Educational inequality in a Nordic welfare state - "normal" conditions, anomalies or paradoxes?

TY - CHAP

T1 - Educational inequality in a Nordic welfare state - "normal" conditions, anomalies or paradoxes?

AU - Jensen, Niels Rosendal

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Niels Rosendal Jensen. All rights reserved.

PY - 2025/8/8

Y1 - 2025/8/8

N2 - In the first section, attention will focus on the macro level, for example, nation state and inequality linked to the type of welfare world. Further, we will explore the academic discussions related to welfare, including classic and modern welfarism and the significance of the neoliberal turn. In the second section, we enfold the understanding of the welfare state as an enabling state as well as a class society, related to pedagogy and education. The analytical approach contrasts the welfare state with inequality and social exclusion. Education, used metaphorically, acts as a prism measuring challenges of inequality and makes the main aspect in the second section. In Denmark, the Social Democratic Party launched a campaign reflecting public sentiments with respect to educational equality. Though parts of it entailed new and hitherto unknown possibilities for children of workers, the general outcome did not meet the expectations and promises. Originally, the attention dealt with societal investments in more and longer education for the majority, including children from families with low SES. This perspective added more attention to "social heritage" and introduced what is called a social revolution, for example that the principle of universalism was extended to new strata of the population. It is still contested terrain due to ideological dividing lines. Research and theoretical analyses vary with respect to a wide range of explanations and political issues, and policymakers and politicians are obviously not capable of launching visionary education politics. The third section deals with the challenges confronting the welfare state.

AB - In the first section, attention will focus on the macro level, for example, nation state and inequality linked to the type of welfare world. Further, we will explore the academic discussions related to welfare, including classic and modern welfarism and the significance of the neoliberal turn. In the second section, we enfold the understanding of the welfare state as an enabling state as well as a class society, related to pedagogy and education. The analytical approach contrasts the welfare state with inequality and social exclusion. Education, used metaphorically, acts as a prism measuring challenges of inequality and makes the main aspect in the second section. In Denmark, the Social Democratic Party launched a campaign reflecting public sentiments with respect to educational equality. Though parts of it entailed new and hitherto unknown possibilities for children of workers, the general outcome did not meet the expectations and promises. Originally, the attention dealt with societal investments in more and longer education for the majority, including children from families with low SES. This perspective added more attention to "social heritage" and introduced what is called a social revolution, for example that the principle of universalism was extended to new strata of the population. It is still contested terrain due to ideological dividing lines. Research and theoretical analyses vary with respect to a wide range of explanations and political issues, and policymakers and politicians are obviously not capable of launching visionary education politics. The third section deals with the challenges confronting the welfare state.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105014560364

U2 - 10.4324/9781003491408-2

DO - 10.4324/9781003491408-2

M3 - Book chapter

AN - SCOPUS:105014560364

SN - 9781032749860

SP - 15

EP - 35

BT - Inequality, Education, and Social Exclusion in the Welfare State

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -