The Perceptions of Multiculturalism and Policymaking in Denmark
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By Maria Imonitie Supervisor: Sune Haugbølle Global Studies Department of Social Science at Roskilde University Master Thesis, Fall Term 2019
Project Title The Perceptions of Multiculturalism and Policymaking in Denmark Project Seminar Global Studies Prepared by (Name/Studentno.) Maria Imonitie / 58319 Name of Supervisor Sune Haugbølle Submission Date 02.01.2020 Number of keystrokes incl. spaces 162.317 Permitted keystrokes incl. spaces 115.200-163.200
2 Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1...... 6
THE UNDERSTANDING OF MULTICULTURALISM IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY...... 6
1.1 PROBLEM AREA AND RESEARCH QUESTION...... 6 1.2 MOTIVATION: WHY MULTICULTURALISM AND PERSONAL STATUS LAW? WHY DENMARK? ...... 7 1.3 DELIMITATIONS...... 8 1.4 OUTLINE OF THIS THESIS PAPER...... 9
CHAPTER 2...... 10
CONTEXT REVOLVING AROUND MULTICULTURALISM AND THE DEBATE TODAY...... 10
2.1 MULTICULTURALISM IN THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD...... 11 2.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY...... 13 2.3 MULTICULTURALISM AND LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES...... 14 2.4 THE DEBATE TODAY...... 16
CHAPTER 3...... 20
THEORETICAL APPROACHES...... 20
3.1. BHUKHI PAREKH’S PERCEPTION OF MULTICULTURALISM AND CRITICAL DISCURSIVE APPROACH...... 21 3.2 ALTERNATIVE PRINCIPLES TO EXPLAIN AND UNDERSTAND MULTICULTURALISM...... 22 3.3 THE TRADE-OFF IN CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND THE WELFARE STATE...... 22
CHAPTER 4...... 25
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH STRATEGY...... 25
4.1 MIXED METHODS APPROACH...... 25 4.2 DATA COLLECTION...... 26 4.3 ROLE AS A RESEARCHER...... 27
CHAPTER 5...... 28
CULTURAL CHALLENGES FOR THE DANISH STATE...... 28
5.1 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND BEING “DANISH”...... 29 5.2 THE NEW WAY OF VIEWING IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP...... 33 5.3 INTEGRATION IN DENMARK...... 36
3 CHAPTER 6...... 40
STATE-LEVEL AND MUNICIPALITY-LEVEL GOVERNANCE...... 40
6.1 THE PERSONAL STATUS LAWS IN DENMARK...... 41 6.2 THE MUNICIPALITIES’ WORK IN CULTURALLY DIVERSE SOCIETIES IN DENMARK...... 47
CHAPTER 7...... 51
A DISCUSSION OF MEDIA’S IMPACT ON THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL DEBATE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY...... 51
7.1 A DISCUSSION OF THE LOGIC BEHIND THE VOTER AND THE SUCCEED OF ANTI-MIGRATION PARTIES...... 51 7.2 A DISCUSSION OF CITIZENSHIP...... 55
CHAPTER 8...... 58
CONCLUSION AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE PROJECT...... 58
8.1 CONCLUSION...... 58 8.2 THE INFLUENCE OF THE PROJECT AND PERSPECTIVES...... 59
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 60
4 Abstract
Today we view the concept of culture as a universal understanding, but research indicates that in different settings, frameworks, and fields of study, the concept is complex. Even more, when some of the politicians throughout Europe argue that multiculturalism is harmful, one must be critical of such claims. This thesis investigates how political rhetoric and public debates about multiculturalism impacts policymaking regarding personal status law. This dissertation takes its departure with a Danish case study that explores Danish law changes from 2014 to 2019 concerning personal status laws. The debate highlighted in the thesis includes both past, and current debate in Denmark and other European countries. Moreover, two different theoretical approaches assisted in answering the research question and in providing a profound answer. The thesis illustrates that if the public debate is negative regarding migration, it ultimately affects laws that can limit or prevent further future migration from occurring. Furthermore, the nature and provisions in the laws can be interpreted to indicate that only certain types of people are welcome in the country. Conclusively, the discourse plays a significant role in influencing how, and when politicians legislate and also influence people’s voting patterns at national elections.
5 Part I. Introduction and setting the context
Chapter 1. The understanding of multiculturalism in contemporary society.
1.1 Problem area and Research question.
Through the recent decades, the world has become more and more interconnected through globalisation, and this is viewed within both the possibility of human movement and also the movement of technology, finances and cultures (Parekh, 2006; Appadurai, 1996). When the world seems to be smaller because of the movements, a result is that different cultures meet and live side- by-side, and this leads to a world with multiple cultures in societies (ibid.). This means that one place has several cultures, and Eriksen (2014) states that this leads to local cultures becoming glocal (a fusion of local and global cultures mixed). This change suggests a threat to the national identity and leads to increase in political parties that attempt to separate certain cultures from each other, more specifically the western culture from the other cultures (Liang, 2007; Polakow-Suransky, 2017). Politics related to culture introduce the political agenda to be a discussion of identity and, that one must have an identity that is either assimilated or differentiated from the general population (Modood, 2013). This type of politics is seen often in Europe, and in the West; in the past, it was right-wing parties aiming to draw up the borders to prevent migration, but now left-wing parties are joining the hostile attitude towards migration.
Furthermore, both ends of the political spectrum attempt to make laws that prevent other cultures from mixing with the ‘Europeanised’ culture (Liang, 2007). In the global sphere, the debate on culture and multiculturalism often comes from the perception of a global south movement towards a global north that leads to communities with mixed cultures. Multiculturalism can be understood as a phenomenon at the civil society level, where multinationalism is a governmental collaboration (Bauböck, 2001), and therefore, it seems that multiculturalism is unavoidable in policymaking because all types of policymaking impact the civil society. Nevertheless, the public discourse of multiculturalism influences the civil society to engage in politically-specific ways in terms of which parties that win at elections. Moreover, the discourse can dominate a specific narrative without any
6 data to support the claims, and this can be problematic for the logic behind political decisions. In contemporary societies, media influences humans in a higher degree than before, and one personal daily encounter do not necessarily dictate human behaviour. Therefore, it is necessary to study the impact of personal, political perception of multiculturalism and how it impacts policymaking. Henceforth, this master thesis investigates the relationship between the perception of multiculturalism, on one side, and policymaking regarding personal status law on the other. This dissertation attempts to fill a gap in the existing research by trying to answer the following working questions:
1) What and who has impacted the perception of multiculturalism in Denmark? 2) How does personal status law law-making impact cultural diversity?
3) How are changes of personal status laws impacting the individual, and the EU, when the perception of multiculturalism is either negative or positive?
The overall research is structured and guided by the following research question:
How is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking regarding personal status law?
1.2 Motivation: Why multiculturalism and personal status law? Why Denmark?
In Denmark, there appears to be a blurred line between the different parties' perceptions in the political sphere regarding migration and the policymaking. It is interesting to note that a small country such as Denmark that highly depends on the international collaboration, from both an economical and security aspect, still seems to be hostile towards other nationalities living within their borders. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, in 2017, encourages all young educators to travel the world and explore the international market, which is, and continually will be our most significant export and import partner, namely the world. At the same time, Inger Støjberg functions as the Integration Minister, who is globally and locally known for strict migration rhetoric. Knowledge of the juxtaposition above (a State minister advising citizens to explore the world while working with an Integration minister that is tough allowing other people to come in) contributes to my interest on how personal perceptions on multiculturalism can impact actual law-making. A personal opinion suggests that law-making should be made on a logical, evidential and rational ground, not on personal views and opinions.
