The following is from Alan AtKisson's “The Lagom Solution” found in Andrews & Urbanska. Less Is More. 2009.
Lagom is a Swedish word that has no equivalent in English, yet appears “often in Swedish conversation. For many people here [in Sweden], it captures something essential about Swedish culture as well. Lagom has to do with quantity, with the “how muchness” of something. Lagom is neither too much nor too little, but neither is it just ‘enough.’ (There is another word for that.) Meaning ‘exactly the right amount,’ it can be applied to anything: stuff, people, the size of a room, the food on your plate … even the atmosphere at a party. If it were a place, it would like somewhere north of sufficiency, but south of excess. It is hard to say exactly how much it is, but you know it when you experience it. When something is “just right,” it is lagom. …
“Understanding lagom will help you understand why Scandinavian design tends to look minimalist. Materials should not be wasted. Function precedes form. Nothing is gained by excess; and very likely, something important is lost.
“The general belief about the origins of lagom dates back tot eh Viking era. When a bowl of beer was passed around the circle, it was expected that everyone would drink exactly the right amount for them…and leave exactly the right amount for everyone else as well. Lagom is two worlds together, lag (‘team’) and om (‘around’). Embedded in the concept is a sense of togetherness, or ‘social solidarity.’ …
“What if our economic aspirations were organized not around the concept of ‘growth,’ but around the concept of having exactly what you need – lagom? Not that all of Sweden is organized that way; … There are plenty of cases of modern-day ‘affluenza’ here, including a creeping incursion of SUVs on the roads. And Sweden does have a history of occasionally taking a bit more than it needs. (Imagine the Vikings taking only lagom when they plundered!) …
“Lagom may be tricky for English-speakers to pronounce. But it has an attractive quality that ‘enough,’ ‘sufficient’ and even ‘simple’ often lack. Most people in the world do not want enough. They want more. They certainly want more than the bare minimum, and research suggests they want more than those around them. This desire for more seems to be deeply wired in the human organism. We developed over millennia in hostile environments, both natural and social. To have more than we need has always been our first defense against the vagaries of an uncertain future. Hoarding is the first act to those who believe themselves to be in the path of a storm (or a marauding army of plundering Vikings, for that matter).
“So while there will always be those of us who love the idea of ‘enough-ness’ and ‘Voluntary Simplicity,’ it seems likely that such concepts may never quite be … well … enough to transform the marauding army of global corporations vying to fill our houses with stuff, in a kind of reverse-Viking-plunder operation.
“But it does seem possible to promote a sensible Swedish sense of lagom worldwide – and to find other good words for it – because it speaks more to what people actually want. Let’s admit that it is very nice to have good shoes. No one can be faulted for wanting them. But does a person really need 15 pairs? No. But is one pair enough? Perhaps not. Lagom acknowledges that people have varying needs and desires at different times. They want nice things, and comfort, and security. They want more than the bare minimum, and they might even need it. If their desire for more than enough is accepted, even supported, perhaps they would be more willing to consider how much is too much. …
“Nobody really needs too much, and in fact, most people don’t really want it. But nobody wants too little. Perhaps our vision for a sustainable world should include not just enough for all, but lagom for all, with fewer temptations to take too much” (101-106).
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