Articles by Iben Bjørnsson
Cold War History, 2023
This article follows NATO civil defence planning in the first decade of its existence and asks if... more This article follows NATO civil defence planning in the first decade of its existence and asks if and to what extend this affected civil defence in Denmark, a small member state on the front line. The investigation shows a marked shift in NATO planning from the mid-1950s with the advent of the hydrogen bomb. It also shows that Denmark was not unmindful of NATOs recommendations, but in some cases insisted that regional factors must decide practical outcomes. However, even when it did not decide outcomes, NATO brokered cooperation and served as forum for exchange of knowledge.
Cold War Civil Defence in Western Europe – Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Survival and Preparedness, eds. Marie Cronqvist, Rosanna Farbøl & Casper Sylvest, 2022
Keep Calm and Carry On'. The iconic UK wartime poster is one of many examples of governments inst... more Keep Calm and Carry On'. The iconic UK wartime poster is one of many examples of governments instructing people how to behave in war or crisis. From Duck and Cover cartoons, to farmers' handbooks, civil populations grew used to seeing such instructions in the twentieth century. In this chapter, I ask what ideas they built on. What were the origins and expressions of those ideas, their traces in modern history and their development with (thermo)nuclear weapons? The subject of analysis is the NATO Civil Defence Committee and the Senior Committee for Civil Emergency Planning. Being fora for exchange and (some degree of) coordination between Western countries, these committees are obvious but understudied sources when dealing with civil defence cultures and attitudes. They will be analysed in a broader framework of Western scientific culture, total war and, not least, the theoretical framework of the sociotechnical imaginary. I. Bjørnsson (B)
Atomangst og civilt beredskab. Forestillinger om atomkrig i Danmark 1945-1975. Red. Marianne Rostgaard og Morten Pedersen, 2020
Atomangst og civilt beredskab. Forestillinger om atomkrig i Danmark 1945-1975. Red. Marianne Rostgaard og Morten Pedersen, 2020
Kulturstudier, 1, 2020
Artiklen undersøger produktionen af fremtid(er) i Hvis krigen kommer, udgivet af Statsministeriet... more Artiklen undersøger produktionen af fremtid(er) i Hvis krigen kommer, udgivet af Statsministeriet og husstandsomdelt i januar 1962. Vores naerlaesning af pjecen tager udgangspunkt i begrebet "socio-tekniske forestillinger", der søger at forene et blik for teknologiers betydning i moderne samfund med en forståelse af deres indlejring i sociale normer, institutioner og praksisser, samt i omfattende studier af det danske civilforsvars historie. Analysen fokuserer på indholdet og formsproget i pjecen såvel som samspillet imellem disse. Vi identificerer tre fremtider, som i varierende grad blev udfoldet i pjecen: atomkrigens fremtid, en fred praeget af bevidstheden om atomkrigens mulige komme samt tiden efter atomkrigen.
Arbejderhistorie, 2017
This is the third and final article in the series on Social Democratic politician Urban Hansen’s ... more This is the third and final article in the series on Social Democratic politician Urban Hansen’s early political career. Whereas the former two articles dealt with organisational matters, this one focuses on his early steps in politics. The article covers the 15 years from 1941, when it was suggested for the first time that he run for the Copenhagen city council, until 1956 when he was appointed mayor of the magistrate’s 3rd department, responsible for the city’s social issues.
although the focal point has shifted from organisation to politics, the question remains the same: how did the Social Democratic Party function? What did it take to get to the top within the party? And how did it affect the politicians it created?
TEMP - Tidsskrift for Historie, 2016
”We have no need for reconciliation...” The Danish Self- Image in Relation to Greenland 1953-2015... more ”We have no need for reconciliation...” The Danish Self- Image in Relation to Greenland 1953-2015
In 1953 Greenland, with the new Danish constitution, became an assimilated part of the Danish kingdom. With that, colonial times were over, and Greenland and Denmark had to adjust to each other in a new relation – but realities showed that perhaps Greenland were not always as equal.
In Denmark, there has been different views and narratives on the Danish- Greenlandic relation, not least Denmark’s role: good, bad, and everything in between.