7 Interestingly, on a personal level, the consequences of the strict Danish immigration laws are felt in my household. My non-European husband studied at Roskilde University, at a post-graduate level, on a scholarship from the Danish state and worked full-time for two years after graduation; nevertheless, he was not acknowledged as an asset for the Danish state due to the strict laws regarding 'personal status' and had to leave the country. Being in a system like that encouraged a view into the contradiction of one minister encouraging the youth to be international and at the same time, a minister closing the borders for the same international community. Consequently, I witness a connection between personal perceptions of multiculturalism and law-making relating to personal status laws. This thesis focuses mostly on negative perceptions because we have witnessed more limiting tendencies in policymaking the recent years.
1.3 Delimitations.
This research includes different bodies of literature relating to multiculturalism from scholars like Bhikhu Parekh (2006), Will Kymlicka (2003, 2006), Keith Banting (2006) to debaters and academics like Sune Lægaard (2013), Garbi Smith (2013), Tariq Modood (2013) and Michala Bendixen (2018, 2019). The work of the scholars mentioned above has helped provide an overview of the debate on multiculturalism, and also the complexity in understanding and defining the concept. Nonetheless, this thesis limits its scope to specific laws when researching how different perception of multiculturalism impacts law-making; this was mainly due to the realization that the Danish legislation formulation includes many aspects of law-making and impacts the development of diverse cultures in society. For example, when the Danish government makes, e.g. a financial law, then smaller policies have significant impacts on minority groups in Denmark. As the procedure of legislation is difficult to separate, this research, therefore, chose to focus on the laws that are publicly known and more specifically directed to limit plurality of cultures. When this research began, it became evident that migration plays a significant role in causing several cultures to meet, but this has not been included in a full extent in the thesis. To elaborate, this work touches upon the question of migration, but not what type of migration nor the exact data on it. It does include the relevant data relating to migration, but only on the surface level, such as integration agreements, refugee agreements, and laws of family reunification, study or work. In addition to this, this research notes different historical remarks that impact the Danish attitude towards migration and the meeting of several cultures, but it does not go in-depth with the importance
8 of some historical facts like 9/11, the war in Syria, the collapse of Libya, the Balkan wars or other surrounding circumstances that impacted the Danish legislation. Overall, this thesis relates to specific legislations in the Danish system, and it focuses on the discourse on non-western migration. Even though this research includes several works of literature, it is essential to acknowledge that this analysis is not representative for all legislation in western societies, nor that personal and political perception impact all legislation in Denmark. Instead, this study argues that the patterns we see in the ruling government, and the media’s important role in law-making regarding personal status law in Denmark.
1.4 Outline of this thesis paper.
This dissertation dissects into three parts. The first part presents the context around the relevance of the research and offers an overview of the theoretical approaches, methodological choices and research strategy. The second part of the paper is the analysis with two analytical chapters and one discussing the results. This part focuses on the public debate mainly in Denmark, and also the position of the Danish politicians compared to other European countries. Also, it illustrates the visible connection between the public debate, Danish politician’s opinions and legislation. The study proceeds to discuss some of the consequences that this development in anti-immigration tendencies can have on the civil society in Denmark with a limited perspective section to Europe. It all cultivates in the third part, which is a conclusion and a discussion on how this thesis relates to other components in society today, and an introduction to further research.
9 Chapter 2. Context revolving around multiculturalism and the debate today.
Several focal points in history have drawn people to be optimistic and positive towards each other, and the merge of different cultures was welcomed (Modood, 2013). This positive and optimistic vibe changed when people, later on, saw the clear difference between cultures, e.g. blacks moving to Britain and living in predominantly white communities (Modood, 2013). Tariq Modood, a scholar who examines multiculturalism in the United Kingdom (UK) states that this ultimately led to a shift in the view of culture in the UK and brought about the phenomenon of multiculturalism. Throughout history, the term “multicultural/ism” has been adopted by many countries to illustrate their tolerance towards marginalised groups, and at the same time been utilised by political parties to distance themselves from culturally diverse societies. Jan Pakulski, a Polish professor in Sociology, argues that there has been a confusion of what multiculturalism means. As a result, the critique of the phenomenon does not solely stress out problems that are related to multiculturalism. He insists instead that it is problems that connect with the failure of assimilation (Pakulski, 2014) and, this is critical in the current debate revolving around multiculturalism. Some argue that multiculturalism is an ideology and would promote for societies with diverse cultures and identities (ibid). Along these lines, multiculturalism has unfolded itself as being one of the vital qualities of modern liberal ideology, and simply put; is a socio-demographic and socio-cultural diversity (ibid., p. 25). The confusion related to the concept stems from the different understandings of multiculturalism; if it is an ideology, it is a descriptive concept or politics related to cultural diversity. This chapter sheds light on some of the main arguments in the literature of multiculturalism and points to the context regarding the global debate about multiculturalism. In respect of the vast amount of available literature on the topic, this chapter has a very concise and selective presentation of the literature that is relevant for the thesis and scholars mentioned several times in different aspects. Furthermore, this chapter consists of two different settings: the first relates to the theoretical debate and the latter to the public debate. These two branches are included to illustrate how multiculturalism as public debate and a theoretical phenomenon exist.
10
2.1 Multiculturalism in the interdisciplinary field.
‘Multiculturalism’ originates from the concept of culture which has various definitions and understandings depending on the scholar and context surrounding its utilisation among other factors. The concept also appears in several fields of research including philosophy, anthropology, political science, sociology and social science. Therefore, it is utilised differently, both theoretically, methodologically, and the definitions vary.
In this research, three different fields (philosophy, anthropology and political science) are chosen to shortly give an overview to understand how different the phenomenon can be understood and utilised. The field of philosophy works and takes departure in the understanding of the basis of human beings (Parekh, 2006; Vivas, 1940; Stevenson, 1938). The initial belief is that human beings consist of two components that separates them from animals, and they are moral and rational (Stevenson, 1938). The moral component is the vital segment in this regard because it describes how humans behave in a social context and what is expected of them. Furthermore, culture has not always had the meaning it has today, hence, the perception of multiculturalism. The concept of culture was used concerning art and literature, and one mastering this would be “a cultured man” (Stevenson, 1938, p. 331). The philosophical aspect focuses more on the individual’s character rather than their surroundings and does not take into account other civilisations. Philosophers view empiricism as vital because it is the knowledge that derives from personal experiences, but this can also lead to inconsistency in understanding the moral aspect. The moral is often applicable in social classes, but not concerning other civilisations (Vivas, 1940). Philosopher Charles Leslie Stevenson states that “there are hundreds of words which, like “culture“, have both a vague conceptual meaning and a rich, emotive meaning. The conceptual meaning of them all is subject to constant redefinition. The words are prizes which each man seeks to bestow on the qualities of his own choice” (Stevenson, 1938, p. 333). The field of philosophy seems to have a rather conservative view of culture and multiculturalism and focuses on the individual and does not take different circumstances into account.
