Unity Through Separation. On the Construction of Danish Secularism

2017

Historical Social Research, 2020

This paper takes its point of departure from an observation made by Norbert Elias in his book The Germans. Many (smaller) European states were confronted by Germany in various wars and conflicts and states such as Denmark suffered defeats. Following from this, Elias poses the question as to how the Danish people came to terms with this reality-shock. This paper claims that the unintended consequence of the Danish defeat was the development of a new national habitus with a strong and particular form of nationalism. This nationalism not only tied the nation to the state but went much further by defining the nation as the people and the civil society. It became a deeply sedimented form of nationalism, which provided Denmark with a very strong social cohesion. The central argument concerns this strong Danish habitus linked to this form of nationalism. This paper argues that this habitus has become more problematic during the last 30 years in the era of globalisation. The strong Danish habitus generates resistance towards immigration, acceptance of refugees, the EU, and the internationalisation of education-just to mention some problematic areas. Consequently, Denmark, as a small open economy depending on multilateralism and internationalisation, has difficulties fully embracing globalisation.

Lutheranism and the Nordic Spirit of Social Democracy, 2017

Journal of Church and State, 2018

"European secular social models are challenged in new ways by religions. Also in Denmark, religion and religious symbols occupy an increasing amount of space in the public sphere, tempting people to relate to religion in a more personal way. Those are the findings of a new report published today by the Centre for European Islamic Thought at the University of Copenhagen. Ramadan dinners in the Danish Parliament, staff parties without either pork or alcohol and prayer rooms at the airport are all examples of how religion is becoming more visible in public spaces. “Prior to the mass migration of the '60s, '70s and '80s, almost all Danes shared similar values and were members of the national Christian church, so religion was not an issue in everyday life. There was no need to discuss neither one’s own nor another person’s religious viewpoint, and secularisation was a matter of course. Today, it is difficult to be in a public place, read the newspaper, or go to school or work without encountering religious expressions and symbols,” says Niels Valdemar Vinding, a PhD student from the Centre for European Islamic Thought at University of Copenhagen and co-author of a recently published report from the European research project RELIGARE that examines religious diversity and secular models in Europe. Secularism under pressure “Everywhere in Europe it is clear that the concept of secularism, where religion remains a private matter, is under pressure. Everything suggests that in the future religious organisations will have more influence on schools, workplaces and the media. This means that both private and public institutions will be dealing with religion more often,” explains Vinding. The report is one of six national reports examining the nexus between secularism and religion in a specific European country. The reports are based on interviews with a variety of religious, secular and political leaders. The reports are key contributions to the research project RELIGARE, which brings together university researchers from ten different European countries. A contradictory relationship The picture the report portrays of the typical Dane’s reaction to the tension between secularism and religion is a bit blurry. On the one hand, Danes cherish diversity, support the idea of having room for all and believe in giving each individual the freedom to follow their own faith and convictions. On the other hand, many would like a high degree of legal regulation when it comes to those forms of religion and religious expression that seem strange or different. An example of such regulation was seen in the amendment of the Judicial Code of 2009, which forbade judges and lay judges from wearing headscarves in courtrooms. “It is not a case of two opposite sides of opinion, it is rather a an overlap of opinions,” says Vinding. “People support personal freedom and religiosity, but not at any price. Some Danes can be perfectly comfortable with a morning hymn being sung in school, and at the same time have a problem with halal meat being served in institutional meals without seeing a clear picture of the contradiction or sense of injustice.”

Antipode, 2007

One of the most important political issues in Denmark today is the new upsurge of nationalism. This reached its height at the two latest general elections in Denmark, which in many ways struck the left with surprise and shock. The purpose of this paper is to try to make sense of this situation. The paper falls into four parts. After introducing the problem and contextualizing it in the "new" Europe, we provide a short presentation of the theory, methodology and analytical strategy behind the article. In the third section, we identify two conflicting discourses in current Danish debates on this issue. In the fourth section, we argue that in order to understand the present situation, a much more differentiated understanding of nationalism and its (re-)construction in everyday life is needed. Here such an understanding is pursued on the basis of an interview analysis of narrative constructions of nationalism conducted in a medium-sized Danish town. This, finally, is taken as the background for discussing the present advancement of nationalism in Denmark as interference between particular and more "universal" factors.

Honours Dissertation, 2017

This dissertation offers an in-depth analysis of the criticism Vikernes and Kierkegaard direct toward the tendency of institutional Christianity to negate individual identity. For Vikernes, this tendency is exemplified in the way in which Christianity was introduced to Norway in the 11th century, and its subsequent expansion at the cost of traditional Norse religion. Different regions within Norway had different rites and customs, and Vikernes blames the Church and state for eradicating these traditions and enforcing a ideology of conformity on a people for whom the concept of monotheism was alien. Christianity in Kierkegaard’s Copenhagen was similarly bound to the power of the state, but the history of its arrival in Denmark was far less violent and conflict-ridden. As a result of the close relationship between Christianity and political influence, Kierkegaard felt that the essence of faith as being a primarily individual matter was diluted. In its place stood a thoroughly mediocre and anti-Christian institution of deified civilized customs and tepid morality.

Challenging Multiculturalism, 2012