Beyond the Myth of Nordic Exceptionalism

Keynote speech delivered by Ceyda Berk-Söderblom at the conference Norm-Critical Leadership: Challenging Norms and Nordic Exceptionalism, 8 February 2023.

Good afternoon to everyone present in this space and to those of you joining us online. I am delighted to be here, to listen to the invaluable input of my colleagues, and to learn from the different perspectives of brave, determined individuals. Thank you to the organizers.

As an arts professional with dedicated work on diversity, equity, and inclusion, I had prepared a different commentary—to talk about racism, ethnic profiling, structural discrimination, ostracism, and othering, informed by my lived experiences and work as a foreign-born cultural worker living and working in Finland. I had planned to speak about how existing structures and norms embedded in the arts sector fail to provide fair opportunities to underrepresented minorities in employment, funding, and professional growth.

But now, I am standing in front of you with great sadness and mourning, to honor the thousands of victims of a catastrophic earthquake that hit my birth country, Türkiye, and Syria. This changes everything.

We come together to critically analyze the narratives of “Nordicness” and to ask this question: do we all have the privilege to enjoy the fundamental Nordic values—openness, equality, and sustainability—especially in arts and culture?

I can give a brief answer: no, we are not equal. As long as structural discrimination and racism are operating behind the canonized narrative of equality as a norm for arts and cultural institutions, we cannot be.

Today, with a heavy heart, I would like to discuss a specific Nordic value—sustainability—and the implications of ecological crises in more depth. Environmental issues are not separate from societal issues, which are the themes of this conference, nor from social justice concerns. Structural discrimination and racism, unfair resource distribution, and the rights of Indigenous peoples are central to environmental intersectionality, as this approach advocates justice for all people and for the planet.

Let me start by giving you an overview of a region that makes up 0.3% of the global community—precisely 27 million people in a global human population of 8 billion. A region whose inhabitants are among the most prosperous in the world and the world’s happiest. A wonderland called the Nordic region—one of the world’s least corrupt areas, where there is freedom of the press, and where men and women enjoy greater equality than anywhere else on the planet.

Isn’t it impressive? It is indeed, if we fail to see the other side of the coin and do not examine different indices. According to studies on the environmental and social effects of private consumption, the Nordic region, with expenditure ranging from housing and mobility to food, clothing, furniture, and electronics, no longer presents such an impressive picture. The Sustainable Development Report 2022 reveals that the Nordic countries, based on a spillover score—meaning how policies and strategies in one region affect others—are placed at the bottom. They are ranked between 135th and 155th among 193 United Nations Member States.

We are talking about overconsumption driving a global crisis of habitat destruction, species extinction, and climate breakdown. We do not see much evidence of this, for instance, in Finland—but that is because much of the ecological impact of welfare states has been outsourced to the Global South.

Pieta Hyvärinen, a researcher at Tampere University, sheds light on how Nordic welfare states are closely connected to the socio-environmental dilemmas of the global food system:
“All industrialized countries consume planetary resources disproportionately, eroding the basis of present and future conditions needed for survival and well-being globally. This unjust and unsustainable consumption is currently embedded in the very foundations of welfare-state economies. Finland, in particular, leans significantly on imported food products and production inputs such as agrochemicals and seeds.”

When we deepen our understanding of ecological sustainability—a core Nordic value—we must pay attention to what many scientists point out: climate crises lead to natural disasters, extreme weather, floods, landslides, and droughts. Moreover, as explained by Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor at University College London, “climate change does not only affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the Earth’s crust as well. The whole Earth is an interactive system. When ice is lost, the Earth’s crust rebounds, triggering earthquakes, which can trigger submarine landslides and cause tsunamis.”

Whose lives are endangered? And who is to blame for the climate crisis and for keeping this unsustainable and unjust system running?

I would like to offer another perspective and repeat the first question I asked: do we all have the privilege to enjoy fundamental Nordic values? Who is the welfare state for? Due to long-standing practices and systemic injustices, these privileges are not accessible to everyone. In supposedly open and egalitarian Nordic societies, we are also witnessing a steady rise in support for far-right, anti-immigrant parties that argue access to the welfare state should be restricted to full citizens. All of this points to a paradox, a discrepancy between what is promoted and what is practiced, which stands in contradiction to the much-praised Nordic values.

Unfortunately, the arts and culture ecosystem mirrors the same contradiction. In Finland, for example, substantial research shows that the arts and culture sector is not immune to structural racism and discrimination, nor free from ignorance about racism, ethnic and racial profiling, and workplace discrimination experienced by minorities. Current surveys conducted by professional organizations in the Finnish music and performing arts fields reveal that racism and discrimination are still not properly recognized or addressed; workplaces lack clear instructions and operating models for resolving discrimination, and employers do not sufficiently acknowledge their own responsibility.

One participant quoted in a survey on equality in the music industry states, and I repeat it here:

“It is highly excluding, racist and sexist, compared to the situation in other European countries. I am surprised that musicians who are not Finnish white males do not quit. Most of us do.”

Every structure and every piece of legislation is built for a purpose. Some systems are designed to shelter people; others are designed to hold things in place.

The American political activist, philosopher, and author Angela Davis asks:
“Who wants to be assimilated into a racist institution when the institution continues to maintain its racist structure?”

We have a choice to make. We are obliged to dismantle non-functioning structures and replace them with new ones. The injustices we face, increasing inequality, climate emergencies, polarized politics, ostracism, loneliness, and war, prove that solutions generated by limited or homogenous perspectives cannot address this complex ecosystem of problems. We cannot afford to exclude anyone.

We must dare to question the social systems in which we operate, comply, and through which we build our networks, norms, and ways of working. We must have the courage to replace irrelevant and exclusive norms with new capacities that embrace radical inclusion and intercultural humility.

Denial of reality and avoidance of action are no longer options. We must act in solidarity with those who are excluded from prevailing definitions of Nordic values, both locally and globally. Each of us must take personal responsibility to rebuild an ecosystem where everyone has fair access to resources. This work starts by adopting radical inclusion as a guiding principle, redefining Nordic values, and learning collectively how to respond to the crises we face.

Arts and culture have the ability to do this, if we learn to be humble in the face of knowledge produced all over the world.

Thank you.

References

Angela Davis.Selected writings and public lectures on race, institutions, and structural racism.

Hyvärinen, P. Research on Nordic welfare states, global food systems, and socio-environmental sustainability. Tampere University.

McGuire, B.Climate change, Earth systems, and geophysical hazards. University College London.

Sachs, J. D., Lafortune, G., Kroll, C., Fuller, G., & Woelm, F. (2022). Sustainable Development Report 2022: From crisis to sustainable development—The SDGs as roadmap to 2030 and beyond. Cambridge University Press.

Surveys on equality in the Finnish music and performing arts sector. Reports by professional organizations in Finland addressing structural racism, discrimination, and workplace practices.