The Jante Law

When I found out I was going to be hosting a Danish student, I wanted to do some research on Denmark to get a glimpse of what life was like in Denmark and common social practices. I was worried about not being able to relate to the student I was hosting and I wanted to get more of an understanding of her culture. While doing this research, I found that most of the information on Denmark referred to the Danes as generally reserved, modest people. It came across as confusing to me that there was a societal norm towards being modest and having an egalitarian ideology. After further research, I came across something that could be described as a social code of conduct. The Jante Law, a concept created by Danish author Askel Sandemose in the 1930’s gives a message that no one should believe they are superior to anyone else. According to the Jante Law, everyone is equal and neither intelligence nor wealth will make you a better person. Equality in Danish culture is of such importance that personal success can be seen as an attempt to distinguish oneself from the rest of society and should be frowned upon. Although this moral code was derived from a book about a fictional village, most Danes prescribe to the behavior and social conduct that the Jante Law calls for. Why does Danish society generally follow this model of correct behavior in society? How did the Jante Law become embedded in Danish culture? I knew that only upon experiencing Danish culture and talking to Danish people would I be able to begin to understand this phenomenon.


Ladies International Network Kobenhavn
2007 Jante Law. Electronic document,
http://www.linkdenmark.com/info/jante_law.htm, accessed October 20, 2007.

What is an Egalitarian Society?

Before analyzing the different parts of Danish culture, it is important to see what an egalitarian society is and what makes Danish society considered to be egalitarian. The definition of egalitarian is relating to or believing in the principle that all people are equal and should have equal rights and opportunities. In an egalitarian society, differences in wealth, power, and status are seldom recognized. In American society, although we would like to think that everyone has equal ability to succeed, certain groups have power over others and are thus better equipped to succeed in society. For example, there is a gender hierarchy that is institutionalized in American society where women still on average earn less than men and are expected to balance work and family with little support. Conversely, in Danish society, women are highly respected in the workplace and generally receive equal pay and have access to promotion to senior positions. Women are entitled to at least four months maternity leave after giving birth and working mothers are able to arrange flexible hours to easier balance work and family life.
It is impossible to have a completely egalitarian society. From lecture, we learned that power relations will always exist within a continuum (Antonio Gramsci). Every society has some kind of hegemonic system where a group of people in power creates ideas that others willingly prescribe and consent to. Danish culture could be different in that the hegemonic ideology influences people to prescribe to an egalitarian viewpoint. Danes are encouraged to be modest and to be concerned about group needs. Egalitarianism can be seen in many aspects in Danish culture that I will discuss in later posts. By examining this one part of Danish culture, an understanding can be made of the whole culture. In Anthropology this is called a part-to-whole approach; studying a single aspect of a culture to make an inference into the inner logic of that culture. I hope to obtain a greater understanding of Danish culture by studying how egalitarianism influences Danish society.


Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation
Work. Electronic document, http://www.workindenmark.dk/Maternity_leave/0/4/0, accessed October 16, 2007.

Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions
Denmark – Language, Culture, Customs, and Etiquette. Electronic document, http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/denmark-country-profile.html, accessed October 16, 2007.

Introduction: My Trip to Denmark

Several years ago, I agreed to go on an exchange trip with my high school to Denmark, a small country located in Northern Europe, bordering Germany. Before this trip I had no perception of what Denmark and the Danish culture were like nor had I studied Denmark in school or met anyone from Denmark. Needless to say I was nervous about putting myself into a situation where I would be surrounded by a culture that I knew nothing about but assumed would be very different from my own. In the fall of 2004, I had an exchange student from a Danish business school stay with my family and then in the spring I traveled with my school group to Denmark and stayed both with my host family and then in a hostel in Copenhagen. During the trip I was completely immersed in Danish culture and was able to observe parts of Danish culture that make it unique. I was able to experience Danish rituals, traditions, social practices, heritage, food, and visual expressions, among other things. What I remember most clearly is how surprised and fascinated I was at how different Danish culture is from American culture despite both being developed Western countries.
By using techniques in anthropology to analyze Danish culture I want to come to a greater understanding of how parts of Danish society influence their culture. More specifically, I want to analyze why Danish society is generally considered egalitarian, and how this aspect reflects and influences Danish culture. I want to examine how egalitarianism affects social values, government, the ways in which people interact, and gender roles in Danish society. By looking at the importance of egalitarianism in Danish society, I hope to get a better understanding of Danish culture as a whole. My methods for analyzing Danish culture include participant observation, unstructured personal interviews with Danes, and researching the facets of Danish culture that I could not observe.