This article investigates the oficial Danish view of itself in the colonial and post-colonial relation. Through statements from ministers for Greenland from 1953 through to the present, common themes as well as diversions are identiied.
Arbejderhistorie, 2016
This is the second article about the early career of Urban Hansen, who was to become Lord Mayor o... more This is the second article about the early career of Urban Hansen, who was to become Lord Mayor of Copenhagen in 1962. During and after WWII, Urban Hansen established a position in the Social Democratic Party in Copenhagen, which rendered him increasingly influential. His work and ideas for promoting and activating the party in the workplaces eventually gave him a job in the anti-communist party organisation AIC, in which he became the main figure in the Social Democratic Party’s fight against communism in Denmark, and hence, popular with the party leadership.
His story serves, once again, to show how power was gained in the Social Democratic Party; loyalty, hard work and political or organisational talent was still a valuable currency. But another important factor is added: the network. In order to progress, the right people have to notice the work you do.
The series have been extended, so this is now article 2 of 3.
Arbejderhistorie, 2016
The Danish Social Democratic Party was in the 1920’s through to the 1950’s a highly hierarchical ... more The Danish Social Democratic Party was in the 1920’s through to the 1950’s a highly hierarchical and disciplinary organisation. It schooled a generational unit of political leaders into a specific type of politician. Advancing in the Party took loyalty; hard work, discipline and knowing ones place. The party leadership, rather than the rank and file, determined who were to be promoted.
Looking closer at one of those who had success can reveal the mech- anisms of the party; Urban Hansen started out as a “foot soldier” in the party, and ended up being the Lord Mayor of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. This article investigates Urban Hansen’s early years in the party’s service and reveals the mechanisms at play to gain success.
Kalla kriget – Sverige, en stormakt utan vapen? Red. Kurt Almqvist & Kristian Gerner, Axel och Margaret Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse, Stockholm, 2012
Nye fronter i den kolde krig. Red. Carsten Due-Nielsen, Rasmus Mariager og Regin Schmidt. Gyldendal, 2010
An overview into how Danish press treated Soviet anniversaries from 1947 to 1987
Arbejdermuseet & Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv Årbog , 2008
Arbejderhistorie, 2008
From 1948 to 1977, the Information Research Department under the Foreign Office was an integrated... more From 1948 to 1977, the Information Research Department under the Foreign Office was an integrated part of British cold war policy. The IRD was in charge of propaganda, both overt and covert. Most of this propaganda was directed overseas in support of Britain’s foreign policy and its scope was, largely, anti-communist.
In order to make the most effective propaganda possibly, the IRD also at times functioned as an intelligence department, collecting information about communists in other countries. This article portrays the IRD work in Denmark as well as both British and Danish attitudes towards this kind of activities. Despite the limited political influence of the Danish Communist Party, the IRD had several operations in Denmark, often as part of a broader Scandinavian scheme. The man who became identified with IRD work in Denmark and Scandinavia more than anyone else, was Michael Cullis, a former intelligence worker who had switched to propaganda and information work. In Denmark Cullis build an impressive amount of contacts among those private organisations doing anti-communist work in Denmark. Thus, his person led to an array of anti-communist activities in Denmark, often in cooperation with local groups but also with the American information services which were a close partner to the IRD – in Denmark and in general.
Theses by Iben Bjørnsson
Ph.D. Thesis, University of Copenhagen, 2012
This thesis investigates the anti-communist cooperation between the social democratic parties of ... more This thesis investigates the anti-communist cooperation between the social democratic parties of Norden in the early Cold War (1945-62).
The animosity between social democrats and communists dates back to the 1920s but recieved new actuality with the relative rise in communist popularity after WWII. As the Cold War froze over, the social democratic party secretaries started meeting once or twice a year to echange information about communism and plan how to counter it. The party secretary meetings went on for a decade and died out in the late 1950s/early1960s as communism ceased to be a threat and the Cold War settled.
The party secretary meetings were marked the the securitisation of the communist problem, which caused social democratic parties, mainly in Scandinavia, to cooperate with state security services on containing and fighting communism. The meetings were marked by this cooperation as they not only discussed communism in the labour movement but also in terms of national security.