The anthropological field includes much more of the social setting around the question proposed, it focuses on the individual but for the purpose to generalise and gather information about the surroundings as well (Winter, 2004, p. 117). The cultural anthropology is similar to psychology and
11 sociology but is instead interdisciplinary research of social science and humanities combined (Rasmussen, 2012). Furthermore, that “… cultural anthropology … focuses most intently on contemporary (living) human cultural and social beliefs, knowledge, and practices through in-depth study of a single cultural setting, as well as comparative cross-cultural studies” (ibid., p. 97). The research of a cultural anthropologist is conducted through ethnographic fieldwork, but also with high cultural realism, which means that the researcher is aware of the bias that exists from the researcher’s cultural values (ibid.). Even though cultural anthropology analyses cultural beliefs or behaviour in society, it is, more recently, also utilised to analyse the political issues that illustrate cultural differences in society, e.g. minorities’ rights, such as indigenous people’s rights (ibid.). An issue that occurs in the research of cultural anthropology is the understanding of human beings’ differences and similarities on a universal level. It often results in a distinction between the “… “folk” at home and from so-called “primitive” peoples abroad, for purposes of classification” (Rasmussen, 2012, p. 97). The way of separating different cultures from each other indicates that in cultural anthropology, the interest of the researcher is the cultural differences in order to make universal distinctions. However, the researcher also includes more than merely individual behaviour, which differs from philosophy.
The field of political science suggests that there is less reflexivity of the researcher’s role compared to, e.g. anthropology, but is more similar to, e.g. economics (Stade, 2005). Ronald Stade, a Swedish anthropologist who works in the field of political science, states that many of the traditional schools in political science do not view culture as an essential factor “behind the scene” (Stade, 2005, p. 281-282). He points to the importance of culture throughout history, which influences our contemporary societies (ibid.). The theorist behind political science began their research with a comparison of political systems in five different democracies and concluded that the United States and Britain are the countries with the most developed and balanced political culture (ibid., p. 286). The way they did research was more about different systems instead of processes and cases, which is different from cultural anthropology or philosophy. The research of political science departs in the work that is “… supposed to mediate between the macro-level of nationality defined culture and the micro-level of individual action” (Stade, 2005, p. 286). Political cultural scientists focus on both the social trust one witness in the social behaviour in a country as well as the civil communities’ participation (ibid., p. 288)
12 The three fields I have highlighted indicates differences in the concept of culture. In philosophy, it is more conservative and bounded as a way to describe human beings, later changed to merely describing different civilisations. In cultural anthropology, the surroundings and environment play an essential role on the general culture, and lastly that in political science culture determines the level of political engagement, so it is both surroundings combine with the civil society.
While some scholars agree that multiculturalism in politics supports the minority groups in societies, these same scholars seem to have a hard time defining a minority when they refer to it (Pakulski, 2014; Colombo, 2015; Kymlicka, 2003). It is unsure if they refer to the minority of the native population that has come to be a minority due to colonialization (indigenous people), or if it is the minority group of peculiar sexual preferences, or more popularly, the minority of different ethnicity groups. Investigating multiculturalism reveals that is it more than just about cultural diversity. This difficulty of specifying the minority group indicates that it is about identity and a sense of belonging of the individual. Thus, through globalisation (Eriksen, 2014), one can have a feeling of belonging in one place and be geographically located elsewhere. Space and time do not seem to be of the same importance as it once was. Instead, it is a world shrinking that leaves room for the debate of identity in a globalised world (Eriksen, 2014; Harvey 1990). This also means that it is possible to be a part of a culture that is not located around oneself. However, it can be reached through media that, today, have a significant influence on spreading different cultures around the world. This is a change that is visible today, and in the following section, the importance of history to understand the theoretical aspect of culture is outlined.
2.2 The importance of history.
As illustrated in the section above, culture as singular varies in the understanding and definition, which makes multiculturalism as a concept difficult to fully grasp. Culture is, generally, said to be a portrayal of the everyday life of a given civilisation, one can find its root in norms, values, traditions, language, geographical location and can be expressed through various elements, such as art, music, behaviour and food (Hall, Slack, and Grossberg, 1983; Lionnet, Françoise and Shu-mei Shih, 2011; Said, 1979). In this matter, culture is defined as something one can visualise and as a result, be aware of the differences between ‘yours’ and ‘mine’. Also, at the same time is argued to be liquid which means that it will change depending on circumstantial influences like the geographical location and whom one might be around (Lionnet, Françoise and Shu-mei Shih, 2011; Latour, 1993).
13 Along with this argument is that culture can travel, it is not set in stone, and one’s culture can change through movement and change of environment (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1944; Eriksen, 2014; Thomassen, 2012). Furthermore, the belief that culture is something that can change depending on the physical location, roots and the environment also indicates that it is a concept that is difficult to claim what it is. Thus, throughout history, the perception of culture has been built on stereotypes and is discursively constructed (Said, 1979). As a result, today’s dispute about culture often arises from biased opinions orbiting around the different cultures. In the literature, different scholars investigate multiculturalism within one society or country, and this impacts the results of their findings, as each country has different historical backgrounds for their population today. It can, therefore, be challenging to apply the same idea of cultural diversity in the US, on Europe, in Australia, in India, and so forth. Tariq Modood and Bhuki Parekh are two essential scholars in the topic of multiculturalism, although their focal points are in the UK (Modood, 2013). History is a crucial factor when attempting to understand cultural diversity and how that exists in societies around the world today. Modood (2013) works on multiculturalism in the UK and considers their history of being a colonial empire. In this regard, it seems inevitable that the country consists of more than one culture. In the western societies, the challenges of history can either be to change the legacy of colonialism or to find a way to change the view of the guest worker to become a citizen of that specific country (Modood, 2013, p. 3). The former seems to be a development that the governments did not see coming because they thought that once the so-called guest workers (mostly) from Turkey were done with working on the, e.g. factories or oil platforms, they would return (Modood, 2013; Polakow-Suransky, 2017; Danmarks Radio, 2018).
2.3 Multiculturalism and liberal democracies.
In the research of multiculturalism, several scholars indicate that societies with multiple cultures are unavoidable in liberal democracies because liberalism endorses individuality and encourages all agents in societies to embrace their individuality as motivation to be active in the general population (Modood, 2013; Parekh, 2006; Kymlicka, 2003). Furthermore, diversity in societies stems from additional elements other than individuality, as globalisation has made mobility more accessible and therefore resulting in a mix of cultures (Modood, 2013; Parekh, 2006; Pakulski, 2014). In Europe, multiculturalism as a phenomenon is political due to immigration and is often negatively referring to a specific group in society (Modood, 2013). This negative narrative is mostly a result of the radical right parties that perceive high immigration, ultimately leading to a global clash between different
14 cultures (Liang, 2007). Besides, most of the non-whites living in Europe are Muslims, and since September 11 2001, this group has been under high surveillance in the public sphere and politically (Modood, 2013; Pakulski, 2014; Goodin, 2006). Also, they have become subject of the representation of multiculturalism by right-wing politicians’ narrative.
