The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

by Anu Partanen

Overview

“In her careful, evenhanded series of thoughtful essays, Partanen, who just became an American citizen, parses the recipe for Nordic success that even the self-congratulatory ‘exceptional’ American may want to ponder and adapt. . . . An earnest, well-written work worth heeding, especially in our current toxic political climate.” — Kirkus Reviews

A Finnish journalist, now a naturalized American citizen, asks Americans to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children.

Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life—from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare—was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first, she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension. To understand why life is so different in the U.S. and Finland, Partanen began to look closely at both.

In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships—parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. As Partanen explains step by step, the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence than we do.

Partanen wants to open Americans’ eyes to how much better things can be—to show her beloved new country what it can learn from her homeland to reinvigorate and fulfill the promise of the American dream—to provide the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, economically secure, upwardly mobile life for everyone. Offering insights, advice, and solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild our society, rekindle our optimism, and restore true freedom to our relationships and lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062316554
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/27/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	71,082
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.97(d)

About the Author

Anu Partanen’s work has appeared in the New York Times and the Atlantic. A journalist in Helsinki for many years, she has also worked at Fortune magazine as a visiting reporter through the Innovation Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

1 In the Land of the Free: Becoming American 11

2 The Nordic Theory of Love: Pippi Longstocking's Magic 47

3 Family Values for Real: Strong Individuals Form a Beautiful Team 63

4 How Children Achieve: Secrets for Attaining Educational Success 107

5 Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: How Universal Health Care Could Set You Free 167

6 Of Us, by Us, and for Us: Go Ahead: Ask What Your Country Can Do for You 233

7 The Lands of Opportunity: Bringing Back the American Dream 263

8 Business as Unusual: How to Run a Company in the Twenty-First Century 279

9 The Pursuit of Happiness: It's Time to Rethink Success 305

Epilogue 331

Acknowledgments 335

Notes 339

Bibliography 363

Index 399

Editorial Reviews

…meticulously researched. [Partanen] offers a clear, informative, fact-filled survey of the differences between American and Nordic child care, health care, education, eldercare and taxation arrangements. It could be a game-changer in national conversations about the roles that governments should play in their citizens’ lives.” — Seattle Times

“An engaging fusion of reportage and memoir.” — O, the Oprah Magazine

“…Partanen is good at blending the individual stories of her friends in the cold, hard facts of national statistics… Partanen is a careful, judicious writer and she makes a careful, judicious case.” — New York Times Book Review

A Best Nonfiction Book of Summer 2016 — Bustle

A Book You Desperately Need to Add to Your ‘To-Read’ Pile This Summer — Gizmodo

“Partanen’s pride in her homeland and genuine concern for the struggles of middle-class Americans infuse her book with candor and charm, and her perceptions about American struggles feel spot-on.” — Booklist

“A passionate and intelligent argument.” — Publishers Weekly

“This highly readable and entertaining work is timely, as the conversation about inequality and the role of social services in this country has never been more relevant.” — Library Journal

A Best Book of Summer 2016 — O, the Oprah Magazine

“If Americans really understood how bad we have it-how unjust and wrongheaded our child care, education, and public health policies are-we’d take to the streets. Anu Partanen rips up the stale stereotypes about Nordic welfare states and shows us all the kinds of human flourishing we’re missing out on.This is a dangerous book. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands.” — Judith Shulevitz, author of The Sabbath World

“In her careful, evenhanded series of thoughtful essays, Partanen, who just became an American citizen, parses the recipe for Nordic success that even the self-congratulatory ‘exceptional’ American may want to ponder and adapt. . . . An earnest, well-written work worth heeding, especially in our current toxic political climate.” — Kirkus Reviews

“This is a wonderful, hopeful book about what American society could be—not by adopting Nordic ‘socialism,’ but by embracing the values that have allowed Nordic citizens to enjoy more freedom and equality than in present-day America. The American Dream was once an inspiration to the world. Anu Partanen shows us how to rediscover it.” — Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor

“In this election year, Partanen’s sensible book should be required reading for those who wonder why so many Americans feel resentful and alienated.” — Foreign Affairs

A Must-Read, Summer 2016 — New York Post

From the Publisher

Partanen’s pride in her homeland and genuine concern for the struggles of middle-class Americans infuse her book with candor and charm, and her perceptions about American struggles feel spot-on.

