What happened to the once famous Swedish model? Since the economic crisis in the 1990s, prophecies of the imminent demise of the universal welfare state have been common. Cutbacks in social benefits and mass unemployment seem to confirm these prophecies.

Ali Hajighasemi – a citizen of Sweden, with a Ph.D. from Durham University, UK, and a native of Iran – thinks differently. In this study he explores the role of social movements, demographic, economic and socio-cultural conditions, institutional change and "globalisation" in the transformation of the Swedish welfare state. Several programs were indeed recalibrated, and a policy of cost containment came to dominate social policy-making, independent of whether the government was center-left or center-right. Although the favourable conditions in the decades of World War II no longer obtain, the downsizing of the welfare programs has basically followed an egalitarian and universal logic. There are cracks in the wall, but the Nordic welfare states have thus far survived and have shown themselves more resilient than most other social organizations in crisis.

Social scientists and politicians alike will find this book highly relevant for their work.