Suchergebnisse

Eine Welle der Selbstbesinnung hat Europa erfasst und ist Teil einer europäischen Erinnerungspolitik. Die Vergangenheit Europas zeigt ein janusköpfiges Bild aus Holocaust und Atombombe, Menschenrechten und Demokratie. Die meisten europäischen Staaten bemühen sich, sich ihrer Vergangenheit zu stellen. Die Erinnerung an den Holocaust wird zur Grundlage einer gesamteuropäischen Verantwortung. (ICE2)

In a comparative context, Danish national identity & political culture combine features of what is often referred to as East European integral nationalism, typical of smaller, recently independent nation-states, & the patriotic concept of citizenship in the older West European state nations. The explanation of this apparent paradox is that Denmark belongs to both families. A former multinational, composite state in 1864 was cut down to a size that enabled a class of about 60,000 peasant-farmers to establish an ideological hegemony in the diminished & nationalized, yet still fully legitimate, state. A libertarian ideology of social solidarity ended up dominating this rump nation-state. The net result in Denmark has been a political mentality stressing the importance of consensus among all the people, in Danish 'folk'. This populism or 'popular' ideology (folkelighed) is shared by virtually all political parties. Thus Danish modernity was characterized by industrialized agrarian capitalism with a socially & nationally homogeneous face, i.e. a folkish democracy which I have elsewhere baptized 'Peasants & Danes' (Ostergard, 1992). 41 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications and Thesis Eleven Co-op Ltd, copyright 2004.]

Reflections are offered on the development of the Danish nation-state, 1864-1993, with special attention to the peasant roots of Danish modernity. The impact of the Napoleonic wars on the Danish nation-state is discussed, & contemporary Danish ambivalence toward the emergence of the European Community is examined, arguing that a salient trend in Danish politics has been a profound mistrust of everything European. Also discussed is the work of Danish writer & priest Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig, who sought to reestasblish in literature the "original" Nordic or Danish mind. 98 References. W. Howard