The Struggle for the People
Five Hundred Years of Danish History in Short
A part of the subject areas and History
More about the book
About the book
In this book Ove Korsgaard, the well-known scholar of democracy, examines how the concept people has changed throughout Danish history. Interpretations and uses of this notion have had dramatic influence on the building of Danish society.
The struggle for the people is the struggle for power in society. Until The Age of Enlightenment the concept was used to categorize the subjects of the master of the house, the subjects of the King, the subjects of God. Later the notion became a revolutionary key concept. The people was now regarded as sovereign.
Today we are confronted with new questions, but the struggle continues: How are we to understand the concept people in a world of globalization, individualization and migration?
The book is aimed at teachers of Danish history and foreign language students, but anyone who wants a quick overview of Danish history throughout the last 500 years will profit by this book.
Press reviews
Jacob Kornbeck Dansk Pædagogisk Tidsskrift
"[...] Men i enhver national kontekst er der brug for at kende de på stedet gængse værdier og begreber, for dermed at kunne forholde sig mere bevidst, oplyst og konstruktivt i forhold til de aktuelle udfordringer. I den henseende kommer Korsgaards arbejde til tiden og kan med fordel læses også i udlandet. [...] Hvis jeg stadig har problemer med at forklare Danmark til andre, så ved jeg nu, at jeg bl.a. kan anbefale dem at læse denne bog. Den vil ikke besvare alle deres spørgsmål, men de vil nok forstå lidt mere efter endt læsning."
