Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy – A hopeful, practical blueprint for democratic socialism
Author
:
Pelle Dragsted
ISBN-13
:
978-0299353605
Publisher
:
University of Wisconsin Press
Guideline Price
:
£21.99
Pelle Dragsted is a Danish opposition MP with – and chief spokesperson of – the Red-Green Alliance. His
Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy
is a rousing invitation to reimagine the possibilities of socialism – neither as utopian dream nor Soviet nostalgia, but a successful living example embedded in and underpinning the Nordic model.
For Dragsted, the question isn't whether socialism is feasible; it's whether
Denmark
can go further and build on its existing institutions of economic democracy. For Irish readers enamoured of the Nordic model, a key question is which elements of this ambitious framework can usefully be emulated.
The central premise of
Nordic Socialism is that the Nordic countries – long admired for their comprehensive welfare states – are not merely kinder versions of capitalism. They are hybrid economies, with significant portions already organised around socialist principles: public ownership, co-ops, mutual banks, and social wealth funds.
Dragsted posits that this is not an accident of history, but a democratic tradition worth deepening. Specifically, he proposes 10 clear reforms as a roadmap to expanding worker ownership, democratising investment, limiting the power of oligarchic capital and reframing the debate around economic democracy.
READ MORE
The author's view of the Nordic countries isn't rose-tinted. He acknowledges their contradictions, their concessions to neoliberalism, and the real limits of what national governments can do under global capitalism. But he also insists that despair is not strategy. The challenge, as he sees it, is to chip away at the dominance of market fundamentalism – not by overthrowing the system, but by expanding the spaces where democracy already governs economic life.
[
The World of the Cold War by Vladislav Zubok: Three decades on, echoes remain in today's turbulent world
Opens in new window
]
Nordic Socialism may be written with a Danish readership in mind, but its relevance extends beyond Scandinavia. For anyone interested in building a fairer, freer future – without waiting for a revolution – it's essential reading.
For the Irish reader there may be a wistful element of 'paradise lost' in our democratic economic institutions that have vanished or are diminished: our building societies have been demutualised; our public enterprises have been privatised; our biggest co-operatives have gone corporate; our pension fund was raided to bail out the banks. Attempts to build 'Gaelic socialism' could mine this rich seam of our economic history.
Verdict: a hopeful, practical blueprint for democratic socialism in the 21st century. Clear-eyed and grounded in lived experience.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Republic of Ireland not a ‘truly rich' country, according to The Economist
The Economist magazine has published its annual ranking on the world's richest countries, based on three measures – gross domestic product (GDP) per person at market exchange rates, incomes adjusted for local costs, otherwise known as purchasing-power parity, and hours worked. Some familiar names top the rankings: Switzerland , Singapore and Norway . In dollar terms, Switzerland comes top, with average earnings above $100,000 (€86,000) last year while Singapore and Norway follow, at $90,700 and $86,800, respectively. Adjusted for local costs, Singapore jumps ahead. Adjusted for hours worked, Norway takes first place, as it did last year, followed by Qatar and Denmark , the publisher said. The United States , the world's biggest economy by GDP, ranks fourth , seventh and sixth on the three measures. That is unlikely to please US president Donald Trump , or it could prove his point that America is being 'screwed' by the rest of the world. The UK is placed 19th, 27th and 25th. READ MORE And the Republic of Ireland? We're constantly being told that the State is one of the richest in the world but we don't make the cut among The Economist's list of 178 countries. According to the publisher, our GDP calculations are 'polluted by tax arbitrage'. That rules Ireland out of consideration as this is a ranking of countries which are 'truly rich', according to The Economist. US economist Paul Krugman described our GDP numbers as 'leprechaun economics' some years ago. We can't grumble too much given that the Central Statistics Office produces an alternative indicator called modified GNI (which strips out some of the effects of multinational activity here, including depreciation on leased aircraft) to measure activity in the domestic economy. Tiny territories such as Bermuda were considered 'too small to rank' while Luxembourg was excluded as 'incomes are inflated by cross-border commuters'. Spare a thought for Burundi, which finished bottom of the list and where most of the population is under 17 years old. Even adjusted for prices, The Economist noted that one Swiss income would be shared between 100 Burundians. That might not be the case for much longer following Trump's recent imposition of a punitive 39 per cent tariff on the Swiss.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy – A hopeful, practical blueprint for democratic socialism
