Social Policy and Self-Help in Denmark—A Foucauldian Perspective

Abstract

This article focuses on how recognition and general acceptance of self-help groups and self-help organisations in Denmark change over time from 1848 up until today. The development between 1960 and 2000 is given a special focus. The article discusses in a Foucauldian perspective the Danish discourse of self-help in relation to welfare policy, professional intervention, social movements, self-help organizations, and applied social research and illuminates how notions about “help” and “adequate support” for citizens are constantly defined and re-defined as part of a cultural process in the Danish context. The article further discusses how Danish welfare policy is influenced by global changes in discourses in a way that demonstrates the international significance of the “Danish case.”