Multiculturalism primarily originates from liberal democracy according to several authors on the topic. Therefore, the debate of having a multicultural society is often viewed as being about the western world. Will Kymlicka argues in his book, “Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minorities”, that along with more migration, there is added focus on the national-state and nationalism. This leads politicians to focus on the “… ‘politics of difference’” and this difference is “… a threat to liberal democracy” (Kymlicka, 2003, p. 5). Also, he agrees that multiculturalism is a concept that arises from the principle of liberal democracies which leaves room for individuality. It is this same individuality that is at stake when attempting to make policies to minimise multiculturalism (Kymlicka, 2003). In line with this, Modood (2013) agrees that multiculturalism (different cultures living side-by-side) is possible and rises from liberal democracies. However, at the same time, it challenges the same liberal democracy. He asserts that it exists as “the matrix of principles, institutions and political norms that are central to contemporary liberal democracies; but multiculturalism is… also a challenge to some of these norms, institutions and principles” (Modood, 2013, p. 7). This argument is supported by Kymlicka, that even goes as far as stating that if liberal democracy is to survive, it is necessary to include and focus on minority rights in multicultural societies. Robert E. Goodin, a professor of government, philosophy and social and political theory, concurs, and further desires to have liberal multiculturalism separated into two; the protective multiculturalism, and polyglot multiculturalism, which in a sense represents two more significant agents of multiculturalism in a liberal democracy. The protective multiculturalism represents the protection of the minority against domination and suppression by the majority in society, while the polyglot multiculturalism views the individual as the key actor in the discussion of liberal multiculturalism. He further argues that these two different views on multiculturalism have an enormous impact on the liberal multicultural policies, one might end up with when practising one or the other (Goodin, 2006). Goodin (2006) argues that culture is necessary for liberal democracies to help the agents in civil society to be active and is central for liberal values. In line with this, Kymlicka (2003) argues that the diversity which comes from having different cultures and finding answers to satisfy all agents in civil
15 society politically is one of the most significant challenges that democracies are facing today. It is the same diversity that Parekh argues that results in culturally diverse societies, which leads to questions of identity within societies. Modood (2013) states that multiculturalism is a form of integration, as it leaves room for equal citizenship, and he believes that multiculturalism will “exists as a policy idea qualifying citizenship and informing actual policies as well as relations in civil society” (Modood, 2013, p. 15). In the literature on multiculturalism, the debates about how to examine the phenomenon depend on if it is a political doctrine, a philosophy, a theory or something else. The scholars that have been mentioned in this review, all agree that multiculturalism as a concept has arrived to stay, that it is nearly impossible to find a society today that is not multicultural. Although they have different opinions on how to investigate multiculturalism, they all agree that it is more complicated than solely being about nationality and ethnicity, but it is, according to Parekh and Kymlicka, all minority groups in society that impact a country to be multicultural (Parekh, 2006; Kymlicka, 2003). One can also observe how populist parties utilise the concept to make political statements about the ‘otherness’, especially in Europe (Liang, 2007; Lesińska, 2014). Conclusively, the scholars accept multiculturalism; they all interpret how states are reacting differently to the concept and how this will influence the perception of multiculturalism. Kymlicka (2003) argues that multiculturalism will arise in terms of how the liberal democracy allows it to, where Modood (2013) argues that it is a fundamental feature of the same liberal democracy and Parekh (2006) argues that it is impossible to avoid in today’s societies with liberal democracies that embraces the individuality.
In respect of the different literature viewpoints on multiculturalism, this section highlights some of the most relevant current discussions orbiting multiculturalism with a focus on their relevance for this research. The focus on this section is the theoretical aspect along with different literature on the understanding of multiculturalism. In the following section, the research includes how the public debate appears globally and in Denmark.
2.4 The debate today.
In 2014 Europe experienced an influx of refugees primarily due to the war in Syria, this seemed overwhelming for the nation-states, and not long after some mainstream politicians began to utilise multiculturalism as a portrayal of the ‘foreigners’ negatively (Lesińska, 2014). Even more, many politicians would make a connection between the refugees and migrants with so-called ‘welfare parasites’ and would then demand changes in their domestic policies especially targeting these groups
16 and becoming less open-minded (ibid.). The argument is that there should not be a total acceptance of different cultures, but rather the focus should be on ‘integrating’ (assimilation) the migrants and refugees living in these nations with their new society (ibid.; Lentin and Titley, 2012). In Poland a hostile attitude towards migrants is visible, and the politicians argue that they “do not want terrorists in their country”, and they are following the wish of the population (Leszczyński, 2015). They have a hostile attitude even though Poland received a small amount of the new refugees in 2015. Concerning this, the council of the EU requested Poland to accept more refugees as a gesture and sign of solidarity to the other member-states (ibid.). The discourse Polish politicians utilise is not unique in the debate regarding migration in Europe. In Hungary, an ally to Poland, the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán announced that Europe’s migrations policy is an attempt to destroy Europe (Cienski, 2016). In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, from the ‘Freedom Party’ claims that Moroccans are scum and that the Netherland should be for the native population, and that a vote for his party, is a vote to make the Netherlands great again (McKie, 2017). In Denmark, Rasmus Paludan Chairman of the party, Stram Kurs, states that, if elected, he suggests deporting all Muslims (Ertmann, 2019). Christina Liang, professor in International Security, research and work on European political discourse, and finds that the mainstream parties and especially the radical right-wing parties are utilising the cultural differences from the influx as a showcase to make more stringent policies related to migration (Liang, 2014). They are consequently contributing to the political discourse about migrants and other cultures in a negative light. Before 2014, the political discourse of pro or anti-migration could be separated in two, the right and the left. However, the debate about the ‘crisis’ that Europe is facing due to cultural diversity, has become a political attraction, and the bureaucrats use it as a central argument with lack of evidence to support this view (Lentin and Titley, 2012; Bach, 2019). Lesińska (2014) argues that Europe has always been culturally diverse and embraced the diversity of ethnicities in the societies, but current events (the high influx of migrants) have changed this openness and now scepticism is dominating the mainstream political parties. This is evident when the Social Democrats in Denmark take a stand that is more anti-migration than it has previously been (Larsen, 2017). Moreover, in Germany, the Christian Democratic Party, formerly led by Angela Merkel who has legislated pro-migration, have changed character following the ascension of their new leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbaur who takes over officially in 2021 (Connor, 2019). The mundane of culturally diverse societies in Europe is a test through the new political strategies of being less tolerant of migration and the liberal labour
17 market that requires free mobility between the countries (Lesińska, 2014). The debate also tests the countries’ ability to provide full equality for minority groups and to give full access to liberal democracy (Colombo, 2015), which leads to the question of assimilation; if the inclusion demands full assimilation to the society one lives in or if it leaves room for cultural diversity to exist. Thus, the development in Europe is towards a more anti-migrant tendency, an initiative by the Australian government diminishes the inequality of all minority groups (Pakulski, 2014), and it indicates that cultural diversity is utilised politically, both positively and negatively. In the public debate, other non-political actors appear to influence the discourse regarding migration and cultural diversity. An example is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author and debater who often debates the cultural differences and the prejudices she experiences (Adichie, 2009). In a TED talk she addresses the issue of a single story, which often is the case with politicians (ibid.). She argues that people are capable of understanding the reality they are presented with and that people tend only to understand that (ibid.) She further argues that the single story is the reproduction of the hostile attitude towards migrations and that in America, migrants quickly became synonymous with Mexicans because of the media coverage (ibid.). Another public figure is Taiye Selasi, another author who argues that one should not ask where she is from, but instead where she is local (Selasi, 2014). She further points to the issue of nationality, in the matter that nationalism is a concept, and humans cannot be a concept (ibid.). She argues that since people are capable of travelling, we will all eventually be mixed and therefore, it makes no sense to ask questions of geographical locations, but instead of the personal belongings and connections to a place (ibid.). In Denmark, a public activist of cultural diversity, is comedian, Mazen, who on his Facebook page comments on political discourse and often with a hint of humour to it (Facebook.com, n.d.). He, as a civil citizen and activist, brings some humour and nuance to the political debate (ibid.). In this sense, it appears that the public debate has political parties on one side, and the civil debaters on the other. Thus, this research illustrates more political stands in the Danish debate in chapter six.
