offers an important contribution to the study of bonding and bridging social capital networks, balancing the troika of sociology, political science and economics. Eminent contributors, including Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom, explore the different scientific approaches required if international research is to embrace both the bright and the more shadowy aspects of social capital. The Handbook stresses the importance of trust for economies all over the world and contains a strong advocacy for cross-disciplinary work within the social sciences. Social capital is becoming one of the most important and hotly discussed topics of today. This inter-disciplinary Handbook intends to serve as a bridge for students and scholars across the social sciences.


The Rise and Fall of Social Cohesion

The Rise and Fall of Social Cohesion

Author: Christian Albrekt Larsen

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2013-06-20

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0199681848

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The book explores the ways in which social cohesion — measured as trust in unknown fellow citizens — can be established and undermined. It examines the US and UK, where social cohesion declined in the latter part of the twentieth century, and Sweden and Denmark, where social cohesion increased, and aims to put forward a social constructivist explanation for this shift. Demonstrating the importance of public perceptions about living in a meritocratic middle class society, the book argues that trust declined because the Americans and British came to believe that most other citizens belong to an untrustworthy, undeserving, and even dangerous 'bottom' of society rather than to the trustworthy middle classes. In contrast, trust increased amongst Swedes and Danes as they believed that most citizens belong to the 'middle' of society rather than to the 'bottom'. Furthermore, the Swedes and Danes came to view the (perceived) narrow 'bottom' of their society as trustworthy, deserving, and peaceful. The book argues that social cohesion is primarily a cognitive phenomenon, in contrast to previous research, which has emphasized the presence of shared moral norms, fair institutions, networks, engagement in civil society etc. The book is based on unique empirical data material, where American survey items have been replicated in the British Social Attitude survey and the Danish and Swedish ISSP surveys (exclusively for this book). It also includes a unique cross-national study of media content covering a five year period in UK, Sweden, and Denmark. It demonstrates how 'the bottom' and 'the middle' is differently constructed across countries.


The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust

The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust

Author: Eric M. Uslaner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-01-02

Total Pages: 753

ISBN-13: 0190274816

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This volume explores the foundations of trust, and whether social and political trust have common roots. Contributions by noted scholars examine how we measure trust, the cultural and social psychological roots of trust, the foundations of political trust, and how trust concerns the law, the economy, elections, international relations, corruption, and cooperation, among myriad societal factors. The rich assortment of essays on these themes addresses questions such as: How does national identity shape trust, and how does trust form in developing countries and in new democracies? Are minority groups less trusting than the dominant group in a society? Do immigrants adapt to the trust levels of their host countries? Does group interaction build trust? Does the welfare state promote trust and, in turn, does trust lead to greater well-being and to better health outcomes? The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust considers these and other questions of critical importance for current scholarly investigations of trust.


Trust in Agent Societies

Trust in Agent Societies

Author: Rino Falcone

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-12-18

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 3540928022

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This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Trust in Agent Societies, TRUST 2008, held in Estoril, Portugal, in the context of AAMAS 2008, the main international conference on autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. The 17 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions; they are fully revised to incorporate reviewers' comments and discussions at the workshop. The volume is organized in ternary topical sections on theoretical and applicative aspects of trust (from a engineering, cognitive, computational, sociological point of view), on formal models in the field of applied logic and applied mathematics, and finally on models of reputation systems, theory-driven and empirically backed-up guidelines for designing reputation technologies, and analysis and discussion of existing reputation systems.


Dilemmas of Care in the Nordic Welfare State

Dilemmas of Care in the Nordic Welfare State

Author: Tine Rask Eriksen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-01-18

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1351159941

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The Nordic welfare model has become an ideal in feminist literature and in welfare state studies. This has heightened scientific and political interest in the model and its key aspects, including the provision and production of care as public responsibility. In this engaging volume, contributors from various professional disciplines - including sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists - provide a comprehensive overview of the complex state of paid work in social care within the Nordic welfare states and of the dilemmas facing state-provided care in the region. They develop insights into the conditions, practices and trends in the area of paid care in the social and health care sector, insights that expose the dilemmas and tensions associated with paid care and care education. Divided into four parts, the book will greatly interest academics, post-graduate students and professionals concerned with the Nordic model and welfare states. It will also benefit those from outside the region interested in a specific Nordic tradition of research on publicly-provided care and the current dilemmas and challenges facing training in care.


Social Capital

Social Capital

Author: Partha Dasgupta

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 9780821350041

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This book contains a number of papers presented at a workshop organised by the World Bank in 1997 on the theme of 'Social Capital: Integrating the Economist's and the Sociologist's Perspectives'. The concept of 'social capital' is considered through a number of theoretical and empirical studies which discuss its analytical foundations, as well as institutional and statistical analyses of the concept. It includes the classic 1987 article by the late James Coleman, 'Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital', which formed the basis for the development of social capital as an organising concept in the social sciences.


The Scandinavian Model

The Scandinavian Model

Author: Robert Erikson

Publisher: M.E. Sharpe

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9780873323482

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Part I of this book is devoted to the development of Scandanavian societies from agrarian societies to modern industrial economies and welfare states. Three of the chapters in Part II analyse particular welfare problems, those of inequality, poverty, and redistribution; the final essay deals with women's position in the welfare state. The papers included in Part III present theory and methods of welfare research.