Fourteen Seeking refuge in the Nordic model: social policy in Iceland after 2008
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Zoë Irving
Abstract
Small island states have not figured prominently in comparative analysis or welfare state modelling and Iceland has only recently gained popular notoriety as a result of its economic and environmental volatility. This article focuses on the Icelandic experience of twenty-first century financial crisis, and what this might reveal about the development of social policy. Iceland’s position as the earliest country to face post-2008 economic collapse is significant in terms of lessons to be drawn regarding financial regulation and the political process. The post-crisis Icelandic welfare trajectory is even more significant however, in considering both the challenge (or not) to neoliberal hegemony posed by the global economic crisis and the extent to which welfare states are bound (or not) to particular patterns of national response.
Abstract
Small island states have not figured prominently in comparative analysis or welfare state modelling and Iceland has only recently gained popular notoriety as a result of its economic and environmental volatility. This article focuses on the Icelandic experience of twenty-first century financial crisis, and what this might reveal about the development of social policy. Iceland’s position as the earliest country to face post-2008 economic collapse is significant in terms of lessons to be drawn regarding financial regulation and the political process. The post-crisis Icelandic welfare trajectory is even more significant however, in considering both the challenge (or not) to neoliberal hegemony posed by the global economic crisis and the extent to which welfare states are bound (or not) to particular patterns of national response.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Notes on contributors vii
- 40th anniversary preface xi
- Introduction 1
-
Current developments
- Universal Credit: overview and gender implications 15
- Family support and the Coalition: retrenchment, refocusing and restructuring 35
- Housing, the welfare state and the Coalition government 55
- The 2012/13 reforms of higher education in England: changing student finances and funding 77
- Division and opposition: the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 97
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Social policy in the developed and developing worlds
- Immigrant-targeted activation policies: a comparison of the approaches in the Scandinavian welfare states 117
- Welfare retrenchment under Left and Right government leadership: towards a consolidated framework of analysis? 137
- From black hole to spring: the coming of age of social policy in the Arab countries? 165
- China’s developmental model in Africa: a new era for global social policy? 183
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Severe crisis: social policy in most challenging circumstances
- The Greek welfare state in the age of austerity: anti-social policy and the politico-economic crisis 205
- From opportunity to austerity: crisis and social policy in Spain 231
- From financial crisis to welfare retrenchment: assessing the challenges to the Irish welfare state 257
- The Great Recession and US social policy: from expansion to austerity 277
- Seeking refuge in the Nordic model: social policy in Iceland after 2008 297
- Index 319
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Notes on contributors vii
- 40th anniversary preface xi
- Introduction 1
-
Current developments
- Universal Credit: overview and gender implications 15
- Family support and the Coalition: retrenchment, refocusing and restructuring 35
- Housing, the welfare state and the Coalition government 55
- The 2012/13 reforms of higher education in England: changing student finances and funding 77
- Division and opposition: the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 97
-
Social policy in the developed and developing worlds
- Immigrant-targeted activation policies: a comparison of the approaches in the Scandinavian welfare states 117
- Welfare retrenchment under Left and Right government leadership: towards a consolidated framework of analysis? 137
- From black hole to spring: the coming of age of social policy in the Arab countries? 165
- China’s developmental model in Africa: a new era for global social policy? 183
-
Severe crisis: social policy in most challenging circumstances
- The Greek welfare state in the age of austerity: anti-social policy and the politico-economic crisis 205
- From opportunity to austerity: crisis and social policy in Spain 231
- From financial crisis to welfare retrenchment: assessing the challenges to the Irish welfare state 257
- The Great Recession and US social policy: from expansion to austerity 277
- Seeking refuge in the Nordic model: social policy in Iceland after 2008 297
- Index 319