Booklist

…Partanen is good at blending the individual stories of her friends in the cold, hard facts of national statistics… Partanen is a careful, judicious writer and she makes a careful, judicious case.

New York Times Book Review

…meticulously researched. [Partanen] offers a clear, informative, fact-filled survey of the differences between American and Nordic child care, health care, education, eldercare and taxation arrangements. It could be a game-changer in national conversations about the roles that governments should play in their citizens’ lives.

Seattle Times

In this election year, Partanen’s sensible book should be required reading for those who wonder why so many Americans feel resentful and alienated.

Foreign Affairs

A Must-Read, Summer 2016

New York Post

A Must-Read, Summer 2016

New York Post

Partanen’s pride in her homeland and genuine concern for the struggles of middle-class Americans infuse her book with candor and charm, and her perceptions about American struggles feel spot-on.

Booklist

…meticulously researched. [Partanen] offers a clear, informative, fact-filled survey of the differences between American and Nordic child care, health care, education, eldercare and taxation arrangements. It could be a game-changer in national conversations about the roles that governments should play in their citizens’ lives.

Seattle Times>/i>

…there is no avoiding that the state of America—at least when viewed through the eyes of someone who comes from a functioning social democracy—is lamentable, and Partanen is good at blending the individual stories of her friends into the cold, hard facts of national statistics…Partanen is a careful, judicious writer and she makes a careful, judicious case.

The New York Times Book Review - Michelle Dean

04/04/2016
In this outsider’s examination of the American way of life, Finnish-born journalist Partanen compares the United States to the Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Partanen draws from her first-hand experiences as a recent transplant to America, recounting her culture shock and struggle to adapt. She skillfully deconstructs healthcare, the educational system, the family unit, and governmental participation in everyday life, among other things, to point out how American society is flawed and where it can learn from the Nordic countries, especially what she calls “the Nordic theory of love”: “that authentic love and friendship are possible only between individuals who are independent and equal.” As she observes, this belief resembles the classical American ideals of individualism and self-reliance, and for this reason, Americans should find it appealing. Partanen concludes by stating that the U.S., by drawing on the example of Nordic societies, “could possibly return itself to its former glory as the best country in the world.” It’s a passionate and intelligent argument, though perhaps an overly idealized attempt to fix complicated issues, and more valuable as a conversation starter than a utopian blueprint. Agent: Kimberly Witherspoon, Inkwell Management. (June)

Publishers Weekly

An engaging fusion of reportage and memoir.

the Oprah Magazine O

A Book You Desperately Need to Add to Your ‘To-Read’ Pile This Summer

Gizmodo

A Best Nonfiction Book of Summer 2016

Bustle

If Americans really understood how bad we have it-how unjust and wrongheaded our child care, education, and public health policies are-we’d take to the streets. Anu Partanen rips up the stale stereotypes about Nordic welfare states and shows us all the kinds of human flourishing we’re missing out on.This is a dangerous book. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands.

Judith Shulevitz

This is a wonderful, hopeful book about what American society could be—not by adopting Nordic ‘socialism,’ but by embracing the values that have allowed Nordic citizens to enjoy more freedom and equality than in present-day America. The American Dream was once an inspiration to the world. Anu Partanen shows us how to rediscover it.

Robert B. Reich

This is a wonderful, hopeful book about what American society could be-not by adopting Nordic ‘socialism’ but by embracing the values that have allowed Nordic citizens to enjoy more freedom and equality than in present-day America. The American dream was once an inspiration to the world. Anu Partanen shows us how to rediscover it.

