The Apocalypse of Scandinavian Social Democracy? A Reading of Johan Harstad's Novel Hässelby

[...]this is very much a text about the aftermath of social democracy and can thus be characterized as both "postmodern" and "postsocialist." it is a continual discussion of what happens after socialism and solidarity have been rejected, with alfie finding himself in a generation of people belonging to those who did not take part in postwar (re)building of nation and welfare states. as time moves on, we will be able to judge whether Harstad's pessimist predictions are correct or not, and whether this could be the beginning in the development of a new kind of novel genre.