Writing about Scandinavia for an international audience poses a dilemma. Pointing out good aspects of the “Nordic model” tends to hide what’s wrong in these countries, and how incomplete the victories of social democracy have been. Here, too, there has been rising inequality, massive privatization, and austerity measures. The gains of decades of class struggle and organization have been undercut.

Yet even as the welfare state withers, these past victories remain a solid platform from which to offer millions protection from the worst of poverty and exploitation. Faced with the coronavirus crisis, we are seeing the importance of both defending and deepening social democracy.