The Construction of Otherness in the Danish Parliament

A comparison of the articulation of Jews and Muslims in the Parliamentary records from 1903-45 and from 1967-2005 respectively

The relationship between religion and politics seems to be undergoing a change in Denmark at the beginning of the 21^st century. Migration has been a main factor behind the religious and political change which is taking place not only in Denmark but throughout Europe. An increasing part of the debates in the Danish parliament is concerned with migrants with other religious adherences. This has put religion on the political agenda. The same process took place in the beginning of the 20^th century when a few thousand Jews migrated from the Russian Empire to Denmark.

   The motivation for this thesis is wonder and speculation about the central position the debate on Islam was subjected to in the late 1990s. In the Danish media problems with integrating people with especially Muslim backgrounds were constantly debated. In most cases the integration of Muslims was articulated as a failure, and the actual reason was portrayed as being due to the Muslims themselves. Islam was seen as the contrast to Danish values par excellence. In the late 1990s the debate was very intense, and sometimes it seemed as if the Muslims who were in Denmark in 2000 and who constituted 3.1 percent of the Danish population, were the country's largest and most important problem. Thus the border between us the ‘Danes' and them the ‘foreigners' was drawn up harshly. This kind of border demarcation between us the ‘Danes' and them the ‘foreigners' is not new.

   Different groups of strangers have been the centre of a more or less harsh articulation at different times in history. It is a process that can be identified in all communities from time to time. Why border demarcation becomes so harsh, however, is a completely different question which is even more difficult to answer. Before the Second World War Jews were subjected to a similar process not only in Denmark, but also in most of Europe. Although Jews have suffered persecution and harsh articulations at various times since Antiquity, the focus of this thesis is chosen with a comparative perspective which could open potentials for interpreting the differences and similarities in the perception of us and them. This could shed new light on the current debate about Islam and Judaism in Denmark. Border demarcation between us and them will be a perspective that is followed throughout the investigation

   The dissertations focuses on the Danish politicians' politicization of Jews and Judaism during 1903-45, and Muslims and Islam during 1967-2005 respectively in the Parliamentary records, and further the shaping of the relations between Jews and Muslims in the Parliamentary records. That is to say how politicians have attempted to construct Danishness and the other(s) in specific ways.

   What the study reveals are the sociological processes in play in the construction of otherness when two religious minorities are the objects of public political debate.

   By contrasting the current political discourse on Muslims with the discourse on Jews in the period leading up to World War II, it is possible to identify underlying general processes.