[ecrea] Call for papers: The Nordic wave in place branding

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CALL FOR PAPERS/CHAPTER PROPOSALS
Edited Book
Publisher: Edward Elgar

‘The Nordic Wave in Place Branding’

Editors: Cecilia Cassinger*, Andrea Lucarelli**, Szilvia Gyimóthy***

Nordic place branding is an emerging field of academic research and 
practice. The evolution,
expansion, and geographical spread of place branding in the Nordic 
region has been studied in
several ways and is echoed in recent journal articles and special 
issues. The existing body of
academic research on the topic demonstrates that place branding in the 
context of Nordic
cities, regions, nations, and destinations is particularly salient to 
both research and practice
(e.g. Lucarelli and Hallin 2015; Cassinger et al., 2016; Cassinger and 
Eksell, 2017, Gyimóthy,
2017). The strong focus on the Nordic region is evident in the selection 
of Swedish,
Norwegian, Finnish and Danish cases, strategies, and processes, as well 
as the researchers’
country of origin (see for a review Lucarelli and Berg, 2011, Chan and 
Marafa, 2013 Lucarelli
and Broström, 2013, Andersson, 2014). Thus there is an opportunity to 
examine, collect,
systematise, and explore diverse instances of the Nordic place branding 
tradition. In
particular, and this is the main argument and feature of the present 
book, the Nordic research
tradition is suited to push critical but hence far unexplored issues in 
place branding, such as
feminism, bio-ethics, sustainability, and social justice.

Although a number of studies have addressed Nordic place brands and 
branding, however, the
peculiarity of branding within the Nordic welfare states remain 
understudied. The unusual
open access to the field of practice granted to researchers (at least 
compared to Anglo-Saxon
and European standard), and the particular political, institutional, 
cultural environment of the
Nordic has not fully been unpacked. The limited scope of previous 
studies on place branding
paired with a widespread international interest for the “Nordic” as both 
a geographical place,
moral orientation, and (normative) discourse calls for more research 
into the global relevance
of Nordic place branding. The Nordic is thus not always confined to a 
region, but is an idea
that travels across the world. The challenge is how research on the 
Nordic can be expanded in
different directions, in order to open opportunities for building 
theories and pursuing
methodologies, which can be extended to the Anglo-Saxon and European 
field of research
and practice.

The aim of this book is to explore the peculiarity of Nordic place 
branding. The book
addresses the Nordic both as an ideological orientation, a 
socio-economic and cultural
construct, a theoretical field, and an empirical context in which to 
explore theories and
practices of place branding. What are some of the commonalities and 
divergences of place
branding among the Nordic countries? It is our contention that the 
peculiarity of the Nordic
may be in the concept of Nordic in itself as form of political, economic 
and cultural outlook,
or at a more practical level as manifested in the daily applications and 
materialization via
different practices given by the (un)usual open access which is granted 
to researchers (at least
compared to Anglo-Saxon and European standard). In order to answer the 
question of the
(un)distinctiveness of the Nordic tradition, the present book gathers 
different accounts of
place branding produced by researchers and practitioners in Nordic based 
institutions (e.g.
universities, consultancies, research centers), and grounded in the 
Nordic political, cultural and
economic outlook. Contributions to the book should address the 
peculiarity (or not) of Nordic place branding
either in a conceptual, methodological or empirical way. Contributions 
may want to deal with,
but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Place branding and its declination (i.e. place marketing, place 
making, destination
branding) in the Nordic Context
• Methodologies and methods of place branding in the Nordic context
• Nordic place branding vs European and Anglo-Saxon place branding
• The institutional, economic, political, cultural context of Nordic 
place branding
activities
• Feminism and gender in Nordic place branding
• Appropriation of the Nordic as an idea/discourse in place branding 
strategies in other
locations
• Eco-ethics and sustainability
• Social media and digital communication
• Democratic, community and participatory elements
• Practitioner-researcher relationships
• Stakeholder involvement
• The moral affordances of Nordic place branding (e.g. ‘Jantelagen’)

Interested authors should email their abstracts (300-500 words) to 
Andrea Lucarelli (email:
(andrea.lucarelli /at/ fek.lu.se) <mailto:(andrea.lucarelli /at/ fek.lu.se)>) before 
January 30, 2018. Abstracts should specify the purpose,
contribution, significance, and relevance to the anthology. Authors are 
also requested to
indicate which of the three sections in the book that their submission 
addresses (i.e.
conceptual, methodological, empirical).

Authors will be notified no later than February 15, 2018 on the decision 
of their
abstracts.

Full chapters (5,000-6,000 words) should be submitted by the end of May, 
2018.


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