The MatchPoints Seminar culminated with a lively debate on Danish value politics. The discussion often touched on the current public school debate – and is that really a value debate or just the usual entrenched opinions?

2013.05.29 | Sys Christina Vestergaard

When there is no longer any real difference between left and right in Danish economic policies, value politics end up determining who wins the election and the support of the voters. The political debate on activity lessons in Danish schools is a topical example.

It is not just a question of how many hours we think children should attend school. It is very much a question of values such as the degree of personal freedom and whether we think our children get the best possible quality of life.

But how do we define values for a people, a society? What values are shared and what values separate us? How quickly do they change, and are some of our values actually permanent?

“It’s very difficult to define values. There are hundreds of definitions and some values change more rapidly than others. Some values are political, others relate to the family. They are difficult to handle because they are invisible – they’re simply there – within us,” said Professor Peter Gundelach, University of Copenhagen.

National picnic crisis
The evening’s debate commenced with an interview with the aforementioned Professor Gundelach and Robert D. Putnam – Aarhus University’s new Distinguished Visiting Professor from Harvard – who is an expert on social capital, social coherence and therefore also values and value development in society.

“In the USA, we’re currently having a national picnic crisis. Before, we had a society where people met at picnics, knew others in the local community by their first name and organised family dinners.

The pendulum has swung away from cohesion, social solidarity and fellowship to individualism and individual values,” explained Professor Putnam, who has conducted a comprehensive study of social capital in the USA and has demonstrated through his research the extent of the erosion. This has been described in his bestseller Bowling Alone from 2000, among other works.

All forms of politics involve values
The input of the experts was followed by a debate among the evening’s 11-man panel with Editor-in-Chief Erik Bjerager, Kristeligt Dagblad, as moderator.

It became obvious during the debate that value politics play an important role today.
“Politics always involve values, including policies on the redistribution of income. We can’t discuss an unemployment benefit reform or taxation of the wealthiest in society without talking values,” said Politician and Social Democrat Gry Möger Poulsen.

Features Editor Christoffer Emil Bruun, Politiken, replied that the crisis has created an even stronger focus on value politics.
“As a result of the crisis, our income redistribution policy has acquired a value content. There isn’t enough money to go round, so who should receive which benefits? The discussion about the Danish schools has also become an issue of value politics. When the Government wants to introduce so-called activity lessons, Denmark’s Liberal Party is against it because it interferes with personal freedom,” he said.

Ritualistic tribal dancing with no effect
“On the whole, the school debate is a good example of the strongly differing political perceptions of what is right,” confirmed Klaus Frandsen, General Secretary of the Danish Social Liberal Party.

“However, sometimes – as with this school debate – it’s taken too far and isn’t a value debate at all, but rather a ritualistic tribal dance in which the politicians assume their usual entrenched positions and nothing new comes out of it.”

Author Lene Andersen followed up on that thread.
“That type of debate on its own doesn’t get us anywhere. Our society is a result of what the past wanted us to become. Right now, Denmark needs an overall political vision for what we want with our society, and that debate is very much about our shared values,” she said.