What happens when cultural policy turns digital? Digital Transformation and Cultural Policies in Europe analyzes and compares different digital cultural policies of Europe. Through case studies of seven European countries (UK, Germany, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Norway, and Switzerland) as well as the analysis of EU digital cultural policy, the book investigates what happens when cultural policy gets changed and challenged by digital culture. Based on a thorough discussion of key concepts and analytical perspectives, this collection also offers a unique multi-disciplinary contribution that shows how digital cultural policy is hyperconvergent. These policies contain established ideas of cultural policy - such as democratization, welfare, access, and national, protectionist ideas - brought together within a digital framework, while also adding new cultural policy tools and instruments, such as digital standards, international regulations, directives, etc. The book shows how digital cultural policies are works in progress, struggling to align their aspirations with their effectiveness.

Against the backdrop of climate change and tectonic political shifts in world politics, this handbook provides an overview of the most crucial geopolitical and security related issues in the Arctic. It discusses established shareholder's policies in the Arctic -  those of Russia, Canada, the USA, Denmark, and Norway - as well as the politics and interests of other significant or future stakeholders, including China and India. Furthermore, it explains the economic situation and the legal framework that governs the Arctic, and the claims that Arctic states have made in order to expand their territories and exclusive economic zones. While illustrating the collaborative approach, represented by institutions such as the Arctic council, which has often been described as an exceptional institution in this region, the contributing authors examine potential resource and power conflicts between Arctic nations, due to competing interests. The authors also address topics such as changing alliances between Arctic nations, new sea lines of communication, technological shifts, and eventually the return to power politics in the area. Written by experts on international security studies and the Arctic, as well as practitioners from government institutions and international organizations, the book provides an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in geopolitical shifts and security issues in the High North.

This book assesses the challenges faced by local governments when deciding on the location of public services. Some physical signs of government presence are vital and generally welcomed within local communities. Schools, bus stops, care facilities, and public libraries are both crucial for the functioning and sustainability of communities, and symbolize governmental engagement. Conversely, other types of facilities are typically unwelcome. Waste and recycling stations, wind farms, and prisons often provoke protests from local residents. Drawing on evidence from Sweden, this book argues that decisions on how to locate services are inherently political, and that in order to succeed, authorities need to ensure that their policies are perceived as legitimate. It also demonstrates how the problem of locating public services is a universal issue, relevant to governments at all levels and in all countries. As urbanization and pressure on welfare systems grow, the problem of locating public services looks set to become more pressing, and the themes raised in the book are likely to remain relevant for years to come.

This book maps the encounters between Indigenous Peoples and local communities with mining companies in various postcolonial contexts. Combining comparative and multidisciplinary analysis, the contributors to this volume shine a light on how the mining industry might adapt its practices to the political and legal contexts where they operate. Understanding these processes and how communities respond to these encounters is critical to documenting where and how encounters with mining may benefit or negatively impact Indigenous Peoples. The experiences and reflections shared by Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors will enhance our understanding of evolving practices and of the different strategies and discourses developed by Indigenous Peoples to deal with mining projects. By mobilizing in-depth fieldwork in five regions—Australia, Canada, Sweden, New Caledonia, and Brazil—this body of work highlights voices often marginalized in mining development studies, including those of Indigenous Peoples and women.

The Nordic states were among the first in the world to enact general gender equality and anti-discrimination laws with low threshold enforcement mechanisms. Today, the Nordic countries top the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index -but they have still not succeeded in closing the gender gap. This book draws a diverse and complex picture of the long, uneven, and unfinished process towards substantive equality in four Nordic countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland. It presents the Nordic gender equality model's systematic use of three measures: overarching gender policies, legislation that has an explicit or implicit impact on gender relations, and gender equality and anti-discrimination laws with low-threshold enforcement systems. What potentials and limitations do the Nordic gender equality and anti-discrimination law regimes have to combat individual discrimination and structural inequality? Can these regimes function as a driver of political, legal, economic, cultural, and social change and as a corrective to laws, policies, and practices that uphold existing inequalities and, if so, to what extent? Can weaknesses in the equality and anti-discrimination laws and the way they are enforced hamper efforts to close remaining gender gaps?

The book provides new theoretical and empirical knowledge of why, how, and in what ways power-political dynamics are produced, sustained, and transformed within the contexts of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. While the focus centres on Sweden, the authors contend that their novel approach to examining the political dynamics of digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy applies to other country case studies as well.