ROBERT REICH

05/01/2016
Finnish journalist Partanen moved to the United States in 2008. Shell-shocked by cultural and public policy differences between her homeland and adopted country, she was spurred to write this exploration of Nordic culture as superior to American cultural norms. Using a combination of personal experience, interviews, and statistics, Partanen puts forth a compelling case that many of the qualities of Nordic society would be a welcome change for America. The author primarily focuses on the prism of public policy as it relates to the family unit. This highly readable and entertaining work is timely as the conversation about inequality and the role of social services in this country has never been more relevant. However, it is flawed when considering the tradeoffs that might be involved in adopting these attitudes and policies, and oftentimes dismissive of cultural history that might make such alterations challenging to American cultural norms. VERDICT While the approach may make it a hard sell to those not already converted to the policy prescriptions of Nordic countries, this accessible work should find an audience among readers of popular social science.—Ben Neal, Blackwater Regional Lib., VA

Library Journal

Partanen, a new American from Finland, argues that achieving the American dream of freedom and upward mobility is now more likely in Scandinavia than in the U.S. Narrator Abby Craden proves an energetic and compelling guide as the author explodes myths of the high-tax and socialist north, using research and personal stories. Partanen argues that government supports freedom rather than compromising it. Average Scandinavian and American citizens pay a similar proportion of income taxes, but Scandinavians receive health care, affordable child care, parental leave, and excellent public education, thus reducing dependence on families, employers, and government. While some of the voices Craden employs fall wide of the mark—a minor quibble—she successfully distinguishes direct quotations by deepening her voice or adopting an accent. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2016 - AudioFile

Partanen, a new American from Finland, argues that achieving the American dream of freedom and upward mobility is now more likely in Scandinavia than in the U.S. Narrator Abby Craden proves an energetic and compelling guide as the author explodes myths of the high-tax and socialist north, using research and personal stories. Partanen argues that government supports freedom rather than compromising it. Average Scandinavian and American citizens pay a similar proportion of income taxes, but Scandinavians receive health care, affordable child care, parental leave, and excellent public education, thus reducing dependence on families, employers, and government. While some of the voices Craden employs fall wide of the mark—a minor quibble—she successfully distinguishes direct quotations by deepening her voice or adopting an accent. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2016 - AudioFile

2016-04-07
A Finnish journalist offers a surprising theory of why Americans are neither currently upwardly mobile nor free. Partanen, who came to New York in 2008, married an American writer/teacher, and lives in Brooklyn, enlists her Nordic sensibility to delineate what has gone wrong with the so-called American dream. In recent years, Finland has been featured as the poster country for the most livable, best educated (especially in early education and math), and even happiest society (alongside neighbors Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and even Iceland). In her careful, evenhanded series of thoughtful essays, Partanen, who just became an American citizen, parses the recipe for Nordic success that even the self-congratulatory "exceptional" American may want to ponder and adapt. Having arrived in the U.S. full of excitement to embrace American "optimism, gumption, ingenuity, and knack for magically transforming challenging circumstances into profitable advantage," she found herself mystified and frustrated by the hindrances of living—e.g., getting credit cards or cable TV and understanding the hidden fees; buying affordable health insurance, thus forcing her to depend on her new husband's plan, which in turn forced him to find a suitable full-time job; the bewildering, utterly inequitable tax code; paying for higher education and, eventually, day care for the children they wanted. In short, Partanen was appalled by how the anxiety for affording the basics of life rendered Americans completely dependent on spouses, family, employers, and government, unable to restore themselves on vacations they feared to take (lest they lose their jobs) and so chronically insecure about their children's chances of having a better life than they did (which has resulted in the "helicopter parent" phenomenon). Step by step, the author sifts through the Nordic system of universal health care, early education, and equitable taxes, a system that frees citizens to be autonomous and creative without stress—a "well-being state" rather than a "welfare state." An earnest, well-written work worth heeding, especially in our current toxic political climate.

Kirkus Reviews