“Down and Out in Utopia is a pleasure to read. As an excellent ethnographer, Kelly McKowen looks and listens, gets along well with his various interlocutors, moves between small scale and macro perspectives and across discipline boundaries, and writes clearly and accessibly. I can hardly think of a better ethnography of contemprorary Scandinavian society.”—Ulf Hannerz, Stockholm University
“Down and Out in Utopia is a very welcome contribution to the growing collection of ethnographies of welfare states. A refreshing approach to economic anthropology for audiences interested in anthropology, sociology, political science, and economics, as well as those interested in Scandinavia.”—Keith M. Murphy, University of California, Irvine
“Kelly McKowen pulls intricate details into one coherent narrative pertaining to the sense of loss and befuddlement an unemployed person feels, but also the need to bound back and the ethicopolitical structure supporting that process. The book is incredibly clear and easy to read, and suggests insightful and thought-provoking ideas about welfare.”—Theodoros Rakopoulos, University of Oslo
Imagine that you have just lost your job. You wonder: “Who or what can I depend on now?” The answer, it turns out, varies significantly depending on where you live. In Norway, a small European social democracy, you would almost certainly turn to the country’s comprehensive public welfare system. With a work history, you could be eligible for two years of unemployment benefits that replace upwards of 62% of your previous salary. Meanwhile, you would not be too worried about covering other major expenses: annual out-of-pocket healthcare costs are capped at a few hundred dollars, parents receive monthly payments per child, public education is tuition-free, and pensions are guaranteed. What would this experience teach you about government, work, taxes, and freedom?
In Down and Out in Utopia, anthropologist Kelly McKowen explains what happens to those without jobs in one of the world’s wealthiest and most egalitarian countries. Following the daily lives of a diverse group of unemployed individuals during the “oil crash” of the mid-2010s, he shows that being “down and out” in a social democracy offers people a unique moral education with lessons about the nature and value of the state, labor, welfare, and belonging.
Engaging, timely, and illuminating, Down and Out in Utopia makes the case that through social policy, we shape life’s hardships – and these hardships, in turn, shape us and how we view the world.
PRE-ORDER:
Ark.no (Norway)
EVENTS:
Book Event with The Atlantic‘s Ellen Cushing at Scandinavia House (January 29, 2026)
Kelly McKowen 