Final Essay: Examining the Existence of a Common Nordic Identity

This essay, written for a SCAN 414 course, addresses the question of whether a common Nordic identity exists. The student argues in favor of its existence, drawing on research and various supporting arguments. The essay defines the Nordic region, encompassing countries like Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and highlights the shared Lutheran Christianity as a unifying factor. The student explores commonalities in social construction, history, and lifestyle, as well as political unifications and rankings in national performance metrics such as education, economic competitiveness, and civic freedoms. The essay discusses common languages, the Nordicism theory, economic and social structures, climatic conditions, and the political systems, including the Nordic passport unification. The essay concludes by summarizing the key arguments supporting the existence of a common Nordic identity and provides a list of references.

Running Head: SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES 1
Scandinavian Studies
Name
Institution

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES 2
In this assignment I selected question one which was asking “Is there a common Nordic
Identity?” In response to this question my answer is yes, there is a common Nordic identity. I
have done my research and came out with arguments to support my answer. The Nordics are the
ethnic and topographical countries in the Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. The countries
include Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together with the Green land and the
Faroe Islands. The main religion that the Nordic countries share in common is the Lutheran
Christianity. This is an evidence to answer the question because it is true that there is a common
Nordic identity. The Nordic citizens share a lot in common. They share a common social
construction, religion, history and the manner in which they live and carry out most of their
activities, (Broms, 2017).
The Nordic countries share a wide history of political unifications plus other
relationships. However, they do not formulate a remarkable unit today. There was a Scandinavist
movement that occurred and the major objective of the movement was to unite some countries
together. The countries included Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They were to be united to form
one country. In my research I have also discovered that the Nordic countries are always at the top
when it comes to ranking of the national performance in various metrics, (Vind, 2015). The
sectors at which they rank their national performance include the education sector, competitive
environment in the economic sector, civic freedoms, human growth and the excellence of life.
One major factor that makes up the Nordic identity is the existence of the four common
languages that the citizens share among themselves. In the Nordic region, there is a system in
education that the Nordic languages must be included in the education curriculum and they must
be taught in schools within the Nordic region. The Nordics also have one common official

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language which is the North Germanic language but it is mostly preferred as the Nordic language
in the Nordic countries, (Christensen, 2013).
The theory that supports my answer is the Nordicism theory. Nordicism is a philosophy
of cultural self-government that outlooks the Nordic race as a greater and sometimes as a scarce
racial group, (McMahon, 2016). This supports my response because it is possible for a Nordic
economy to be present in the world. Some of the Nordic the countries include Finland, Iceland,
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together with the Green land and the Faroe Islands. The main
religion that the Nordic countries share in common is the Lutheran Christianity. This is an
evidence to answer the question because it is true that there is a common Nordic identity. The
Nordic citizens share a lot in common. They share a common social construction, religion,
history and the manner in which they live and carry out most of their activities, (Carlén &
Kriström, 2019).
The Nordic countries have each of them an economic and social ways in which they plan,
estimate and carry out both their economic and social responsibilities. However, considering the
past years, there have been numerous ideological differences from the neighboring districts but at
some point the neighbors and the Nordic citizens share a typical economy and social
organizational structure which is the market economy. The market economy therefore serves a
lot of functions. It is where most guidelines and decisions are made concerning the establishment
of the price indicators, supply and production of goods alongside investments that are carried out
in the regions. The Nordic countries are therefore combined with the neighboring communities in
the market economy whereby they provide labor unifications and a universal sector that is
heavily financed by high taxes. This is also an evidence to show that the Nordic identity exists

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according to the information that I have been able to retrieve as I was carrying out my research,
(Gregory, 2015).
The climatic conditions and the quality of land in the Nordic countries is a major factor
that is used to determine the distribution and usage of land among the Nordic citizens. In the
Nordic countries, a smaller percentage of land is cultivated while most part of the land is left for
wild nature. In countries like Denmark, there is less land left for wild nature because a greater
percentage of the land is occupied by plantations and forest which are referred by the people as
gardens. In comparison with other countries, the Nordic countries in general have a warm
climate. However, internationally they share the same latitudes which such countries. In most
occurrences, the warm climate in the Nordic countries is most of the times brought about by their
location in the northern lands which is however alleviated by the neighborhood to the ocean
which brings warm ocean flows to the region. This is therefore a clear indication that the sea has
substantial stimulus of weather in Western coastal regions of Norway, Iceland, Denmark and
Sweden, (Whitley, 2018).
There is a sequence in which the elections of the Nordic countries are held. The
parliament of the Nordic countries is basically founded on one compartment system. In the past
years the parliament of the Norwegian used to operate based on two chamber systems but this
came to be dismissed when some issues came up between them that they had to settle thus
leading to the formation of one major chamber system. This was in the year 2009. However in
the regions of Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, elections normally take place in once
after every four years of ruling. There is also a system that other Nordic citizens who are living
in other countries are permitted to elect in local government elections after a period three months
of dwelling in those countries. This is contrary to the strategies established in Nordic countries