The Nordic labour movements have cooperated since their establishment in the late 1800s and early 1900s; hence it was only natural that they cooperated on this common problem as well.
During the early Cold War the social democratic parties of Scandinavia were politically dominant. They built welfare states which they identified themselves with to such an extent that seperating party and state became increasingly difficult. They were social democratic states. This identification was a contributing part in the social democratic view of national security as a party problem.
Since the end of the Cold War, new research have increasingly shown the Scandinavian countries to have cooperated militarily and in intelligence. Hence, the failure to establish a Scandinavian defence union in 1949 did not mean a division of Scandinavia, to the extent that traditional research has looked at it. A new picture of Nordic security is emerging, to which this thesis is a contribution: the picture of a region that was bound together not only by culture, values and language, but also by security issues. The governing parties were a part of this cooperation as well, as I show. They were, in all practicality, brothers in arms.
Hence, I propose that research in Nordic security re-evaluates the picture of a divided Norden.
M.Phil Thesis, University of Copenhagen, 2008
AIC – The Labour Movement’s Information Centre – was an organisation founded in 1944 and sponsore... more AIC – The Labour Movement’s Information Centre – was an organisation founded in 1944 and sponsored by the Danish Social Democratic Party and the Danish Federation of Trade Unions. The primary activity of the AIC was fighting the Danish Communist Party in the Danish factories and plants. This fight was carried out by means of propaganda, persuasion and fraction work as well as intelligence activities. The prime units for carrying out these activities were small Social Democratic fractions (“clubs”) in each workplace. During the late 1940’s and 1950’s the intelligence activities of the AIC was at its prime. These were possible due to the large amount of Social Democratic factory workers and shop stewards who reported back to the AIC, about the activities, whereabouts and identity of the communists. It was also the contacts in the workplaces that enabled the AIC to create statistics showing the strength of the communists in the trade unions. The vast knowledge about the Danish communists made the AIC an interesting partner to both state intelligence services and private anti-communist ventures such as the Danish branch of the CIA-sponsored Congress for Cultural Freedom. Also the British and American embassies in Copenhagen made good use of the AIC’s information about the communists and in the AIC, they found a willing and cooperative partner. In the other Scandinavian countries, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the situation was in many instances similar. The Social Democratic parties in these countries, and later also in West Germany, had their own agencies for combating communists within the labour movement. Almost naturally, the Nordic Social Democratic Parties made use of each other’s knowledge in this field.
During the 1960’s the communist’s political influence steadily declined. At the same time new political parties and fractions showed up – however, these were not nearly as well coordinated as the communists had been. With their main enemy defeated, the AIC had actually made themselves dispensable. Moreover, the political climate in the 1960’s made the AIC type of private intelligence increasingly unpopular. The AIC was shut down by the sponsoring organisations in 1973.
The animosity between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party was not primarily a Cold War issue. The fight was rooted in the 1930’s battle between the two parties over the right to represent the Danish worker and control the Danish labour movement. However, the Cold War gave the battle an immediate international relevance.
Books by Iben Bjørnsson
Frydenlund, 2018
Historiker Iben Bjørnsson fortæller om Urban Hansens vej fra ung og uprøvet DSU'er til folketings... more Historiker Iben Bjørnsson fortæller om Urban Hansens vej fra ung og uprøvet DSU'er til folketingsmand og borgerrepræsentant. En både underholdende og gennemresearchet biografi om den nok mest berømte af Københavns overborgmestre.
Urban var en arbejdsivrig ung mand, der stod last og brast om partiet. Netop denne loyalitet sammen med et evigt voksende netværk gjorde, at Urban gang på gang steg i graderne i Socialdemokratiets interne hierarki. Og derfor kunne han i 1956 vælge mellem en ministerpost eller en borgmesterpost.
Urban blev landskendt for sin utrættelige arbejdsmoral, sin bramfrihed og sit engagement i socialpolitik. Han arbejdede bl.a. for tuberkuloseramtes behandling og genindtræden på arbejdsmarkedet efter endt sygdom. Hans store indsats på området resulterede i den revalideringsordning, vi kender i dag.
