– My students feel that there is something fundamentally wrong with the United States. They are hungry for new solutions and ideas. When I tell them about things in Norway and the Nordic countries, they are very receptive, says Robert Strand of UC Berkeley in California.
Strand teaches the Nordic model at the university. He also runs the newly opened Nordic centre.
Join a Norwegian course at UC Berkeley here:
– The Nordic Center is a platform that will spread knowledge about the Nordic region and the Nordic countries, says Strand and says:
– It has long been a myth in the United States that the economy will collapse if you expand the welfare state and introduce more ambitious environmental regulations. But the Nordic countries shatter the myth. They take care of their citizens and have strong economies.
Norwegian heritage
Strand’s great-great-grandparents emigrated from Telemark in 1860 and settled in Norwegian Valley, also known as Norskedalen, Wisconsin.
The professor was therefore introduced early to lutefisk and Norwegian home cooking. But it wasn’t until he went to NTNU in Trondheim as a Fulbright scholar in the 2000s that he became Norskified.
– I had the opportunity to take a closer look at corporate culture in several companies, including Equinor (later Statoil) and IKEA. There I saw a flat management structure. Bosses listened to employees more than I was used to in the United States, Strand says.
POPULAR WITH NORWEGIAN: Norwegian classes at UC Berkeley have more students than in previous years. Photo: Fredrik Kalstveit
‘Mr Nordic’, as the professor now calls himself, also noticed that the balance between work and leisure was very different.
– Employees did not work until late in the evening and took generous parental leave. However, the companies have done well. It made me rethink my view of capitalism. Perhaps the sustainable and equality-oriented capitalism in the Nordic countries was better than the American one?
Saether Tower
When Strand takes a tour of UC Berkeley, it quickly becomes apparent that the university too has deep Norwegian roots.
– This is Sather Tower, says Strand and looks at the 94-meter high clock tower.
– Named after Peder Sæther. He was one of the founders of this great university. And he was Norwegian!
NORWEGIAN HERITAGE: UC Berkeley has deep Norwegian roots. Crown Prince Haakon Magnus was also a student here in the 1990s. Photo: Fredrik Kalstveit
According to Strand, the Norwegian-American Sæther represented several Nordic values, such as facilitating social mobility.
– Peder Sæther wanted to give more people access to a good education. The US still has a long way to go there, notes Professor Strand.
Because while primary school and higher education are free in the Nordic countries, a university degree can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the United States.
Many people want to learn Norwegian
The clock tower, as well as the Sather Gate school gate, aren’t the only legacies of banker Sather at UC Berkeley.
A Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study was also established in 2012, which is a collaboration between UC Berkeley and a number of Norwegian universities.
Every semester, 150 Norwegian exchange students also come to UC Berkeley. If you walk around the campus, you can then quickly hear a conversation in Norwegian.
But not everyone who speaks Norwegian is Norwegian.
– A lot of people are learning Norwegian this year. We have 18 students in class, says John Prusynski, who is a Norwegian teacher at UC Berkeley.
Prusynski has lived in Northern Norway and speaks both Norwegian and Sami. While giving the pupils an exercise, where they have to try the pronunciation of various Norwegian cheeses, he presents his hypothesis why the attendance in the Norwegian class is higher than before.
– Perhaps because young people are becoming more and more interested in the Nordic model. They think the healthcare system in Norway is interesting. Also, they think it’s good that women and gays have strong rights in Norway.
Equality and health
The students confirm the teacher’s guess.
– Interest in Norway is growing. From time to time I see people writing things about Norway and the Nordic countries on the internet. Publicity is usually good, Brooke Ramirez says, and is supported by her fellow students.
– I like the equality in Norway, says Hadley Schachter.
Claudia Iron Hawk also believes that there are things in the Nordic countries that the United States should fight for.
WANT CHANGE: Younger people want the US to become a little more like Norway. Photo: Fredrik Kalstveit
– I am very interested in the Norwegian health system. In the future, I hope the US will take more after that.
Iron Hawk has indigenous heritage and says she is also interested in the Sami language and history.
– The history of the Sámi in Norway has some similarities to the history of indigenous peoples in the United States, among other things regarding assimilation.
– Bernie pays homage to Norway, but doesn’t fully understand it
Several American leftist politicians have expressed enthusiasm for the Nordic countries. Perhaps most famous is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who spoke of Scandinavia as having “a third way.”
HYLLER NORWAY: Bernie Sanders has expressed enthusiasm for the Nordic countries. Photo: JEFF SWENSEN/Getty Images/AFP
But according to Strand, several people on the right are also interested in the governance and care of the Nordic countries.
– Many on the right care about freedom. They see that the Nordic model gives people more real freedom than the American system. This is perhaps most visible to those who are parents. Without an adequate social safety net, it is difficult to live a free life as a parent in the United States, for example if you have a disability.
Strand, on the other hand, believes that Bernie Sanders does not fully understand the Norwegian system.
– What Sanders doesn’t understand is that the Nordic countries are very capitalist. After all, there is a large private sector there, which contributes to tax revenues. The difference from the US is not capitalism, but that the Nordic countries combine capitalism with sustainability, equality and social justice.
Small and uniform
Strand admits he has often heard from his critics that the Nordic model is not directly transferable to the United States.
The most common objection is that the Nordic countries are small and uniform, unlike the United States, where the contradictions are many and the population is larger.
– A Nordic-inspired model cannot be built in a day in the United States. It must be built stone by stone, as was once done in the Nordic countries. For example, we can start by giving all children a free place in daycare, then see if that works.
Strand sits in the corridor outside the Scandinavian department and casts a longing glance at Sather Tower, which is visible wherever you are on campus.
– We are not Norway. We are the United States. But the Nordic countries can be our lodestar when we want to build an economy that works for the majority of the population, she says.