To sum up, this context chapter sheds light on the theoretical discussion of multiculturalism and the public debate. The former illustrates that the scholars agree that multiculturalism as a concept exists in all societies today and entail cultural diversity. Nonetheless, the concept is difficult to specify due to the interdisciplinary field in which it appears. Therefore, this thesis makes several distinctions on how to use the term. First, when it refers to multiculturalism, is it the concept of cultural diversity.
18 Inspiration is taken from Parekh, who argues that multiculturalism can exist with smaller communities of a different ethnicity than the local (Parekh, 2006). In the public debate, on the other hand, it is evident that the majority of political parties appear to equate cultural diversity with migration. Therefore, in the analysis of the public debate in Denmark, this study includes this stand as the narrative. It is because the political initiatives to minimise multiculturalism in the sense of cultural plurality emerges and develops through lawmaking against migration. To this end, multiculturalism in public today distinguish between ‘us’ and ‘them’ through ethnicity and religious differences, with no consideration that another culture can exist as a sub- culture to the national one. For example, it can be feministic minority groups as well as ethnic groups. Finally, this chapter provides a foundation for further research in terms of theoretical approaches, which includes two different components. Due to the complexity and interdisciplinary nature concerning the understanding of multiculturalism, the analysis begins by using Parekh’s view of multiculturalism in combination with a critical discourse approach. In the second part, this study focuses on the legislation in Denmark while including Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka’s idea of an exchange between cultural diversity and the existence of the welfare state. Lastly, the dissertation discusses the development of anti-migrant parties through the findings from chapter five and six. These three components are all relevant and necessary to answer how the perception of multiculturalism affects policymaking in Denmark.
19 Chapter 3. Theoretical Approaches.
The previous chapter highlights the context and relevance of this thesis. Even after reviewing several scholars and debaters the understanding of multiculturalism as a definition for diverse cultures still varies. In this matter, it is necessary to highlight different aspects of the debate to give a profound answer to the research question at hand, which is "How is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking regarding personal status law?".
Overall, theories exist for the researcher to view and investigate phenomena through a specific lens (Egholm, 2014), which supports the researcher with tools to propose new questions to the phenomenon investigated. Theories assist in providing broader meanings of the subject investigated, and they will be utilised in order to explain something and in many cases to generalise (ibid.). The levels of theories are categorised into three, the meta-theories, general-theories and specific-theories, which all are useful in different contexts, but generally "a theory should help us to answer empirical, conceptual and/or practical problems" (Egholm, 2014, p. 13). Concerning this, this research employs a deductive reasoning approach in the matter by first asking the question, and afterwards using a theory to help answer it. The deductive approach sees that the research first focuses on a general phenomenon, in this case, multiculturalism, to then state something more specific (the case study of Denmark). Thus, this work is not an attempt to create a new theory nor question the theories; instead, it utilises the theories to explain how the perception of multiculturalism locally and globally impacts the law-making in Denmark. On the other hand, the data collection has an inductive approach being that the relevant data was collected at the time of analysis formation. The analysis is therefore data- driven, and afterwards, the data is interpreted through the lens of the theoretical considerations in order to answer the research question. The chapter above illustrates how multiculturalism is complex and interdisciplinary; therefore, it is challenging to utilise solely one, universal theory to explain the concept and its appearance in society. The following chapter utilises Bhukhi Parekh's perception of multiculturalism to analyse the global and local debate and discourse revolving around multiculturalism. The second theory utilised is developed by Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka, and it focuses on policymaking and whether or not a country can make laws to either embrace or reject multiculturalism.
20 3.1. Bhukhi Parekh’s perception of multiculturalism and critical discursive approach.
Bhukhi Parekh focuses on rethinking multiculturalism. He categorises the concept into three components, 1) cultural community with people that share, e.g. the same sexual preferences, 2) sub- cultures that want to change the current situation and 3) cultures that are located outside their normative territory and now are living as smaller communities (Parekh, 2006). This research takes inspiration from these categories but mainly focuses on the last one, as this is most relevant for the thesis and in order to answer the research question. Moreover, this thesis uses the understanding of culture as presented by Parekh, who argues that cultures are inevitable, as they exist in any country and society (ibid.). He does not see culture as a philosophical theory nor a political strategy tool, but rather as "a perspective on human life" (Parekh, 2006 p. 336). His view is adopted in this thesis to understand the global and local debate regarding multiculturalism. Parekh's point of view arises from two schools of thought: monism and pluralism, where the former view humans very conservatively while the latter acknowledges other cultures, but not for them to mix (Parekh, 2006). Parekh seeks inspiration from these two schools to understand the perspective of culture and multiculturalism in societies today (ibid.). Parekh points to monism and pluralism as two schools that attempt to give a coherent answer to theorise multiculturalism, but without recognising one another (Parekh, 2006). Monists believe that humans stem from the same biological nature, and therefore, everyone will be the same (ibid., p. 17-18). The perspective of culture only occurs in the sense of hierarchy, and it is developed through inspiration from the Ancient Greek (Parekh, 2006). Also adding that the human desire is to reach the ultimate level of divinity. Within monism, there are also Christian and Liberal thoughts, which place themselves in a dominant position compared to other civilisations (Parekh, 2006, p. 23; 46). This view is especially interesting in this thesis due to the case study of Denmark, and its position as a liberal and Christian country.
The pluralist, on the other hand, acknowledges other cultures but has difficulties in explaining and understanding the differences between the various civilisations. As a result of this difficulty the cultures are divided based on religion or geographical location, hence that European cultures is the same but differ from, e.g. African cultures (Parekh, 2006, p. 59-63). The pluralist recognises that cultures differ, but is based on norms, values, traditions, language and art (Parekh, 2006). Furthermore, that humans are a result of their surroundings, so they behave in the manner that is expected and being outside their comfort zone their behaviour can change (Parekh, 2006, p. 68). An interesting point of pluralism is that the dominant culture is expected to lead and guide other
21 civilisations even if this means to assimilate other cultures (Parekh, 2006, p. 72). This view is appealing for this research because the debate about multiculturalism touches upon integration and assimilation which is illustrated in the first part of the analysis.
3.2 Alternative principles to explain and understand multiculturalism.
Parekh believes that monism and pluralism provide points of departure to understand and examine culture, and especially multiculturalism. However, he finds the two domains separated to be inadequate to provide a fulfilling answer to the existence of multiculturalism in contemporary societies (Parekh, 2006). Parekh breaks down the dichotomy of these two schools in order to bring a fulfilling idea of how to view multiculturalism in societies and within politics (ibid.). He states that political theory often mentions multiculturalism but fails to bring a profound answer and theory to investigate such societies (Parekh, 2006, p. 9-11). Parekh provides a perspective that is utilised to question and contest the view of multiculturalism in Denmark. With this, the empirical issue of this thesis is the relationship between the perception of diverse cultures and policymaking. Parekh states that culture exists for humans to seek and understand the meaning in the world they are in and states that "… a moral life is necessarily embedded in and cannot be isolated from the wider culture. A way of life cannot, therefore, be judged good or bad" (Parekh, 2006, p. 47). Therefore, it is interesting to investigate what the consequences might be when politicians aspire to vanish multiculturalism in societies. In the literature on multiculturalism, the dominating scholars all agreed upon the fact that the concept cannot be explained through one universal theory. Hence, it is necessary to implement several theoretical approaches to answer the research questions. As a result of this, this essay includes Parekh's conceptualising of multiculturalism for the first part of the analysis and Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka's theory of trade-offs in the second part, and it cultivates into a discussion of the findings.