Men han havde også et stærkt temperament, som han lod falde over dem, der ikke gjorde en stor nok indsats – for partiet, selvfølgelig. Og han blev berygtet som Danmarks førende kommunistjæger. Gennem sin ansættelse i Arbejdernes Informationscentral (AIC) registrerede han kommunister på de danske arbejdspladser og forsøgte at sætte en kæp i hjulet for DKP’s arbejde.
Urban giver et nuanceret portræt af den utrættelige politiker fra de første spæde skridt i DSU Næstved over partiarbejdet på Amager til den første borgmesterpost. Det er dermed også en historie om velfærdsstatens første årtier og om et socialdemokrati, der langsomt ændrer sig fra et socialistisk arbejderparti til et folke- og midterparti.
Shorter pieces, web, etc. by Iben Bjørnsson
Berlingske Tidende, Jan 1, 2024
Hensigtsmæssig beredskabskommunikation handler ikke om at råbe ulven kommer på daglig basis. Det ... more Hensigtsmæssig beredskabskommunikation handler ikke om at råbe ulven kommer på daglig basis. Det handler om at sætte befolkningen i stand til at handle, hvis ulven pludselig er her.
Ræson, Dec 22, 2023
Forsvarssamarbejdet med USA både symboliserer og fuldbyrder den sikkerhedspolitiske rejse som Soc... more Forsvarssamarbejdet med USA både symboliserer og fuldbyrder den sikkerhedspolitiske rejse som Socialdemokratiet – og Danmark med dem – har været på i det 20. og 21. århundrede. En rejse, hvor Socialdemokratiet er gået fra neutralisme til amerikanske styrker på dansk jord. Hvordan? Svaret skal findes i fodnotepolitikkens skam og Ruslands svaghed.
Videnskab.dk, Nov 13, 2023
For 70 år siden stod vi en situation, der minder meget om i dag – og dengang blev der lavet en ræ... more For 70 år siden stod vi en situation, der minder meget om i dag – og dengang blev der lavet en række markante tiltag mod misinformation
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Articles by Iben Bjørnsson
although the focal point has shifted from organisation to politics, the question remains the same: how did the Social Democratic Party function? What did it take to get to the top within the party? And how did it affect the politicians it created?
In 1953 Greenland, with the new Danish constitution, became an assimilated part of the Danish kingdom. With that, colonial times were over, and Greenland and Denmark had to adjust to each other in a new relation – but realities showed that perhaps Greenland were not always as equal.
In Denmark, there has been different views and narratives on the Danish- Greenlandic relation, not least Denmark’s role: good, bad, and everything in between.
This article investigates the oficial Danish view of itself in the colonial and post-colonial relation. Through statements from ministers for Greenland from 1953 through to the present, common themes as well as diversions are identiied.
His story serves, once again, to show how power was gained in the Social Democratic Party; loyalty, hard work and political or organisational talent was still a valuable currency. But another important factor is added: the network. In order to progress, the right people have to notice the work you do.
The series have been extended, so this is now article 2 of 3.
Looking closer at one of those who had success can reveal the mech- anisms of the party; Urban Hansen started out as a “foot soldier” in the party, and ended up being the Lord Mayor of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. This article investigates Urban Hansen’s early years in the party’s service and reveals the mechanisms at play to gain success.
In order to make the most effective propaganda possibly, the IRD also at times functioned as an intelligence department, collecting information about communists in other countries. This article portrays the IRD work in Denmark as well as both British and Danish attitudes towards this kind of activities. Despite the limited political influence of the Danish Communist Party, the IRD had several operations in Denmark, often as part of a broader Scandinavian scheme. The man who became identified with IRD work in Denmark and Scandinavia more than anyone else, was Michael Cullis, a former intelligence worker who had switched to propaganda and information work. In Denmark Cullis build an impressive amount of contacts among those private organisations doing anti-communist work in Denmark. Thus, his person led to an array of anti-communist activities in Denmark, often in cooperation with local groups but also with the American information services which were a close partner to the IRD – in Denmark and in general.
Theses by Iben Bjørnsson
The animosity between social democrats and communists dates back to the 1920s but recieved new actuality with the relative rise in communist popularity after WWII. As the Cold War froze over, the social democratic party secretaries started meeting once or twice a year to echange information about communism and plan how to counter it. The party secretary meetings went on for a decade and died out in the late 1950s/early1960s as communism ceased to be a threat and the Cold War settled.
