Open lecture "Social Trust and Radical Individualism. The Paradox at the Heart of the Nordic Model"

Henrik Berggren, journalist, historian and researcher, will deliver an open lecture "Social Trust and Radical Individualism. The Paradox at the Heart of the Nordic Model" 

The central axis around which the Nordic social contract is formed is the alliance between state and individual, something that might be called “statist individualism”. Here an emphasis on individual autonomy coincides with a positive view of the state as an ally of not only weaker and more vulnerable citizens, but the citizenry at large. This is coupled with a negative view of unequal power relations between individuals in general and hierarchical institutions in particular, such as the traditional patriarchal family and demeaning charitable organizations in civil society. In this regard, the Nordic model differs from both their Anglo-American and continental European counterparts.