3.3 The trade-off in cultural diversity and the Welfare state.
Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka attempt to contest the critiques of multiculturalism (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006). The general arguments are based on how multiculturalism (as cultural diversity) might erode the welfare state and if a country has a high amount of cultural diversity it is difficult to gain national solidarity and trust (ibid., p. 3-4).
22 Banting and Kymlicka (2006) state two hypotheses to test the arguments mentioned above and to measure if a state is multicultural through the policymaking. These two are: 'heterogeneity/redistribution trade-off' and 'recognition/redistribution trade-off', where the former refers to the argument that too much cultural diversity impact the national solidarity, and the latter refers to the recognition of the different ethnic groups resulting in the welfare state to erosion due to the difficulties in sustaining the economic redistribution (ibid., p. 4-5). Their work revolves around the question of whether a multicultural welfare state can exist or if the hypotheses mentioned above are correct (ibid.). This thesis utilises these two different trade-offs to analyse the policies and laws that the Danish government has implemented, especially since 2014 to either be for or against cultural diversity. This study works from the hypothesis that a country can either implement multicultural or anti-multicultural laws and from Banting and Kymlicka's trade-offs I can analyse why Denmark might have the urge to implement some of the personal status laws it has since 2014. Banting and Kymlicka point out that a change of hostility occurs. In the past, it often was the right-wing, but today the left-wing has joined due to the concern of the distribution and maintenance of the welfare state (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006, p. 5). Their theory of trade-offs is based on the idea that when multicultural policies are made it is on the cost of the welfare state (ibid.), this view is highly relevant for the second part of the analysis, as this is one of the many arguments why politicians in Denmark make strict personal status laws.
The trade-offs theory by Banting and Kymlicka is in this thesis implemented solely regarding policymaking in Denmark related to personal status laws. The thesis focuses on the personal status laws because it is an intriguing aspect of the debate on cultural diversity. Also, the trade-off hypotheses involve the idea of exchange if a state acknowledges multicultural tendencies (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006, p. 11). The theory of trade-offs contests the arguments for implementing laws that focus on eliminating cultural diversity, and that is why they are relevant for this thesis. After the analysis of policymaking and the specific laws, this study discusses the results and consequences of this attitude towards multiculturalism and discuss if it 'is worth it'. This part is more of a discussion to view how Denmark, and its' attitude towards migration through personal status laws, have consequences for other European countries. It also discusses how anti-migrant parties can develop and succeed in different countries.
23 To sum up, two theoretical approaches are utilised throughout the analysis. In order to reach a more profound answer to the research question, those two theoretical approaches are utilised. Also, since there is not a single general theory on the subject. This mainly prevails in the subject that the analysis includes three different aspects revolving around the concept of multiculturalism. The different aspect comes across of analysing the debate, the perspective of policymaking and lastly, a discussion of the consequences of the former two.
24 Chapter 4. Methodology and research strategy.
The philosophy of science indicates the importance of the methodological point of departure in research mainly because the answers one reaches during research is determined by the researcher’s standpoint (Egholm, 2014). Dilthey divided science into two, natural and human, where the human science focuses on the understanding instead of explaining, and therefore the epistemology and ontology differs (ibid., p. 20). In line with this, Jürgen Habermas added social science to this division, and characterise it “by its interest in human collectives and institutional conditions” (ibid., p. 23). This thesis attempts to understand the causal relationship between the perception of cultural diversity in society and policymaking regarding personal status law in Denmark. It applies Habermas’ interpretation of social science’s epistemology as being more critical instead of generalising (ibid.). In line with this, Dilthey points out that when investigating human science, it is not possible to bring complete and universal research; instead, it should be tailored to the specific area of interest (ibid.). Throughout this research on the topic, this study acknowledges this point, because the history, social status, governmental impacts, democracy/non-democracy and other circumstances influence the perception of cultural diversity in societies. Consequently, this thesis does not attempt to make a general conclusion from the research; instead, it highlights how and what impacts public views and opinions can have on policymaking within Denmark, the case study.
4.1 Mixed Methods approach.
In this thesis, I attempt to explain the relationship between the perception of multiculturalism and policymaking, which makes the research explanatory (Olsen & Pedersen, 2008). This type of research requires specific data, such as document analysis, statistics and surveys, to achieve a detailed answer to the research question at hand (ibid.). This dissertation employs both qualitative and quantitative data and utilises it to shed light on discursive knowledge and to compare the discoveries to the phenomenon examined (ibid.). The first part of the analysis goes in detail with the public debate about multiculturalism and migration, and here this research critically views the discourse and rhetoric utilised. The reason to be critical towards the discourse is that chapter seven discusses the impact rhetoric and information have on people and their rationale. Moreover, this work highlights some of
25 the most relevant politicians in terms of their use of rhetoric and discourse relating to migration and diverse cultures.
4.2 Data collection.
This research employs data triangulation which means data gathering from multiple sources to view the same question or phenomenon. The reasoning behind this data gathering technique is to ensure a higher validity of the research results (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011). In order to ensure the validity of the research, this study acknowledges the process it is, and that the analysis must consist of several sources and data to bring convincing arguments to explain the relationship between the perception of multiculturalism and policymaking with the focus on personal status laws (ibid.). The quantitative data collection focuses on statistics on cultural diversity in Denmark, law changes of residency permits relating to family reunification, study or work within the past five years and public polls regarding the perception of multiculturalism. The quantitative data is utilised comparatively to qualitative data collection. The qualitative data collection aims to shed light on the social reality of policymaking and perceptions of multiculturalism. This data stems from statements by different politicians both locally and globally regarding cultural diversity, specific law changes regarding personal status, and from academic work by several scholars in the field. Public statements from politicians are chosen based on their relevance for the thesis, which means that if a politician has opinions that are relevant for the thesis, they will be included. Nevertheless, both sides of the argument are included to give nuance to the thesis. In this matter, the study also includes past and present statements from the same political parties, to discuss and analyse the change of rhetoric and political stands. The guideline to choose relevant politicians or public debaters has the departure of relevance and nuance. This thesis uses a substantial diversity of politicians, debaters, scholars and civil actors to illustrate the complexity and to discuss in detail the impact perceptions can have on law-making. The same goes for the articles and statements used in the analysis; they have to be relevant and from different providers. Furthermore, the secondary data used in the analysis focuses on ‘multiculturalism’ and the debate around the concept, both to demonstrate different views on multiculturalism, and also to create a profound understanding of the concept. The primary data used is articles, political statements, and changes in the law, which all are strictly related to the specific topic and question in this thesis.
26 4.3 Role as a researcher.
Although there is increased research on multiculturalism, especially in Western societies, it turns out that the research is limited to either a question of where (and if) multiculturalism exists or related to identity. This work attempts to bring two different objects into play, namely the perspective of cultural diversity and policymaking. The philosophy of science indicates two key fundamentals when researching a topic, the epistemology and ontology, where the former indicates the way knowledge is produced and reproduced, and the latter represent the perspective the researcher has on the topic (Egholm, 2014). The ontology of this research is social constructivist, and this means that everything in this world exists dependently of each other (ibid.). The social constructivist assumes that all objects and relationships can only be studied along with the researchers own contribution to that reality, and this also means that as a social constructivist the focus is on how the objects studies are created and perceived. In this master thesis, the author’s role as a researcher is not objective; instead, it is clear that the subject of the study cannot be separated from the academic interpretation. This approach implies that as a researcher the author is not objective to the observed, which makes this thesis stronger, in the sense that this connection is useful for the research (Egholm, 2014 p. 29). Even more, as mentioned in the first chapter, a motivation to engage in this research also stems from a personal experience of being married to a non-European man. Therefore, the study work towards an investigation of the issue that it finds relevant, namely, that politicians’ perception of multiculturalism and how it impacts general law-making in Denmark. A personal experience of the consequences of these law changes contributes to the interest to go in-depth with this question. Consequently, as this research will not be wholly value-free and objective, it includes both academic literature and previous research on the topic to provide a profound answer to the research question.
