Article ID: CBB831518679

Degeneration, Protestantism, and Social Democracy: The Case of Alcoholism and “Illiberal” Policies and Practices in Denmark 1900–43 (2019)

unapi

Through a case study of the emergence of rights-infringing “illiberal” policies and practices in the field of Danish alcohol treatment from 1900 to 1943, this article shows how new scientific ideas on “degeneration” as the cause of alcoholism and the use of force in treatment were adapted and promoted by Protestant revivalist groups and Social Democrats alike. The article analyzes how new scientific ideas resonated with the cultural ideals of Danish Social Democracy and the evangelical temperance organization the Blue Cross. The article challenges the established view in the literature that eugenic and similar illiberal practices were the result of a “high modernist” state ethos and “communitarian-organic” thinking on the left. Building on secondary literature and archival sources, it is shown that illiberal policies and practices as well as theories of heredity in the case of Danish alcohol treatment were adopted as the result of common liberal-conservative ideals regarding the value of family shared by Social Democrats and Protestant activists across the civil society and state spheres.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB831518679/

Similar Citations

Article Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik; (2011)
Protestant Responses to Darwinism in Denmark, 1859--1914 (/isis/citation/CBB001230823/)

Article Paiva, Carlos Henrique Assunção; Teixeira, Luiz Antonio; (2014)
Reforma sanitária e a criação do Sistema Único de Saúde: notas sobre contextos e autores (/isis/citation/CBB001420707/)

Book Melissa Diane Armstrong; (2020)
An Ambulance on Safari: The ANC and the Making of a Health Department in Exile (/isis/citation/CBB935246702/)

Article Anne Hagen Berg; Stuart S. Blume; (2020)
Reasonable Grounds? The Delayed Introduction of MMR Vaccine in Denmark and the Netherlands, 1977–87 (/isis/citation/CBB482754558/)

Article Santos, Fernando Sergio Dumas dos; Verani, Ana Carolina; (2010)
Alcoolismo e medicina psiquiátrica no Brasil do início do século XX (/isis/citation/CBB001420497/)

Article Kruse, Paul R.; (2010)
The Danish Pharmaceutical Industry: Preconditions and Establishment (/isis/citation/CBB001000204/)

Book Klassen, Pamela E.; (2011)
Spirits of Protestantism: Medicine, Healing, and Liberal Christianity (/isis/citation/CBB001213120/)

Article Kragh, Helge; (2008)
From Disulfiram to Antabuse: The Invention of a Drug (/isis/citation/CBB000954639/)

Article Stefano Petrungaro; (2019)
The Medical Debate about Prostitution and Venereal Diseases in Yugoslavia (1918–1941) (/isis/citation/CBB653524766/)

Book Starks, Tricia; (2008)
The Body Soviet: Propaganda, Hygiene, and the Revolutionary State (/isis/citation/CBB001230913/)

Authors & Contributors
Berg, Anne Hagen
Armstrong, Melissa Diane
Roth, Cassia
Petrungaro, Stefano
Wood, James Anthony
Verani, Ana Carolina
Concepts
Public health
Medicine and politics
Degeneration
Protestantism
Medicine and society
Alcoholism
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
20th century, late
Places
Denmark
Brazil
Middle and Near East
Yugoslavia
Manchester (England)
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Institutions
African National Congress
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
League of Nations
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment