What has ideas of a Nordic community ,meant historically? How has Norden as a community of destiny been constructed culturally? This book contains a variety of articles exploring questions about Norden: 1. Øystein Sørensen and Bo Stråth: Introduction. The Cultural Construction of Norden 2. Uffe Østergaard: The Geopolitics of Nordic Identity - From Composite States to Nation States 3. Nina Witoszek: Fugitives from Utopia: The Scandinavian Enlightenment 4. Bernd Henningsen: The Swedish Construction of Nordic Identity 5. Øystein Sørensen: What's in a Name? The Name of the Written Language of Norway 6. Dag Thorkildsen: Religious Identity and Nordic Identity 7. Henrik Stenius: The Good Life is a Life of Conformity: The Impact of Lutheran Tradition on Nordic Political Culture 8. Peter Aronsson: Local Politics - The Invisible Political Culture 9. Torbjörn Nilsson: Scandinavian Liberalism - Prophets instead of Profits 10. Henrik Berggren: Modernity and the Nordic Concept of Youth 11. Lars Trägårdh: Statist Individualism: On the Culturality of the Nordic Welfare State