Defending the Swedish Model: Social Democrats, Trade Unions, and Labor Migration Policy Reform

Gregg Bucken-Knapp. Defending the Swedish Model: Social Democrats, Trade Unions, and Labor Migration Policy Reform. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2009. Pp. 179.

Defending the Swedish Model explores a controversial issue in Sweden's social democratic welfare history: how does a universal welfare state manage a multi-ethnic labor force? The preferences of the most critical actors from the trade unions, and employers to the major political parties towards labor migration policy are empirically documented in a thorough analysis of this pressing issue.

Gregg Bucken-Knapp effectively captures the interaction of domestic and international politics that structure the direction of Sweden's labor market policy reforms. In one instance described by the author, Sweden anticipates a labor shortage and political parties and interest groups advance proposals to promote a flexible supply of labor. In another instance...