Iceland

A series of major strikes took place in Iceland during the year, and public and private employers struggled to reach agreements with unions about higher wages. Although the refugee crisis confronting Europe did not heavily affect Iceland, the issue of asylum dominated public dialogue in August and September, when the public launched an initiative to increase the government's annual quota for resettlement.

All these reforms have helped Iceland climb from 26th to 9th in the Economic Freedom of the World rankings between 1990 and today. ... According to the World Bank, Iceland is now one of the world's richest nations, ranking in the top 10 using either of two different methodologies. Unemployment in Iceland is almost nonexistent, dropping to less than 2 percent in 2006 ...

Earlier this week the ALF Facebook page posted a link to an Iceland Monitor article about a #FreeTheNipple protest there ... The article contains pictures of women sitting in Iceland's Austurvöllur square without shirts on, part of an organized event by a campaign "to desexualize the female nipple." ... [Facebook]'s most recent purge of nipple-related content is providing a good opportunity to expose activism around #NippleEquity. (Hashtag for literary effect only.) In Iceland, the issue has sparked a mini-movement, with coordinated Free the Nipple days, social media campaigns, etc.