Abstract
The Danish chapter by Birte Siim and Susi Meret explores dilemmas of citizenship by looking at the ways rightwing populism has been countered by mobilizations against exclusionary and discriminating Danish policies. The theoretical and methodological approach is inspired by scholarly literature reframing citizenship, democracy, and social movement theory to reflect critically upon the dilemmas of differentiated citizenship, civic activism, and participation in Danish politics and society. The analysis focuses on the goals, strategies, and motivations of diverse civil society associations, pro-migrant and refugee groups, and self-organized movements actively fighting against discrimination, racism, and othering. Key questions are: Who are the actors involved? What are their claims? What forms of activism do they practice? How do they cooperate? What are the perspectives of these movements and what are the results of their activities?
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Notes
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The RAGE project: Right wing Populism and Hate Speech through the Racism, Gender and Age Looking Glass (2010–13) was funded by the Fumandamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union thorugh EUs Justice and Home Affairs. It included national case studies from eight European countries. See the national Danish reports (Siim and Meret 2013; Siim et al. 2013, 2014, 2015). The Danish team consisted of Birte Siim and Susi Meret with research assistants Jeppe Fuglsang Larsen, Helene Møller Larsen, and Anna Stegger Gemzøe.
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The empirical material includes document analysis and interviews with ten civil society organizations (CSO) active in the public debate about discrimination against migrant and Muslim minorities. The first round of interviews in 2014 included the Documentation and Counselling Centre on Racism and the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and organizations of migrants and Muslim minorities such as Ethnic Minority Women’s Council and New/Now Danish Youth Council, SOS Against Racism, Sabaah, and the Trampoline House. Focus group interview with three selected groups, the Trampoline House, LGBT Asylum, and Refugees Welcome, was conducted in September 2014. The second round of interviews was conducted with the Friendly Neighbors in 2016 and with Refugees Welcome, Black Lives Matter, and refugees of the Castaway Souls of Denmark in 2017.
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Interview with Michala Clante Bendixen (MCB), present leader of Refugees Welcome, Copenhagen, August 15, 2017. https://www.facebook.com/refugeeswelcomedenmark/
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This is the aim of a new Facebook group founded in 2016: https://www.facebook.com/WRRoute/
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Kajsa Minna Böttcher Messel’s Master’s thesis argues that the Trampoline House can be interpreted as a project of recognition in the sense of Honneth’s recognition theory (2016: 82). She argues that the Trampoline House also facilitates the refugees’ possibilities for autonomous navigation without antagonism premised on all members’ equal claim to the house.
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https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatterDenmark/ Interview with the founder Bwalia Sørensen (BS) August 15, 2017.
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One of the founders commented: “We were strong, but the government broke us. All the people, where are they now? They have removed them. They have displaced them. They have worn them out … We want our rights. We are refugees not criminals. If you don’t have the rights in your country, you flee … and in Denmark you hear they believe and practice human rights … but it is not true … They are moving people to Ikast (Kærshovedgaard). If they cannot send you back to [the country you fled from] you are going to rot in Ikast!”
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Interview with Jane Mansbridge—Everyday activism and change: “Jenny contends we need to understand that change comes from ‘the everyday talk” and daily practice through which ‘ordinary’ women – from different political standpoints or none – “make their everyday lives more equal, and stay alive, and not go under”. Jenny has long argued for the importance of everyday activism as a precursor to micro politics”: http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/03/08/4863/.
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Siim, B., Meret, S. (2019). Dilemmas of Citizenship and Evolving Civic Activism in Denmark. In: Siim, B., Krasteva, A., Saarinen, A. (eds) Citizens’ Activism and Solidarity Movements. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76183-1_2
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