The dirty underwear of the Nordic welfare states. Critical voices from the invisible outsiders

The Nordic countries are often portrayed as inclusive welfare states marked by equality, the absence of poverty, and universal access to services. However, closer examination reveals a group of invisible outsiders—individuals excluded de facto from welfare provisions. Though present, they remain overlooked in society, policy, and research. These individuals grapple with interwoven economic, social, and health challenges that often hinder their access to welfare services. Drawing on explorative qualitative research, this study seeks to amplify their voices by asking: Why have they opted out of the welfare state, and what insights can be drawn from their implicit and explicit forms of resistance? Using Johansson and Vinthagen’s concept of everyday resistance alongside the ‘good worker’ norm, we explore how such resistance emerges and what drives it. Findings show that these individuals resist through tactics shaped by experiences of stigmatization and injustice during encounters with the welfare system. Their resistance extends beyond reactions against direct structural and intersectional oppression. It also targets a third and subtle form of power–a discursive power of normative ideals embedded in the good worker norm–and how they themselves are constructed in relation to it because they are unable to meet the underlying ideal of being or becoming active, working citizens. Responses include strategies of invisibility, voice, and exit, revealing everyday resistance as opposition to disciplinary power.