Abstract
This chapter looks at processes that have contributed to accommodating trust networks into public politics. In Scandinavia, this seems to have happened to a great extent, and the chapter explores some aspects of how this has occurred, and why, and examines some of its implications. In comparative terms, popular political mobilization in Scandinavia was quite successful in influencing the state, not only by forcing it to make concessions, but also by integrating forms of trust, horizontal loyalty, and certain values and interests that became important for developing policy—such as individual autonomy and universalism. Trust networks were not simply absorbed by the hierarchical—and partly clientelistic—logic of the state apparatus. The first section of the chapter discusses the nature of organized popular opposition to state power and its implications. In the second section, dealing with contemporary local politics, how oppositional interests form alliances that challenge routine politics of governance is shown.
The following colleagues have contributed with valuable comments to earlier drafts for this chapter: Mary-Bente Bringslid, Synnøve Bendixsen, Jan Eivind Myhre, Christian Lo, and Maja Hojer Bruun. They all helped substantially in improving my argument, and I am very grateful. Also the critical input provided by the participants in the workshop hosted by the Department of Anthropology, University of Bergen, 24–25 November, 2015, “De-Naturalizing Egalitarianism” has been very useful in the process of developing the chapter.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnes, John. 1954. Class and committees in a Norwegian island parish. Human Relations 7 (1): 39–58.
Barth, Fredrik. 1959. Political leadership among Swat Pathans. London: Athlone Press.
Berntsen, Harald. 2014. Det røde fylket. In Telemarks historie, ed. Olav Rovde et al., vol. 3, 197–217. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Brox, Ottar. 1966. Hva skjer i Nord-Norge? En studie i norsk utkantpolitikk. Oslo: Pax.
Christensen, Tom, and Per Lægreid. 2011. New public management: The transformation of ideas and practice. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Dørum, Knut. 2010. Opprør eller legitim politisk praksis? Kommunalisme og folkelige aksjoner i Norge ca. 1700–1850. In Demokratisk teori og historisk praksis. Forutsetninger for folkestyre 1750–1850, ed. Hilde Sandvik, 71–105. Oslo: Spartacus.
Dyrvik, Ståle. 1979. Norsk økonomisk historie 1500–1970. Vol. 1, 1500–1850. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget.
Dyrvik, Ståle, and Ole Feldbæk. 1996. Mellom brødre 1780–1830. In Norges historie, ed. Knut Helle, vol. 7. Oslo: Aschehoug.
Fiskaa, Ingrid. 2012. Lofthusreisinga i Agder og Telemark 1786–87. In Opptøyer i Norge 1750–1850, ed. Knut Dørum and Hilde Sandvik. Oslo: Spartacus.
Fukuyama, Francis. 2011. The origin of political order. From prehuman times to the French revolution. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.
Gluckman, Max. 1955. The peace in the feud. Past and Present 8 (1): 1–14.
Graubard, Stephen R. 1986. Norden: The passion for equality. Oslo: Norwegian University Press.
Grimen, Harald. 2009. Hva er tillit? Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Grytten, Ola. 2013. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism: Entrepreneurship of the Norwegian puritan leader Hans Nielsen Hauge. Review of European Studies 5 (1): 31–44.
Kaspersen, Lars Bo, and Laila Ottesen. 2001. Associationalism for 150 years and still alive and kicking: Some reflections on Danish civil society. Critical Review of International and Political Philosophy 4 (1): 105–130.
Kjeldstadli, Knut. 1994. Et splittet samfunn. In Norges historie, ed. Knut Helle, vol. 10. Oslo: Aschehoug.
Knudsen, Tim. 2000. Indledning. In Den nordiske protestantisme og velfærdsstaten, 7–20. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Knudsen, Tim, and Bo Rothstein. 1994. State building in Scandinavia. Comparative Politics 26 (2): 203–220.
Mydske, Per Kristen. 2011. Book review of New public management: The transformation of ideas and practice, ed. Tom Christensen and Per Lægreid (2011). Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift 27 (4): 253–256.
Njåstad, Magne. 2003. Grenser for makt. Konflikter og konfliktløsning mellom lokalsamfunn øvrighet ca. 1300–1540. Trondheim: Institutt for historie og klassiske fag, NTNU.
Østergård, Uffe. 1992. Europas ansigter. Nationale stater og politiske kulturer i en ny, gammel verden. København: Rosinante.
Østerud, Øyvind. 1978. Peasant politics in Scandinavia. A comparative study of rural response to economic change. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Piattoni, Simona, ed. 2003. Clientelism, interests, and democratic representation. The European experience in historical and comparative perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sejersted, Francis. 2003. Opposisjon og posisjon. Høyres historie 1945–1981. Oslo: Cappelen.
———. 2005. Sosialdemokratiets tidsalder: Norge og Sverige i det 20. århundre. Oslo: Pax.
Skirbekk, Gunnar. 2010. Norsk og moderne. Oslo: Res Publica.
Solheim, Jorun. 2016. Bringing it all back home—familien som generativ kulturell formasjon i det moderne. Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift 27 (1): 7–21.
Sørensen, Øystein, and Bo Stråth, eds. 1997. The cultural construction of Norden. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
Stenius, Henrik. 2010. Nordic associational life in a European and an inter-Nordic perspective. In Nordic associations in a European perspective, ed. Henrik Stenius and Risto Alapuro. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Stråth, Bo. 2005. Union og demokrati—dei sameinte rika Norge-Sverige 1814–1905. Oslo: Pax.
Teigen, Håvard. 2006. Bønder flest er ikkje forretningsmenn? Historisk Tidsskrift 83 (1): 107–120.
Tilly, Charles. 1990. Coercion, capital and European states, A. D. 990–1990. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
———. 2005. Trust and rule. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Titlestad, Torgrim. 2016. Vikingtid: Motstandsrett og folkestyre. Stavanger: Saga Bok.
Trägårdh, Lars, ed. 2007. The “civil society” debate in Sweden: The welfare state challenged. In State and civil society in northern Europe. The Swedish model reconsidered. New York/Oxford: Berghahn Books.
———. 2008. Det civila samhällets karriär som vetenskapligt och politiskt begrepp i Sverige. Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning 49 (4): 575–594.
Vike, Halvard. 1991. Contested signs: Political discourse in a Norwegian industrial community. Universitetet i Oslo, Sosialantropologisk institutt.
———. 1996. Conquering the unreal: Politics and bureaucracy in a Norwegian town. Universitetet i Oslo, Sosialantropologisk institutt.
———. 1997. Reform and resistance. A Norwegian illustration. In Anthropology of policy: Critical perspectives on governance and power, ed. Cris Shore and Susan Wright. London: Routledge.
———. 2012. Varianter av vest-europeiske statsformasjoner—Utkast til en historisk antropologi. Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift 23 (2): 126–142.
———. 2015. Likhetens natur. Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift 25 (1): 7–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vike, H. (2018). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Political Resistance: Notes on the Political Roots of Egalitarianism in Scandinavia. In: Bendixsen, S., Bringslid, M., Vike, H. (eds) Egalitarianism in Scandinavia. Approaches to Social Inequality and Difference. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59791-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59791-1_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59790-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59791-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)