The SOLIDEM project focuses on the weakening of trust and solidarity in European welfare states, including Norway.
Despite Norway still being considered a high-trust society, the Norwegian welfare model faces demographic and cultural challenges that could threaten its resilience. This research project will examine how normative values, cultural contexts, and institutional arrangements influence legitimacy, trust, and solidarity within the Norwegian welfare model. Employing a mixed-methods design, the project integrates quantitative data, qualitative field research, discourse analysis, and comparative perspectives from other European countries.
Three main areas are prioritized:
- identifying how normative frameworks and historical legacies affect trust-based institutions,
- analyzing patterns of inclusion, exclusion, and various forms of belonging, and
- assessing how governance mechanisms and rights-based frameworks can ensure a sustainable and inclusive welfare state.
By combining theory and empirical evidence, SOLIDEM offers new perspectives on how the welfare state can endure as a democratic, legitimate, and socially robust order. The project’s findings will contribute to knowledge-based policymaking and the strengthening of social cohesion.
