The Bridge, The Nation State and Shape Shifting Modernity
Before and during the building period of the Öresund bridge in the late 1990´s, the diminished importance of nation-states was predicted. A new Europe of the border regions would emerge and more and more decision-making would take place at a supranational EU or regional level. The new transnational Öresund connection would, both symbolically and practically, be at the forefront of this development and be a growth engine for the entire new border region.An important element in the marketing and identity building around the new region was the highlighting of a special form of Scandinavian state-led modernity in the region with an emphasis on high quality of life, open and democratic societies, with egalitarian ideals and with rationality as a guiding light. At the same time, this promotion was also aimed at international capital markets with an emphasis on high technological know-how and peaceful labor markets.However, what was already clear during the bridge-building period was that the nation-states were not as weak as a certain form of rhetoric suggested. National differences in the perception of how the rational, modern society should be organized became clear when national regulations were to be adapted through regional construction.The development since then with the refugee crisis in 2015, the introduction of border controls in Europe and the region shows that the national modernity projects have changed shape. The presentation is a reworking of previous research (Ristilammi 2020)