The party secretary meetings were marked the the securitisation of the communist problem, which caused social democratic parties, mainly in Scandinavia, to cooperate with state security services on containing and fighting communism. The meetings were marked by this cooperation as they not only discussed communism in the labour movement but also in terms of national security.
The Nordic labour movements have cooperated since their establishment in the late 1800s and early 1900s; hence it was only natural that they cooperated on this common problem as well.
During the early Cold War the social democratic parties of Scandinavia were politically dominant. They built welfare states which they identified themselves with to such an extent that seperating party and state became increasingly difficult. They were social democratic states. This identification was a contributing part in the social democratic view of national security as a party problem.
Since the end of the Cold War, new research have increasingly shown the Scandinavian countries to have cooperated militarily and in intelligence. Hence, the failure to establish a Scandinavian defence union in 1949 did not mean a division of Scandinavia, to the extent that traditional research has looked at it. A new picture of Nordic security is emerging, to which this thesis is a contribution: the picture of a region that was bound together not only by culture, values and language, but also by security issues. The governing parties were a part of this cooperation as well, as I show. They were, in all practicality, brothers in arms.
Hence, I propose that research in Nordic security re-evaluates the picture of a divided Norden.
During the 1960’s the communist’s political influence steadily declined. At the same time new political parties and fractions showed up – however, these were not nearly as well coordinated as the communists had been. With their main enemy defeated, the AIC had actually made themselves dispensable. Moreover, the political climate in the 1960’s made the AIC type of private intelligence increasingly unpopular. The AIC was shut down by the sponsoring organisations in 1973.
The animosity between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party was not primarily a Cold War issue. The fight was rooted in the 1930’s battle between the two parties over the right to represent the Danish worker and control the Danish labour movement. However, the Cold War gave the battle an immediate international relevance.
Books by Iben Bjørnsson
Urban var en arbejdsivrig ung mand, der stod last og brast om partiet. Netop denne loyalitet sammen med et evigt voksende netværk gjorde, at Urban gang på gang steg i graderne i Socialdemokratiets interne hierarki. Og derfor kunne han i 1956 vælge mellem en ministerpost eller en borgmesterpost.
Urban blev landskendt for sin utrættelige arbejdsmoral, sin bramfrihed og sit engagement i socialpolitik. Han arbejdede bl.a. for tuberkuloseramtes behandling og genindtræden på arbejdsmarkedet efter endt sygdom. Hans store indsats på området resulterede i den revalideringsordning, vi kender i dag.
Men han havde også et stærkt temperament, som han lod falde over dem, der ikke gjorde en stor nok indsats – for partiet, selvfølgelig. Og han blev berygtet som Danmarks førende kommunistjæger. Gennem sin ansættelse i Arbejdernes Informationscentral (AIC) registrerede han kommunister på de danske arbejdspladser og forsøgte at sætte en kæp i hjulet for DKP’s arbejde.
Urban giver et nuanceret portræt af den utrættelige politiker fra de første spæde skridt i DSU Næstved over partiarbejdet på Amager til den første borgmesterpost. Det er dermed også en historie om velfærdsstatens første årtier og om et socialdemokrati, der langsomt ændrer sig fra et socialistisk arbejderparti til et folke- og midterparti.
Shorter pieces, web, etc. by Iben Bjørnsson
although the focal point has shifted from organisation to politics, the question remains the same: how did the Social Democratic Party function? What did it take to get to the top within the party? And how did it affect the politicians it created?
In 1953 Greenland, with the new Danish constitution, became an assimilated part of the Danish kingdom. With that, colonial times were over, and Greenland and Denmark had to adjust to each other in a new relation – but realities showed that perhaps Greenland were not always as equal.
In Denmark, there has been different views and narratives on the Danish- Greenlandic relation, not least Denmark’s role: good, bad, and everything in between.
This article investigates the oficial Danish view of itself in the colonial and post-colonial relation. Through statements from ministers for Greenland from 1953 through to the present, common themes as well as diversions are identiied.
