Alike because we are rich, or rich because we are alike?

Kristin Clemet, director of Civita and former Minister of Education and Science (Norway), Mogens Lykketoft, member of parliament and former Minister of Finance (Denmark) and Ann Shola Orloff, professor at Northwestern Universiy (USA) were invited as key-note speakers at the Oslo conference.

Download the power point presentations from the conference.

Kristin Clemet

We are surfing on a wave of globalization
´Many people may regard globalization as something evil, but globalization is probably one of the main reasons for the Norwegian society´s prosperity,´ Kristin Clemet said. She addressed the topic welfare state and liberal values in her lecture. ´We are surfing on a wave of globalization, and we are enjoying it fully. We are having a good life in Norway not primarily because of the welfare state, but mainly because our industry and commerce sector is doing so well.´ She summarized her speech by asking: Are the Nordic welfare states egalitarian because they are rich, or rather are they rich because they are egalitarian?
 
Challenges for the Nordic states
Mogens Lykketoft focused on the challenges the Nordic welfare model is facing. One of the changes facing us is an ageing population. ´We cannot afford to let people study until they are 30 years old, work until they are 60 and live until they are 90,´ Lykketoft said and followed by arguing that the retirement age should subsequently be increased in proportion with the life expectancy level.

Mogens Lykketoft

Public support the greatest threat
The Nordic welfare state is on a slippery slope, Lykketoft claimed, listing immigration stop, ´no tax hike´ policies and privatisation of welfare services as proof. Economic prosperity, record high employment rates, increasing social inequality, and increasing labour immigration may cause people to change their attitude about the welfare state. The solidarity and support may decrease if many enough people feel that they do not benefit from the welfare system and that those who do benefit are particular and visible groups in society. Then the majority may opt for private, not public insurances, and the welfare model as we know it may disappear, Lykketoft cautioned.

US-Scandinavian Differences
Ann Shola Orloff talked about the differerences between USA and Scandinavia in gender, employment and social policy. Do we see a "farewell to maternalism" in the US and other democracies? she asked. There is a change in gender policy logics: from supporting women as full-time caregivers or as single mothers to requiring and supporting employment for all.

Ann S. Orloff

Discussing gender-egalitarian social policy alternatives, Orloff suggested that women´s responsibility for care work and men´s capacity to evade it is the key to gender hierarchies. An overall goal must be to diminish gender differences and shift care from women to men in families and from families to public services. Paid work for women is the way forward, she claimed, plus workplace anti-discrimination reforms to allow women to enter formerly-masculine positions (including anti-sexual harassment rules; affirmative action).

 

The role of the Centre
To what extent are the Nordic welfare states living up to the ideal of a Nordic welfare model? Do the Nordic welfare states behave

Bjørn Hvinden

in ways different from other welfare states, and if so, are they going to do so in the future? Should the Nordic model be changed in any way? These are some of the points the Centre will investigate, said Bjørn Hvinden, REASSESS´s co-ordinator.
 
Over 120 participants, mostly researchers, found their way to the conference´s plenary and work sessions.