Nordic Socialism: the path toward a democratic economy Author : Pelle Dragsted ISBN-13 : 978-0299353605 Publisher : University of Wisconsin Press Guideline Price : £21.99 Pelle Dragsted is a Danish opposition MP with – and chief spokesperson of – the Red-Green Alliance. His Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy is a rousing invitation to reimagine the possibilities of socialism – neither as utopian dream nor Soviet nostalgia, but a successful living example embedded in and underpinning the Nordic model. For Dragsted, the question isn't whether socialism is feasible; it's whether Denmark can go further and build on its existing institutions of economic democracy. For Irish readers enamoured of the Nordic model, a key question is which elements of this ambitious framework can usefully be emulated. The central premise of Nordic Socialism is that the Nordic countries – long admired for their comprehensive welfare states – are not merely kinder versions of capitalism. They are hybrid economies, with significant portions already organised around socialist principles: public ownership, co-ops, mutual banks, and social wealth funds. Dragsted posits that this is not an accident of history, but a democratic tradition worth deepening. Specifically, he proposes 10 clear reforms as a roadmap to expanding worker ownership, democratising investment, limiting the power of oligarchic capital and reframing the debate around economic democracy. READ MORE The author's view of the Nordic countries isn't rose-tinted. He acknowledges their contradictions, their concessions to neoliberalism, and the real limits of what national governments can do under global capitalism. But he also insists that despair is not strategy. The challenge, as he sees it, is to chip away at the dominance of market fundamentalism – not by overthrowing the system, but by expanding the spaces where democracy already governs economic life. [ The World of the Cold War by Vladislav Zubok: Three decades on, echoes remain in today's turbulent world Opens in new window ] Nordic Socialism may be written with a Danish readership in mind, but its relevance extends beyond Scandinavia. For anyone interested in building a fairer, freer future – without waiting for a revolution – it's essential reading. For the Irish reader there may be a wistful element of 'paradise lost' in our democratic economic institutions that have vanished or are diminished: our building societies have been demutualised; our public enterprises have been privatised; our biggest co-operatives have gone corporate; our pension fund was raided to bail out the banks. Attempts to build 'Gaelic socialism' could mine this rich seam of our economic history. Verdict: a hopeful, practical blueprint for democratic socialism in the 21st century. Clear-eyed and grounded in lived experience.
Irish Times
07-08-2025
- Irish Times
EU countries increasingly keen on sending migrants outside bloc for processing
When the UK pledged to send migrants to Rwanda three years ago, the EU said the measure was inhumane and broke international law. But with rising xenophobic sentiment and more right-wing governments coming to power on the continent, the bloc is warming to such 'innovative solutions' to curb immigration . 'I think there is a broad support,' said Danish migration minister Kaare Dybvad, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency. Sending asylum seekers outside the bloc 'has so much traction now', he told the Financial Times. Denmark , Italy and Germany have been among those advocating for centres to be set up in non-EU countries to house people awaiting an asylum decision or repatriation. READ MORE Dybvad, a Social Democrat who led Denmark's own failed Rwanda plan, recalled the backlash triggered by this idea. The Danish government shelved the scheme amid a domestic political uproar in January 2023, and the UK's supreme court struck down the British plan later that year. Danish minister of immigration and integration Kaare Dybvad (right) in conversation with Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet By contrast, Dybvad said, 'now when I meet with colleagues from big member states like Germany, France, Poland, Italy' there was 'very strong support for moving forward'. German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt, a Bavarian conservative, last month said that 'models involving third countries have majority support. A vast majority of member states have made it clear that this is a path the EU must take.' The shift has been particularly stark in Germany, which 10 years ago opened up to refugees from Syria and other conflict zones, with then-chancellor Angela Merkel reassuring citizens that 'we can handle it' ('Wir schaffen das ' ). But anti-migrant sentiment stoked by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and several deadly attacks by migrants have led Berlin to adopt increasingly harsher measures. Other countries previously supportive of migrants, such as Luxembourg, have also changed tack as right-wing governments took over. The EU's stunning shift on the 'externalisation' of migration comes amid a surge in public support for the far right, which has made immigration its cri du coeur. [ Deportation flights signal Germany's pivot to hardline stance on migration Opens in new window ] But moves to outsource asylum have suffered legal setbacks, with human rights advocates warning that they could undermine the very foundation the EU was set up on. 