To sum up, this chapter highlights the importance of the theoretical and research framework. It explains the choices made in order to provide a profound answer to the research question, but also how it limits the research. Moreover, the author’s position as a researcher is social constructivist and is critical towards the discourse utilised by politicians or other public agents. The three theoretical approaches are all interlinked and of equal importance to answer the research question.
27 Part II. Analysis of the Danish and global debate regarding cultural diversity
Chapter 5. Cultural challenges for the Danish state.
In the debate surrounding multiculturalism in Denmark, the politicians often refer to migration as being the source, which to some degree makes sense, as migration entails people moving across borders, hence becoming a source of cultural diversity (Lægaard, 2013). Thus, it can influence public opinion in specific ways if one understands cultural diversity to be solely caused by migration. Therefore, this research analyses the public discourse regarding migration and cultural diversity in Denmark. It is done by interpreting Parekh’s perception of the concept of multiculturalism, and how he argues that societies today experience cultural diversity. Sune Lægaard, a professor in political philosophy, argues that it makes a difference if a government decides to focus on the issue of cultural diversity as being due to migration or to internal diversity (Lægaard. 2013, p. 174). In this matter, this work includes politicians’ public statements and critically analyse their rhetoric and use of specific words. The research question posed is “how is the global and local debate of multiculturalism impacting personal status law in Denmark?” which leads me to the first working question of “what and who has impacted the perception of multiculturalism in Denmark?”. This question is addressed in the following chapter by the assistance of Parekh’s perception of multiculturalism and by a critical discursive analysis. Parekh states that a multicultural state is not unique per se, but the history of such is unique (Parekh, 2006). Therefore, this work includes both current and past public perceptions of multiculturalism in Denmark. Parekh states that “the term ‘multicultural’ refers to the fact of cultural diversity, the term ‘multiculturalism’ to a normative response to that fact” (Parekh, 2006, p. 6). This chapter goes in-depth with the positions that shape the contemporary debate on multiculturalism in Denmark. The different views lead to the more specific, internal debate in Denmark regarding Christianity, identity and integration. This helps to answer the overall research question of how the global and local debate about multiculturalism impact personal status law in Denmark. Eventually, these different positions provide the foundation of the analysis to go further into detail with the specific law and policymaking regarding personal status laws in chapter six.
28 5.1 The Lutheran Church and being “Danish”.
In Denmark, there exist people who publicly are for and against the rise of cultural diversity in the country. The rhetoric regarding this matter has, to some extent, been linear, but with a few ups and downs. In the public debate, politicians are often quick to have an opinion, especially when it comes to whom to blame for the cultural diversity in society (Lægaard, 2013). In the debate in Denmark, cultural diversity often equals or at least is quickly referred to migration, hence why many debates around cultural diversity end up being about migration policies (ibid.). Historically, there has been a rollercoaster of opinions about migration and multiculturalism. Shortly after the Second World War people tended to be more positive towards different minorities as the scars and memory of the war were still very new (Modood, 2013). Furthermore, in Denmark, the industrial development demanded more workforce and the politicians started to look outside the border to pull more labour. In this matter, mainly Turkish, Pakistani and Yugoslavian citizens came to Denmark in the 1960s to work (Sørensen & Hvidkjær, 2016; Schmidt, 2013). Thus, without the politicians’ expectations that when the work finished and the need for them was not urgent, they would stay in Denmark and apply for family reunification (Polakow-Suransky, 2017; Lægaard, 2013; Sørensen & Hvidkjær, 2016). Nevertheless, already in the 1970s refugees from Vietnam and Chile arrive, and the first steps towards stricter political agenda towards migration began (Sørensen & Hvidkjær. 2016). At the beginning of the debate regarding cultural diversity, in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, the leading voices against migration were Søren Krarup, a Danish priest, later Pia Kjærsgaard from the Danish People’s Party (translated from Dansk Folkeparti) and on the other side of the table ‘Danish Refugee Aid’ (translated from Dansk Flygtning Hjælp), with Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen in lead (Danmarks Radio, 2018). Especially Søren Krarup became an important and influential actor in the debate. He made an article stating that all help for refugees would equal to help terrorists (ibid.). This use of the word terrorist is not unusual in the debate today, as we see in Hungary, Poland and in the Netherlands, the politicians often refer to migrants from Muslim countries as terrorists (Leszczyński, 2015; Cienski, 2016; McKie, 2017). In the years after 9/11, a reference to terrorism creates fear in the public sphere, and people tend to distance themselves from anything that might cause a threat. Krarup, furthermore, pointed to the law that allowed refugees that sought asylum to get permission to stay in Denmark, and he called it: “… an invitation for the Danish people’s extinction” (Danmarks Radio, 2018, 0:22). To follow Parekh’s view, one culture only exists on the premises of meeting other cultures, and precisely that the demand for universal laws that allows refugees asylum is an
29 acknowledgement of multiculturalism (Parekh, 2006, p. 8). Furthermore, if a public character such as Krarup compares international work towards the safety of all people to the extinction, this is solely to create fear of the ‘other’ in the Danish population. However, in order to be able to distinguish between ‘us’ and ‘them’, Parekh has a valid point of stating that cultures exist on the premise of other cultures being present. Therefore, when Krarup utilises this rhetoric, it harms the development of international collaboration, and he chooses these words to impact the population in the direction of hostility towards other cultures. Furthermore, Parekh argues that many countries attempt to vanish the idea of them being multicultural but are still interested in international collaboration which is two contradicting positions (ibid., p. 6). He further states that: “… contemporary multicultural societies are integrally bound up with the immensely complex process of economic and cultural globalisation” (Parekh, 2006, p. 8) and the Danish companies that invited workers up to work for them would agree. They took advantage of the possibilities that follow globalisation. Krarup’s critique of the Danish political sphere originates in the idea that people coming from remote areas can come to Denmark and become equal to Danish citizens (Holm, 2016). His views and opinions depart from a Christian view, and he says: “it is an extension of Lutheran Christianity and of Grundtvig’s speech about what it would say to be Danish” (Holm, 2016). By making a connection between Christianity and being Danish, he illustrates exactly which group of refugees or migrants, he does not wish to be in Denmark. In line with this, he further argues that people with Muslim backgrounds cannot be unified to the Danish society, and therefore, cannot be Danish, which is, according, to the professor, Hans Morten Haugen, a wrong connection to make (Haugen, 2011). Haugen (2011) states that in the Danish debate about multicultural tendencies, it often bound in the idea of a Muslim and a Dane, instead of a Muslim and Christian, or nationality and a Dane (ibid.). The focus has, in this sense, changed from being about culture to being about religious belief. According to Parekh (2006), the debate about religion should be separated from the political sphere, simply because religion is a personal matter and political decisions are a public matter (Parekh, 2006, p. 321). In Haugen’s journal, “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark and the Multicultural Challenges”, he illustrates that the general belief regarding the question if other cultures can enrich the local culture, the answer is low in Denmark (Haugen, 2011, p. 478). Thus, a survey made in 2007 by Steen Marqvard Rasmussen illustrates that the general view of Danish priests is that they welcome other cultures and people with different faiths. Instead, they worry more about secularism and mixed religions (Marqvard, 2007). It seems as if Krarup has a strong personal opinion, which is supported by the Danish People’s Party but might not necessarily be supported by the general Christian community in Denmark. In line with this, the
30 discourse around other cultures in Denmark with other religious beliefs has made a clear line between Christianity and Islam as two opposites with no common ground of the fact that they both believe in God’s creation (Haugen, 2011, p. 482). When the majority of the Danish population answer in a survey that they do not believe other cultures can enrich the local culture, it is evident that something must influence this view. In areas where a large part of the residents is mixed, the answer would change, and this is illustrated more in-depth in chapter seven.
