Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes

Linda Lundgaard Andersen; Bernard Enroljas; Johan Vamstad; Ari Nieminen

Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes

Linda Lundgaard Andersen, Bernard Enroljas, Johan Vamstad, Ari Nieminen

Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport › Bidrag til bog/antologi › Forskning › peer review

Abstract

This chapter introduces the aims and context of this book on Coproduction in the Nordic Welfare States in Transformation followed by a short chapter introduction. Co-production through partnerships and collaboration with citizens, the public sector, and civil society is on the political and administrative agenda and a research topic in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. However, the degree and shape of co-production differ among the four countries. Many place coproduction as the (new) answer to well-known challenges of Nordic welfare states such as increasing complexity, wicked problems, democratic deficit, and economic scarcity - and hereby situating a welfare state in transformation. This is also the case if we look into the international arena for coproduction. However, an interesting difference underlines the importance of this Nordic research. The current body of theories and concepts within the field of coproduction have originally been developed in the context of the so-called ‘residual’ welfare states (Esping-Andersen, 1990) such as Great Britain, the US, Holland, and Belgium (Bovaird, 2007; Brandsen & Honingh, 2014; Parks et al., 1981; Pestoff, 2012). This context differs significantly from the social democratic ’ welfare states of the Nordic countries in terms like the ‘contract’ between the citizens and the welfare state (Meijer, 2016) and the role of the public-service professionals (Vamstad, 2012). Consequently, an important question arises, addressing the specific conditions for co-production in the Nordic welfare states. How might we understand the challenges and possibilities of solidary and democratic welfare attempts to cope with this central problem of public administration—the preference revelation problem—by mobilizing three different institutional paradigms to increase public administrations’ level of information about users’ preferences: the market, the forum, and the commons.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Titel	The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes
Forlag	Palgrave Macmillan
Status	Accepteret/In press - 12 jan. 2025

Navn	Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research
ISSN	2662-690X

Citer dette

Lundgaard Andersen, L., Enroljas, B., Vamstad, J., & Nieminen, A. (Accepteret/In press). Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes. I The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes Palgrave Macmillan.

Lundgaard Andersen, Linda ; Enroljas, Bernard ; Vamstad, Johan et al. / Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes. The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes. Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. (Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research).

@inbook{4cb817aa42b644c9829103eaff72cf56,

title = "Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes",

abstract = "The scope of this book is to explore the collaborative turn in the Nordic countries. We outline possible paths from discourses to practices and pinpoint what types of institu-tional changes and challenges result from the collaborative turn, foregrounding co-production in the Nordic countries. The research topic guiding the book points out, on the one hand, how collaboration and even co-production are not new in the Nordics. On the other hand, what might be new is a transformative path from corporatism and hierar-chy to more collaborative co-production. The core questions then address how the col-laborative turn influences the Nordic welfare model and policy reforms and whether co-production transforms the welfare state, leading to different institutional trajectories. In this chapter, we introduce “the collaborative turn”, followed by a section outlining and discussing the concepts and practices of co-production and co-creation. As we will point out in our conceptual positioning, contextualizing is key; hence, we unfold the character-istics and developments of the Scandinavian welfare state and administrative regimes as a significant framing of the collaborative turn and our chapters. Then, four Nordic national profiles follow, in which we briefly outline public policies and research related to co-production and co-creation in the four Nordic countries.",

author = "{Lundgaard Andersen}, Linda and Bernard Enroljas and Johan Vamstad and Ari Nieminen",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

day = "12",

language = "English",

series = "Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research",

publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",

booktitle = "The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes",

}

Lundgaard Andersen, L, Enroljas, B, Vamstad, J & Nieminen, A 2025, Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes. i The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes. Palgrave Macmillan, Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research.

Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes. / Lundgaard Andersen, Linda; Enroljas, Bernard; Vamstad, Johan et al.
The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes. Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. (Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research).

Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport › Bidrag til bog/antologi › Forskning › peer review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes

AU - Lundgaard Andersen, Linda

AU - Enroljas, Bernard

AU - Vamstad, Johan

AU - Nieminen, Ari

PY - 2025/1/12

Y1 - 2025/1/12

N2 - The scope of this book is to explore the collaborative turn in the Nordic countries. We outline possible paths from discourses to practices and pinpoint what types of institu-tional changes and challenges result from the collaborative turn, foregrounding co-production in the Nordic countries. The research topic guiding the book points out, on the one hand, how collaboration and even co-production are not new in the Nordics. On the other hand, what might be new is a transformative path from corporatism and hierar-chy to more collaborative co-production. The core questions then address how the col-laborative turn influences the Nordic welfare model and policy reforms and whether co-production transforms the welfare state, leading to different institutional trajectories. In this chapter, we introduce “the collaborative turn”, followed by a section outlining and discussing the concepts and practices of co-production and co-creation. As we will point out in our conceptual positioning, contextualizing is key; hence, we unfold the character-istics and developments of the Scandinavian welfare state and administrative regimes as a significant framing of the collaborative turn and our chapters. Then, four Nordic national profiles follow, in which we briefly outline public policies and research related to co-production and co-creation in the four Nordic countries.

AB - The scope of this book is to explore the collaborative turn in the Nordic countries. We outline possible paths from discourses to practices and pinpoint what types of institu-tional changes and challenges result from the collaborative turn, foregrounding co-production in the Nordic countries. The research topic guiding the book points out, on the one hand, how collaboration and even co-production are not new in the Nordics. On the other hand, what might be new is a transformative path from corporatism and hierar-chy to more collaborative co-production. The core questions then address how the col-laborative turn influences the Nordic welfare model and policy reforms and whether co-production transforms the welfare state, leading to different institutional trajectories. In this chapter, we introduce “the collaborative turn”, followed by a section outlining and discussing the concepts and practices of co-production and co-creation. As we will point out in our conceptual positioning, contextualizing is key; hence, we unfold the character-istics and developments of the Scandinavian welfare state and administrative regimes as a significant framing of the collaborative turn and our chapters. Then, four Nordic national profiles follow, in which we briefly outline public policies and research related to co-production and co-creation in the four Nordic countries.

M3 - Book chapter

T3 - Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research

BT - The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

ER -

Lundgaard Andersen L, Enroljas B, Vamstad J, Nieminen A. Co-production in the Nordic welfare states: Critical perspectives on policies, civil society and institutional changes. I The Collaborative Turn in the Nordic Welfare States: Critical Perspectives on Coproduction in Policies, Civil Society and Institutional changes. Palgrave Macmillan. 2025. (Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research).