His story serves, once again, to show how power was gained in the Social Democratic Party; loyalty, hard work and political or organisational talent was still a valuable currency. But another important factor is added: the network. In order to progress, the right people have to notice the work you do.
The series have been extended, so this is now article 2 of 3.
Looking closer at one of those who had success can reveal the mech- anisms of the party; Urban Hansen started out as a “foot soldier” in the party, and ended up being the Lord Mayor of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. This article investigates Urban Hansen’s early years in the party’s service and reveals the mechanisms at play to gain success.
In order to make the most effective propaganda possibly, the IRD also at times functioned as an intelligence department, collecting information about communists in other countries. This article portrays the IRD work in Denmark as well as both British and Danish attitudes towards this kind of activities. Despite the limited political influence of the Danish Communist Party, the IRD had several operations in Denmark, often as part of a broader Scandinavian scheme. The man who became identified with IRD work in Denmark and Scandinavia more than anyone else, was Michael Cullis, a former intelligence worker who had switched to propaganda and information work. In Denmark Cullis build an impressive amount of contacts among those private organisations doing anti-communist work in Denmark. Thus, his person led to an array of anti-communist activities in Denmark, often in cooperation with local groups but also with the American information services which were a close partner to the IRD – in Denmark and in general.
The animosity between social democrats and communists dates back to the 1920s but recieved new actuality with the relative rise in communist popularity after WWII. As the Cold War froze over, the social democratic party secretaries started meeting once or twice a year to echange information about communism and plan how to counter it. The party secretary meetings went on for a decade and died out in the late 1950s/early1960s as communism ceased to be a threat and the Cold War settled.
The party secretary meetings were marked the the securitisation of the communist problem, which caused social democratic parties, mainly in Scandinavia, to cooperate with state security services on containing and fighting communism. The meetings were marked by this cooperation as they not only discussed communism in the labour movement but also in terms of national security.
The Nordic labour movements have cooperated since their establishment in the late 1800s and early 1900s; hence it was only natural that they cooperated on this common problem as well.
During the early Cold War the social democratic parties of Scandinavia were politically dominant. They built welfare states which they identified themselves with to such an extent that seperating party and state became increasingly difficult. They were social democratic states. This identification was a contributing part in the social democratic view of national security as a party problem.
Since the end of the Cold War, new research have increasingly shown the Scandinavian countries to have cooperated militarily and in intelligence. Hence, the failure to establish a Scandinavian defence union in 1949 did not mean a division of Scandinavia, to the extent that traditional research has looked at it. A new picture of Nordic security is emerging, to which this thesis is a contribution: the picture of a region that was bound together not only by culture, values and language, but also by security issues. The governing parties were a part of this cooperation as well, as I show. They were, in all practicality, brothers in arms.
Hence, I propose that research in Nordic security re-evaluates the picture of a divided Norden.
During the 1960’s the communist’s political influence steadily declined. At the same time new political parties and fractions showed up – however, these were not nearly as well coordinated as the communists had been. With their main enemy defeated, the AIC had actually made themselves dispensable. Moreover, the political climate in the 1960’s made the AIC type of private intelligence increasingly unpopular. The AIC was shut down by the sponsoring organisations in 1973.
The animosity between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party was not primarily a Cold War issue. The fight was rooted in the 1930’s battle between the two parties over the right to represent the Danish worker and control the Danish labour movement. However, the Cold War gave the battle an immediate international relevance.
Urban var en arbejdsivrig ung mand, der stod last og brast om partiet. Netop denne loyalitet sammen med et evigt voksende netværk gjorde, at Urban gang på gang steg i graderne i Socialdemokratiets interne hierarki. Og derfor kunne han i 1956 vælge mellem en ministerpost eller en borgmesterpost.
Urban blev landskendt for sin utrættelige arbejdsmoral, sin bramfrihed og sit engagement i socialpolitik. Han arbejdede bl.a. for tuberkuloseramtes behandling og genindtræden på arbejdsmarkedet efter endt sygdom. Hans store indsats på området resulterede i den revalideringsordning, vi kender i dag.
