Getting to Denmark

I’ve always been a sucker for books which promised to reveal the essence or soul of a nation or Region and “The Nordic Secret” (2017) - which I’m now half-way through - offers insights not only into the Scandinavian “soul” but a solution to the puzzle Francis Fukuyama set us a more than a decade ago - How to get to Denmark?

And it’s written in a highly accessible style – offering a variety of superb vignettes into the various French, German, Scandinavian (and even British) characters who helped develop the thinking which led to the “folkschools” which, the book argues, are the basis of the much-admired Scandinavian success story.  Its focus is very much on a concept with which we Brits are not very familiar – what the Germans known as “Bildung” or “opening up of the world” – with a good short article here on the concept. The authors express it nicely here - 

As we kept on reading, Lene reading more ego development psychology and Tomas reading more about Bildung, we realized that we might have stumbled upon a connection between Bildung and ego-development theory that nobody in academia had explored before. As we kept on reading and went to the German sources, we saw more and stronger similarities between Bildung (as described by the German philosophers) and ego-development (as described by contemporary developmental psychologists) than we had ever imagined.

The trouble is that it poses so many questions and leads me down such an amazing number of paths as to leave me gasping for breath eg

·       How exactly did the Scandinavian countries manage to transform themselves from backward societies in 1850 to become the most advanced and envied nations today?

·       Is it true that Denmark started the process with an outspoken and activist priest/politician who established model inspirational rural schools?

·       Ever since Robert Putnam and Edward Banfield reminded us decades ago that southern Italy seemed stuck in the 19^th century, we have become ambivalent about the prospects for positive social change

·       Why have people lost interest in the question of getting corruption-free societies?

  and apparently given up on ever achieving effective states? 

I can’t hope to get through the reading my googling has unearthed – so let’s see is any of my readers can help with this annotated list of the more interesting stuff

I can’t hope to get through the reading my googling has unearthed – so let’s see is any of my readers can help. Here’s an annotated list of the more interesting stuff

Getting to Denmark (2020) – a very useful short report about the economic aspects of the Danish experience, which emphasises the importance of rural cooperatives 

Dougald Hine has lived in Norway for 30 years and produced this provocative article in 2019 which included some of the material he had found useful (it doesn’t mention The Nordic Secret which had come out in epub format in 2017) 

Lutheranism and the Nordic Spirit of social democracy Robert Nelson (2017) I’ve just unearthed what looks to be a crucial study in what remains a highly important topic for me 

A Utopia like any other – inside the Swedish model; Dominic Hinde (2016) A short book by a Swedish journalist now living in the UK and mentioned by in Hine’s article 

Viking Economics – how the Scandinavians got it right and how we can too; George Lakoff (2016) a marriage link allowed this American to gain some home truths 

Building the Nation – NFS Grundtvig and Danish National Identity et J Hall et al (2015) A fascinating study of the role this priest/politician played from the 1850s in forging a sense of national identity and loyalty. Includes a chapter by Fukuyama and also by one of the key writers on nationalism – Anthony Smith 

Becoming Denmark; Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (2006) A very useful summary by one of the top European experts on anti-corruption on the historical stages which led to the Danish success. 

State-building, governance and world order in the 21^st century Francis Fukuyama (2004) A very important little book which reflected the interest in those days in nation- and democracy-building

The search for good government – understanding the paradox of Italian democracy F Sabetti (2000). Rather belatedly, the Italians get back at Banfield and Putnam