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because one has to reside there for a period of about three to four years before they are entitled to
participate in any elections through voting. During the elections, men are regularly elected in
higher numbers as compared to that of women. This type of gender discrimination is mostly
experienced in the Islands of Faroe and Aland where men are elected during the general elections
more than women. This is not the case in Sweden because men and women are always equally
represented during elections in the national assembly, (Broms, 2018).
There was a Nordic passport unification that was published in the year 1954 and activated
in the year 1958. The passport was to allow the Nordic citizens to cross the borders that were
approved. They would cross without much legal formalities because there was no checking of
passports. Other citizens outside the Nordic countries could also cross the borders without a
passport but they had to carry with them some detailed documents that would be checked before
they could be permitted to cross the borders. However, the European migrant crises lead to the
establishment of policies in relation to the crossing of the borders. There were some set up
border controls between Sweden and Denmark. The set up was to prevent the immigrants from
coming into the Nordic countries due to the outbreak of the European migrant crisis,
(Kittelsaa, 2014).
The Nordic economies have been discovered among the Western world with a greater
performance in the economic sector. The countries like Sweden, Norway and Denmark have
been regularly receiving high numbers of exports coming into the country. However, Iceland
have been having issues of debts balance that has greatly interfered with their performance in the
economic sector hence when it comes to ranking, they do not appear among the top best.
However, the Nordic economies were at some point affected with the global financial crisis that
interfered with their economic operations through different levels of degrees but it generally

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worsened the functioning during that time. The Nordic countries have also been ranked the best
when it comes to foreign investments. Iceland and Sweden are leading in this sector because they
always invest in other foreign nations which have also motivated the foreign countries to invest
in Nordic countries. The Nordic economies are however small, they are not large as other
economies hence they are more dependent on the exports from foreign countries. The Nordic
economy is the richest source of energy in the world; this has earned them fame and has greatly
boosted their economic income, (Hansen, 2013).
In conclusion, it is therefore true that there is a common Nordic identity. This is because
of the research that I have done where I have been able to retrieve the information that justifies
my answer. The countries include Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together
with the Green land and the Faroe Islands. The main religion that the Nordic countries share in
common is the Lutheran Christianity. This is an evidence to answer the question because it is
true that there is a common Nordic identity. The Nordic citizens share a lot in common. They
share a common social construction, religion, history and the manner in which they live and
carry out most of their activities. The Nordic countries share a wide history of political
unifications plus other relationships. However, they do not formulate a remarkable unit today.

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References
Broms, B. (2017). Identity and Equality: Co-existence of Separate Sovereignties in the Same
Territory. Nordic Journal of International Law, 57(3), 301-304.
doi:10.1163/157181088x00254
Vind, L. (2015). Lands-Rapporter. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 22(3-4), 281-284.
doi:10.1177/1455072505022003-407
Christensen, K. (2013). Annette Kamp and Helge Hvid (ed.): Elderly Care in Transition:
Management, Meaning and Identity at Work. A Scandinavian Perspective. Copenhagen
Business School Press, 2012. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 3(2), 113.
doi:10.19154/njwls.v3i2.2553
Carlén, B., & Kriström, B. (2019). Are Climate Policies in the Nordic Countries Cost-Effective?
doi:10.6027/aa7000c9-en
McMahon, R. (2016). Poland: Scientific Independence and Nordicism. The Races of Europe,
287-324. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-31846-6_6
Gregory, E. (2015). Key Information-Processing Skills in the Nordic Region Compared to the
Non-Nordic EU Countries and Non-Nordic & Non-EU Countries.
doi:10.6027/9789289341479-5-en
Whitley, J. D. (2018). Comparative properties of the Nordic models. Economic Modeling in the
Nordic Countries, 3-53. doi:10.1108/s0573-8555(1992)0000210004

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Broms, B. D. (2018). Identity and Equality: Co-existence of Separate Sovereignties in the Same
Territory. Nordic Journal of International Law, 57(3), 301-304.
doi:10.1163/157181088x00254
Kittelsaa, A. M. (2014). Ethnicity, Disability, and Identity. Childhood and Disability in the
Nordic Countries. doi:10.1057/9781137032645.0015
Hansen, L. M. (2013). European Integration and National Identity. doi:10.4324/9780203402207