Men han havde også et stærkt temperament, som han lod falde over dem, der ikke gjorde en stor nok indsats – for partiet, selvfølgelig. Og han blev berygtet som Danmarks førende kommunistjæger. Gennem sin ansættelse i Arbejdernes Informationscentral (AIC) registrerede han kommunister på de danske arbejdspladser og forsøgte at sætte en kæp i hjulet for DKP’s arbejde.
Urban giver et nuanceret portræt af den utrættelige politiker fra de første spæde skridt i DSU Næstved over partiarbejdet på Amager til den første borgmesterpost. Det er dermed også en historie om velfærdsstatens første årtier og om et socialdemokrati, der langsomt ændrer sig fra et socialistisk arbejderparti til et folke- og midterparti.
København: Forlaget Nemo 2014, 359 s., ill. Hardcover, ISBN 9788792880024
ISBN 978-87-7604-029-1.
This is the latest culmination of a process of foreign policy re-orientation in the Social Democratic Party, brought on by domestic as well as foreign policy issues.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s Social Democratic governments led a somewhat cautious security policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union and Warszaw Pact. 1980’s the Social Democrats in opposition were the architects of the infamous Danish ‘footnote policy’ expressed in a series of reservations within NATO. Post-Cold War, however, the Social Democrats have been eager to show their loyalty to NATO and the US.
I will give an overview over the development of Social Democratic foreign policy in the 20th and 21st Centuries, and of possible explanations – domestic and foreign – for these developments.
My questions pertain both to immaterial and material factors; that is: did NATO inform the way Danish Civil Defence Authorities imagined the war? And, by extension, did it inform practical/material planning?
Tentative answers to both these questions are both yes and no. Denmark was not unmindful of NATOs wishes and recommendations, but also in some cases insisted that regional factors must decide practical outcomes. However, even when it did not decide outcomes, NATO brokered bi- and trilateral cooperation within Civil Defence and served as forum for exchange of knowledge. The latter seems to have been especially valuable for a country that had sworn off research in and possession of nuclear weapons but still was at risk of living with their consequences.
Om Koldkrigsmuseum Stevnsforts 2018-særudstilling om atombomben.
With the Social Democratic parties being so powerful, and to a large degree shaping society in their own image, they often came to view themselves as natural “state parties” with an inherent right to govern and with interests inseparable from those of the national state. The true representatives of “the people”. At the same time, the Social Democratic parties were also born out of the labour movement, and from the 1920’es and 1930’es had been in a bitter struggle with the Communist Parties.
I propose a paper about what happened when those two phenomena – a sense of special responsibility for the state and a fierce organisation-based anti-Communism – intersected. In the Cold War, anti-Communism was elevated from a labour movement matter to a question of national security. But at the centre of both those areas were the Social Democratic Party.
So what does one do, when everyone suddenly agrees that one’s arch enemy is now also an enemy of the state? How does one separate the two? The answer, in this case, is: one doesn’t. The Social Democrats proceeded to use their knowledge about communists in the labour movement for combatting them on a national level and vice versa, often involving the Security Services. This paper will give an overview of the interests, threat perceptions and methods involved.
The paper is based on research about Denmark. But it is important to note that the issues at stake and the ways of dealing with them were similar – and sometimes even coordinated – between the Scandinavian countries’ Social Democratic parties.
The research will be supported by theories of Social Democratic statehood and elite networks by Swedish political scientists and sociologists and the “securitisation” theory of the Copenhagen School of international relations.
The purpose of the expedition was first and foremost to fill out the last blank spot on the Greenland map: the north east coast and northern tip of Greenland – or rather, what was not yet known to be the northern tip. On his prior travels in 1892-93, the American explorer Robert Peary had claimed that a channel – to be known as the Peary Channel – separated main Greenland from a large northern island – Peary Land.
Peary might have had his reason for this, because when he claimed to reach the North Pole in 1909, he also said that he placed a bottle with a document there, claiming the region “and adjacent” for the United States. If Peary Land was actually an island, it could fall under this claim.
Three men died looking for the Peary Channel, one search expedition got stranded and another search expedition went out for the search expedition.
An array of publications, led by participants’ own accounts has served to fascinate and create mythologies about the expeditions, and every so often a new book or theory about what happened resurfaces.