Just 25 years ago, Europe was engaged in a process of democratization and integration. The EU, with an expanded number of member-states, became a symbol of a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Union. However, recent years have seen the reversal of democratization in many of the countries that went through political transition in the 1990s. Even in established democracies, growing authoritarian tendencies have been apparent in the rise of populism and political polarisation and questions over the rule of law. Focusing on threats to Swedish liberal democracy in a time of autocratization to explore wider crises democracy is currently facing around the globe, Problems in Paradise? explores eight interactive sub-societies crucial for a dynamic and persistent liberal democracy: the political, the judicial, the bureaucratic, the economic, the educational, the media, the civil, and the international. Fully embracing the wide range of challenges liberal democracy has faced in recent years, this book offers a deepened understanding of contemporary changes and challenges to liberal democracy.

This timely Research Handbook explores the concept of polar law as a coherent body of law and as a set of rules and principles that applies to both the Arctic and Antarctic. It captures the evolution of polar law and policy, identifying future directions for research in this emerging and growing field.  Expert international contributors analyse the concept of polar law across a range of areas including human rights, bioprospecting, tourism, environmental protection and fisheries management. They examine how Antarctic and Arctic regional regimes contribute to polar law, scrutinizing international treaties, agreements and arrangements. With a focus on the evolution of polar law in the context of the Anthropocene, chapters cover key issues related to the poles, such as climate change, minerals exploration and boundary disputes. Demonstrating the benefits of polar as opposed to bipolar law, this Research Handbook provides a critical assessment of contemporary challenges to the field.  Incorporating a diverse range of themes and topics, this Research Handbook will be a valuable resource for academics and students of polar law as well as those interested in how international law applies to the polar regions. It will also be beneficial for diplomats and policy makers working in polar law and policy fields.

"This book scrutinizes polarization in Sweden, identifying patterns and variations in labour market transformation and exploring the consequences in terms of jobs, income, prestige, unionization, and employment security, as well the effects on different social groups. Through a series of empirical studies, it sheds light on changes in the occupational structure and the ways in which these changes interact with other societal trends, such as increased temporary employment, rising migration and decreased unionization, whilst also exploring changes in the evaluation of occupations and attitudes towards trade unions. Drawing on distinctly sociological perspectives, it shows how transformations in society and the labour market have affected conditions for individuals, and considers whether these changes reinforce existing inequalities occasioned by polarization, or create new ones. Scrutinizing Polarization considers whether and how the Swedish labour market has polarized - and if so, what this means for individual employees and labour organizations.

Europe faces significant challenges in the coming decades: geopolitical, demographic, technological, increased competition, climate-related, and health issues due to an aging population, to mention a few. Given these challenges, technological progress and new ways of handling complex issues will be key to continued prosperity and growth. To accomplish a growth process driven by innovation and entrepreneurship, the institutional environment must take into account a multitude of different policy areas that interact to either strengthen or weaken an economy's innovative potential. Innovation is not only about R&D and higher education but is also intimately related to entrepreneurship. Similarly, entrepreneurship is not only about low start-up costs and favorable tax rates. Hence, a consistent and coordinated policy environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship is required to translate innovation into high-growth firms and macro-level growth. This book presents the basic cornerstones required to provide a policy regime that can nurture such dynamics. The authors draw extensively on empirical analysis of the development of the Swedish economy, which has been transformed from a so-called "sclerosis" state in the 1980s until the early 1990s to an economy characterized by successful entrepreneurship and innovation. This transformation resulted from a reform agenda that has been gradually rolled out, beginning in the mid-1980s. The authors argue that the Swedish experience provides useful lessons for other nations as well.

Bringing together studies from across the Nordic region, this book examines the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on vaccine hesitancy. Shedding light on the political tensions that emerged as a result of the pandemic and the debates that ensued both within and between the Nordic nations, it investigates the vociferous discussions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines and their presumed negative side effects through the lens of trust; trust in and between the neighbouring countries, in healthcare systems, fellow citizens, and experts; in public authorities, politicians, researchers, journalists, and pharmaceutical companies. The first volume to explore vaccine hesitancy in the Scandinavian context, this ground-breaking volume offers fresh perspectives on vaccine scepticism not as a form of ignorance or lack of knowledge, but as a manifestation of a more fundamental lack of faith in modern government and science. A