Politics and Bureaucracy in the Norwegian Welfare State

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Setting the Stage: In and Out of Institutions

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 1-29

3. No Direction Home? Doing Anthropology in Norway

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 31-50

4. The Politics of Universalism

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 51-68

5. The Welfare State and the Possibility of Solidarity

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 69-90

6. The Politics of Resistance

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 91-110

7. Borders, Boundaries, and Bureaucratic Reform

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 111-131

8. The Welfare Municipality: Universalism, Gender, and Service Provision

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 133-155

9. Egalitarianism and Individual Autonomy in the Northern European Periphery

   • Halvard Vike

   Pages 157-175

10. Conclusions

    • Halvard Vike

    Pages 177-182

11. Back Matter

    Pages 183-188

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The book aims to explain the emergence of the Norwegian—and to some extent, the Scandinavian—welfare state in historical and anthropological terms. Halvard Vike argues that particular forms of political grassroots mobilization contributed heavily to what he calls “a low level of gravity state”—a political order in which decentralized institutions make it possible to curtail centralizing forces. While there is a large international literature on the Nordic welfare states, there is limited knowledge about how these states are embedded in local contexts. Vike's approach is based on an ethnographic practice which may be labeled “in and out of institutions.” It is based on ethnographic work in municipal assemblies, local bureaucracies, political parties, voluntary organizations, and various informal contexts.

• Norwegian welfare state
• Norwegian politics
• Political centralization
• Norwegian democracy
• Welfare state universalism
• Political modernization
• Welfare municipality
• Norwegian bureaucracy
• New Public Management
• Personal autonomy
• Nordic welfare states

• University College of Southeast Norway, Porsgrunn, Norway

  Halvard Vike

Halvard Vike is Professor of Anthropology at University College of Southeast Norway and Telemark Research Institute, Norway. He has more than 25 years of experience with ethnographic work in political contexts in Norway, and been much involved in applied research on local arenas. His main area of interest is the emergence and transformation of political institutions and states.