Denmark 1946–2015: Popular Struggle in an Era of Democracy

Abstract

The nearest post-war years were dominated by conflicts in the labour market, issues concerning conditions of living and reactions to international events, whereas the centre of gravity after 1968 moved to the education system and housing market from where it spread to many other sectors. After a detailed account of the different phases of the youth revolt in 1967--73, Mikkelsen focuses on the most important actors, that is, the student movement, the squatters' movement, the women's movement, the environmental movement, the movement against the European Economic Community, the anti-nuclear movement, the new peace movements, and the mobilization of students and school pupils. But with the scaling-down of East--West antagonism after 1985 and the downfall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the conflict between North and South has become more prominent reinforcing images of ethnic, religious or nationalist conflict. It was a general European and even a world-wide phenomenon that also became visible in Denmark.