Publisher's Synopsis
Evaluation practice, like any social practice, is socioculturallyand historically determined. Understandings of the practice differfrom country to country, depending on institutional arrangements,intellectual traditions, and political practices. The chapters inthis volume provide many insights into how Scandinavians understandevaluation practice. Of course, there is no singleScandinavian perspective on evaluation any more than thereis a single American perspective on the topic. Yet it isundeniable that evaluation theory and practice in Norway, Sweden,and Denmark unfold against a set of sociocultural circumstances andintellectual influences that differ in many important respects fromthose in the United States. This difference is often summed up bythe sweeping characterization of Scandinavian countries asexemplars of the social democratic welfare state. That label tellsus very little, however. The chapters in this volume explore thetheory of evaluation practice in the context of the Scandinavianview of certain issues as problems in society, rather than problemsin individuals. They also locate ideas about evaluation practice'srole and authority in the Scandinavian debate on reforms aimed atdecentralizing, modernizing, and deregulating the welfare state.This is the 77th issue of the quarterly journalNew Directionsfor Evaluation.
