The Danish society is recurrently being described as homogenous, whether that is by scholars, in the private and public sphere, or broadly in the mass media. It is indisputable that every society can to some extent be labelled as homogenous, however many see the specificity of the Danish welfare system as an important element to the promotion of this uniformity, hence creating the national feeling of “Danishness”. This notion is commonly used when Danes discuss their feeling of being Danish, and thus relates to the subjective interpretation of national identity within a specific nation, in this case, Denmark. According to Uffe Østergaard, a professor at Copenhagen Business School, Danish national identity or “danskheden (Danishness) impedes …show more content…
He evokes Richard Jenkins’ “daily nationalism” (ibid) to illustrate these difficulties that non-native Danes, or immigrants, face in regards to Danish national identity, hence creating a gulf between Danes, and non-Danes, or “second-generation immigrants” (Olwig & Paerregaard, 2011, p.2).
To illustrate more thoroughly the homogeneity of the Danish society, Niels Kærgård, a professor at Copenhagen University, defines “universality” (Kærgård, 2006, p.1) as the main element of the welfare state. By universality, he defines “all citizens in Denmark [as having] the right to free medical help, free hospital, free education and a pension independent of saving and employment” (ibid). This not only gives Danes equal rights, but also establishes a common ground for all citizens with a state, making them feel equal to one another in regards to their
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“Immigrants from the Balkans, the Middle East, Pakistan and North Africa” (Olwig & Paerregaard, 2011, p.3) were the predominant people arriving in Denmark in order to help fill in the lacking labour force. This arrival was initially positively perceived by the Danish society, seeing it as a supplement to the economic boost. Nevertheless, the native Danes’ attitude shifted rapidly as they saw their job opportunities decrease drastically, creating high unemployment rates (Moore, 2010, p.361) among the society. The Danes’ discontent of the situation established a new way of thinking about immigrants, “an othering of immigrants” (ibid), as Harald Moore defines it, thus creating a dichotomy between Danes and non-Danes, labelling the latter as “gæstearbejder [guest workers,…,] fremmedarbejdere [foreign workers,… or] invandrer [immigrant]” (ibid). In fact, it was during the 1990s that “Danes [became] concerned with the perceived existence of irreconcilable cultural differences between immigrants and refugees on the one hand, and Danes on the other” (Olwig & Paerregaard, 2011, p.14). This distinction, that some name “discrimination” (Moore, 2010, p.361), “racism” or even “xenophobia” (Moore, 2010, p.355), was intensified by the 1980s and onward globalisation
In Amin Ahmad’s I belong here, the reader is faced with a sense of sympathy that makes the reader’s view of the world, not only questionable, but alterable. This personal experience, written in the year 2010 shames the fact that this world has and shows how little progress the world has made in the judgment and discrimination of immigrants. These people look differently, speak differently, and live differently; but on the inside they are the same. Nonetheless, they are looked down upon by people from different cultures. The author uses his personal ethos and pathos to support the claim of value that immigrants are not treated fairly. A claim of value is a claim that is based off of what is right and what is wrong.
Throughout Phillip Seymour's novel, American Pastoral, the concept of national identity changes for characters with the progressive times. The Swede’s identity builds from his early years upon the classic ideals of the American dream. The Swede’s very own identity could be questioned due to the oddness of his physical exterior; “None possessed anything remotely like the steep-jawed, insentient Viking mask of this blue-eyed blond born into our tribe as Seymour Irving Levov.” It was uncommon for a Jewish person to be fair, or blue eyed which is where his nickname, the Swede, comes from; and also questions national identity in the way he is treated differently for it. The Swede’s brother describes him as “a very nice, simple, stoical guy. Not a humorous guy. Not a passionate guy… banal, conventional.” (3.12) This differs vastly from Zuckerman’s early description of the Swede, through this portrayal we can see from the perspective of someone else (importantly his brother) how his identity is conventionally made up.
Magoon, Kekla. The Welfare Debate. Edina: ABDO Publishing Company, Inc. 2009. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Print.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and famine, and make a better life for themselves. Forgetting their origins as persecuted and excluded people, the older and more established immigrants became possessive about their country and tried to exclude and persecute the immigrant groups from non-western European backgrounds arriving in the U.S. This hostile, defensive, and xenophobic reaction to influxes of “new” immigrants known as Nativism was not far out of the mainstream. Nativism became a part of the American cultural and political landscape and helped to shape, through exclusion, the face of the United States for years to come.
Firstly to justify why countries limit their immigrations, there should be knowledge of the different types of immigrants as there are different reasons to leave from one country and move into another. In the last 30 years, the number of international immigrants has been estimated 191 million worldwide, two times as before. As ...
Without a doubt, the European continent has been through a lot over the last few decades. From World War 2, to the iron grip of Soviet Russia on half of the continent, many problems have arisen and been dealt with. Unfortunately, Europe has had a rough few years when it comes to the somewhat newer issue of immigration and immigrant groups. While some countries have managed immigration better than others, nations such as France and Italy have had their fair share of problems and continue to pass legislation that is flawed and draws criticism from other countries. The issue has gotten better in recent years, and various European countries have made great progress towards their immigration policies. In addition, various ethnic groups have been the target of government profiling and discrimination. Most notably the Romani people, who have faced discrimination for hundreds of years and continue to do so at the hands of various Eastern and Western European governments. The many setbacks and gains towards immigration are more clearly visible when looked at on a case-by-case basis, such as the individual policies of Italy, France, and the European Union as a whole.
