ABSTRACT
Nordic countries, more than other nations, collectively recognize and help to support the often hidden reproductive economy, and see the domestic sphere, care of children and the elderly, and household labor as an integral part of the more widely acknowledged formal economy and public sphere. Indeed, Nordic countries recognize themselves, and are hailed by the rest of the world, as models for economic success, political stability and social cohesion. Nordic peripherality, imbued with feminine qualities, is understood as neutral and therefore superior in the mission of international policing. Nordicness bears a feminine face, one that is understood to be both praiseworthy and impotent. Nordic women are portrayed as natural peacekeepers, motivated for humanitarian ends over the selfish ones of adventure and financial gain. The Nordic periphery offers its immigrant newcomers and 'traditional' citizens remarkable welfare systems but also conditions of increasing economic stress and contraction.
