Nordic Criminal Justice: Patterns of Exceptionalism and Promotion in a Global Context

Abstract

This paper introduces a forthcoming edited volume that critically investigates Nordic criminal justice as a global role model. Not taking this role for granted, the introduction develops concepts to support analyses of how Nordic approaches to criminal justice were folded into global contexts, and how patterns of promotion were built around perceptions that these approaches had a particular value also for other criminal justice systems. Besides building a new conceptual approach, the paper also outlines how chapters in the book analyse specific actors, both internal and external to the region itself, and how they have branded Nordic criminal justice as a form of ‘penal exceptionalism’ associated with human rights, universalistic welfare and social cohesion. We show how building and using the brand of Nordic criminal justice allowed stakeholders to champion specific forms of crime control across a variety of criminal justice areas in both domestic and international settings.

Keywords: Nordic Criminal justice, Promotion, Penal Exceptionalism, Human Rights, Universalistic Welfare, Social Cohesion