Denmark is a small high-income country with a high population density, is governed by a constitutional monarchy, has a central parliament and is administratively divided into regions, municipalities and has 2 dependencies (Greenland and the Faroe Islands) (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009). It has a national health service (funded by general taxation) and a decentralized healthcare system in which the individual regions run most services and the municipalities are responsible for some public health services (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009). However, a process of (re) centralization (under the structural reform of 2007) has been taking place, which has lowered the number of regions from 14 to 5 and the municipalities from 275 to 98 (Olejaz, Nielsen, Rudkjøbing, Okkels, Krasnik & Hernández-Quevedo, 2012; Schäfer et al., 2010). The hospital structure is also undergoing reform, moving towards fewer, bigger and more specialized hospitals (Olejaz, Nielsen, Rudkjøbing, Okkels, Krasnik & Hernández-Quevedo, 2012). Greenland and the Faroe Islands are independent in health matters but follow the Danish Legislation (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009). The National Board of Health (NBH) (based in Copenhagen) is responsible for the legislation concerning dentistry in Denmark (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009; Schäfer et al., 2010).
Banting noted that some Canadians fear multiculturalism will bring, “…challenges to historic cultures, anxieties about Islam, and fears about insecurity,” (797). As people migrate from one cultural or religious backgrounds, maintaining the identity of the host country becomes difficult. Young children born interact with the immigrants and they could easily emulate foreign cultures thereby putting the historic cultural identity of Canadians at risk of erosion. Winter Elke warned that multiculturalism is changing to give too much preference to the immigrants thereby risking it to become a minority affair (638). Therefore, the relationship between national the majority of Canadians and immigrants need rethinking. Erosion of other cultures as immigrants introduce new ways or adapt to the cultures of the host county (Canada). Furthermore, education of the immigrants could face challenges if they experience difficulty settling in Canada. Given that immigrants later work in Canada, the human resource sector faces a new challenge of managing a diversified workforce, which can create headache for Canadian employers. Banting indicated that there is, “a strong sense that multiculturalism policies have “failed” a reaction that is strongest perhaps in the Netherlands, but is felt in many other countries as well,” (797). Such assertions only fuel resentment towards
In contrast to Denmark the USA society is made from vast diversity; diversity in class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, geography and diversity in ideas. Despite of the clear differences between USA and Denmark societies what they have in common, or what all societies have in common, is that we are all humans. For this reason, we all have the same basic needs, like subsistence, protection, love, education, identity, full development of our personality, freedom, health and even leisure; witch should be protected over any other aspect in life. It is true that the economic system of Denmark, sound too good to be true, it is also true that this goodness has a price to be paid and this price is higher taxes. The money paid in taxes is returned to taxpayers as basic services which provided the entire society the fulfillment of their basic
Here me now, warriors, husbands, and townsfolk, we have been gathered and been geared up because it is time that we take a stand for ourselves. For decades we have been pushed around by Denmark, they think that they are greater, that they are allowed to push us down and watch us drown, they believe that they are most better than us loyal and noble folk, but all that they have done is pushed us higher. We are to change that. We will fight, for our right. We will become the dominant ones, we will rise up and show them who is the real boss. Today we take control, we will commence in battle. A man can die but once. So, battle your very hearts out. Think about your families, think about your children. Do they want to live in a world where they get
Beyond these global trends, there are a number of trends unique to Denmark that have resulted to an increase in inequality. The decades leading up to the Great Divergence in Denmark have a significant relationship with how the economy would behave in the years after. During World War I, Denmark experienced a marked increase and abrupt decline in inequality due to a lack of economic preparedness for a drawn-out conflict resulting in a volatile market (Atkinson & Søgaard, 2016, pp. 283). Danish preparedness for World War II allowed for less of a major impact to the economy and a further decrease in inequality throughout the Great Compression. A major part of their fiscal policy after the war was the trend of rising marginal tax rates (Atkinson
...in European countries and countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 52, 115-131. http://cos.sagepub.com/libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/content/52/1-2/114. Desmond, S. A., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). THE POWER OF PLACE: Immigrants.
In Europe, immigration has always been a part of its history, but large-scale migration has been in more recent years. In a 13-year span from 1960 to 1973 there was a major increase in the number of foreign workers in the work force. The percent doubled from 3 percent to six percent of workers in the
It would be nice to allow people to adhere to their own styles, but doing that excludes them from the already existing nation’s practices. On the other hand, requiring immigrants to completely conform to society, will result in taking away all of their beliefs. According to Malik, “‘multicultural’ has come to define both a society that is particularly diverse, usually as a result of immigration, and the policies necessary to manage such a society” (22). With the immigration that European nations have faced, there is undoubtedly diverse culture present, but the policy aspect of that multicultural definition still needs to be redefined in order to create a balance between diversity and inclusion within
Citizenship is being a part of a community in which all members have rights and obligations (Fleury, 2010). T.H Marshall in his 1949 lecture ‘citizenship and social class’ suggested that all citizens of a welfare state would have equal social status, being able to fully participate in the market economy, democracy and overall society (Dean & Melrose, 1999). When I think of my experiences of living in multiple welfare states (the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands), I never felt that every citizen had equal opportunities, there were always those who were excluded society. In this reflection, I aim to explore the extent of equality between people living in Welfare states. I will first examine T.H Marshall’s conception of citizenship, then cover