'There's a broader trend in migration and asylum policymaking in the EU to make human rights secondary to political interests,' said Olivia Sundberg Diez, migration advocate at Amnesty International. Demonstrators near the gates of 10 Downing Street in London in May 2024. Photograph: Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images Britain's scheme – under which the UK would have sent asylum seekers to Rwanda for their claims to be processed there – was struck down by the UK supreme court amid concerns the people sent there could face harm. Then-prime minister Rishi Sunak tried to salvage the scheme by designating the country as 'safe', but the current government abandoned the plan. A similar argument used by Italy – to designate certain countries as 'safe' for return – was challenged by the EU top court last week. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni reacted with fury, accusing the European Court of Justice of over-reach. Andreina de Leo, a migration researcher at Maastricht University, said the ruling was 'not surprising' as it backed up Italian courts. But for Meloni and her right-wing government, she said, 'this plan has acquired such a symbolic meaning' that the premier had to lash out. Meloni last year struck a deal with Albania to set up closed centres where migrants would be transferred while their Italian asylum applications were being processed – and most likely rejected. After Italian courts challenged the scheme, Rome repurposed the facilities to house migrants awaiting deportation. A few dozen people have since been taken there, though most had to be taken back to Italy again before being repatriated, adding to the costs. 'To be honest, this concept doesn't work very well,' said Maciej Duszczyk, Poland's under-secretary of state for migration. Civil rights activists protest after migrants intercepted in Italian waters arrive at Shengjin port in Albania in 2024. Photograph: Adnan Beci/AFP via Getty Images Still, the European Commission has backed the idea of sending people awaiting deportation to 'return hubs' outside the EU – such as the repurposed Albanian centres. Brussels also drafted legislation that could make Italy's original plan a reality, by proposing an EU list of 'safe' countries, and allowing member states to send asylum seekers there even if they don't have a link to those places. 'The Italian model will be possible again,' said one EU official, who added that governments would 'make the necessary adjustments' for asylum processing to work outside the bloc. Germany is in talks with Rwanda to replicate the UK scheme, according to two people familiar with the discussions, though it is unclear how advanced the negotiations are given previous legal objections. Rwanda also said this week it had agreed to take 250 migrants deported from the US, according to the government in Kigali. The Netherlands, meanwhile, has been in talks with Uganda – a country that sentences LGBT+ people to death – about setting up a 'transit hub', according to the Dutch ministry of asylum and migration. Denmark's Dybvad said centres would be ideally set up in 'countries in north Africa' or other 'stable countries, with stable governments'. The EU already has arrangements to curb migration and is providing funding to countries including Tunisia and Libya, where the authorities have repeatedly been accused of violating human rights. 'You facilitate human rights abuses, not just for migrants but also for citizens [of these countries],' said Tineke Strik, a Green member of the European Parliament, in reference to the Tunisian government's crackdown on NGOs and dissidents. While fewer migrants left the Tunisian shores in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, more have embarked on the perilous journey from Libya, according to the EU's migration agency Frontex. Human rights activists say this points to the limitations of Europe's efforts to curb immigration by paying off authoritarian governments. 'These are unworkable and inhumane proposals that are extremely costly both on a human level, but also for the management of migration,' said Amnesty's Sundberg Diez. 'Governments are ignoring those costs to make grand political statements on promises that they may be unable to deliver on. ' – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
