Covid, Conspiracy Theories, and the Nordic Countries

Abstract

Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are often subsumed under the same label as Nordic, high trust, social democratic welfare states. However, their local communities react to local events, and they have their own, local conspiracy theories in addition to those circulating internationally (Astapova et al. 2021). This became a topic during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the countries adopted different strategies for dealing with the pandemic. Sweden was the outlier, emphasizing the desire to keep society as open as possible. While most citizens presented with high trust in official policies and communications, some reacted with immediate skepticism and conspiracy theories.

This chapter will describe elements of how conspiracy beliefs developed in the three countries during the pandemic. It will deal with how different conspiracy beliefs were more prominent during different phases, looking briefly at their histories and the communities in which they thrived. Some were more present in online discussions, particularly social media, while others were more prominent in the different protests that were partially driven by conspiracy theories. The chapter will give a brief overview of protests and protestors, looking at the coalitions presented and partially made during the pandemic.