In the initial creation of the Danish People’s Party, Pia Kjærsgaard (the former Chairman of the party) socialised and shared opinions with Søren Krarup (Danmarks Radio, 2018). These social activities resulted in future collaboration, where Krarup, in the beginning, did not want to go into politics, but later joined the party (ibid.). At that time, the attitude of Krarup shaped their political agenda, but even in recent times, their campaigning has positioned around the fact that being Danish means being Christian. This distinction and importance of religion were evident in their campaign in 2018 when they made a poster, saying “Drop your scarf and sign up for Denmark” (translated from Smid Tørklædet og meld dig ind i Danmark) (Bruun-Hansen, 2018). This way of rhetoric draws the line between Danes and Muslims; it is directed towards Muslim women who wear a scarf but not to other cultural and religious minorities existing in Denmark (ibid.). Furthermore, the Danish People’s Party indicates that if women wear a scarf, they choose not to be an active part of Denmark. This signal misguiding. Through the perception of Parekh, it is possible to have a public and private culture, where the former refers to actions and behaviour under the norm in the country. Therefore, instead of focusing on the behaviour, the Danish People’s Party focuses on the appearance, and make a clear distinction between those without and those with a scarf. This impact the public view when they see a woman wearing a scarf. Parekh states that in the view of secularism, one must keep the religion out of political decisions and the political debate (Parekh, 2006). This separation merely comes out of the distinction between the idea of a religious belief which contradicts with the logic of political agendas (ibid). Thus, this seems to be oddly tricky in, especially, democracies, that are often built on religious beliefs that connect the majority of society (ibid., p. 323). In today’s western societies it is clear that the religious belief somewhat has a more ‘important’ role than before, as public agents now have to be very open of their religious belief in the sense of ‘which’ side they are on (ibid.). This argument is evident when one investigates the political discourse of, e.g. Paludan (Stramkurs.dk, 2019). Paludan argues that Muslims are not able to integrate and everyone who supports them, is in his view, are traitors of the country (Stramkurs.dk, 2019). The
31 word ‘traitor’ causes the Danish citizen to react to his or her feeling of nationalism. Paludan utilises a word that is associated with the identity of one, and it is critical because he put himself in a position to state if people are traitors of the nation-state. Another example is New Liberal’s (translated from Ny Borgerlige) Chairman, Pernille Vermund arguing that migration can happen, as long as it does not come from Muslim countries (Vermund, 2019). This impacts the perception of other cultures because a politician in Denmark has some level of authority and can impact law-making. Hence, if she, as an authority, hints that Muslims are migrants the Danish population do not wish to have, she can limit that when she is elected. Furthermore, both Vermund and Paludan seem to include religion in their political agenda, even if this might not be relevant nor be favourable for the further development of Denmark (Parekh, 2006).
The role of the church in Denmark and its response to an internal crisis is not clear in the Christian community. In 2009 a church at Nørrebro housed 29 asylum seekers that received a denial on their asylum (Rasmussen, 2009) and it created a gap between the priests in Denmark. On one side, the argument is that the church should not interfere on its own beyond the laws in the state. On the other side, the argument is that the church should be critical of the state’s decisions, and should, first and foremost, be Christian (which in this context mean to look after each other) (Tiedemann, 2009). In the matter that politicians decide to involve the church to their political agenda implies that the church is used to attempt to persuade the Danish people and force them to take a stand with the church in an inhumane way (Haugen, 2011, p. 488). The case in 2009 at Nørrebro is not unique globally, this tendency of the church acting and helping people in need also happens in Sweden and Germany (Winther, 2015; Asyl in der Kirche, 2019). In all three cases, it happens after the representative governments have made stricter laws against migration. The move by the church is not done out of political activity but merely out of reason to help out (ibid.: Tiedemann, 2009). Thus, it might seem like a genuine gesture; this reaction creates confusion of the role of the church in the political agenda (Aallmann and Bramming, 2009). Two Danish priests, Thomas Ø. Aallmann and Torben Bramming further argue that the public church should take a stand on its the role in society, and it is between the ‘Christian’ responsibility and obeying to the legislation in Denmark (ibid.). In France, it is visible that the government attempt to take the religion out of the public matter by legislating against all kind of religious symbols in public. Denmark attempted to follow this but failed in the sense that the legislation pointed to one specific group in society, instead of including all religious symbols (Terkelsen, 2016).
32 Both Parekh (2006) and Krarup (Holm, 2016) argues that the church should stay entirely out of political positions, yet Krarup further argues that it is a question of Christianity and being Danish. It opens for the debate about identity created by public debates, opinions, and how the civil society reacts to this. In the following section, this study analyses why identity is essential when having more than one culture in a state.
5.2 The new way of viewing identity and citizenship.
In a country that has several layers of culture, it can be challenging to clarify the exact identity in which one must have to ‘fit’. Parekh (2006) argues that today the debate about culture often refers to ethnicity and not the other cultural differences that might appear in societies. Furthermore, the discourses of the politicians that aim to limit cultural diversity make clear distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them’. This distinction comes across to be relating to religious belief, instead of other sub- cultures that also exists in society. These differences could be, e.g. a feministic organisation attempting to change the current situation in a country, or it could be the sub-cultures, e.g. lesbian and gay communities (Parekh, 2006, p. 8). In terms of identity, Stuart Hall points to the feeling of belonging, which often arrives with a level of consensus among the agents of the communities (Du Gay & Hall, 2011) and this argument supports Parekh’s separation of the diversity of cultures in society. He separates the different cultures by who ‘belongs’ to which culture, and this, in his view, is what causes multiculturalism (Parekh, 2006), and communities based on ethnicities are just one option. Benedict Anderson states that concerning culture and the understanding of such, one must understand that the categories to describe different communities are all imagined and created by humans (Anderson, 2006). This view leads to the question of who creates communities, and how it interferes with our understanding of the nation-state and who belongs in that. In line with this, she argues that the communities that we feel belonging to and where our cultural roots are is simply an imaginary state of mind (Anderson, 2006). She continues that it is impossible to know all 5.4 million Danes, and therefore, our understanding of what it means to be Danish is created by the social context (ibid.). This creation emphasises the importance of media, and it supports Parekh’s argument that “human beings are culturally embedded in the sense that they grow up and live in a culturally structured world … and place considerable value on their cultural identity” (Parekh, 2006, p. 336). Stuart Hall (2011) supports Parekh’s postulation by stating that agents in civil society can view the group they belong to and the groups from which they differ. This distinction highlights the importance of identity
33 when investigating multiculturalism. It is not solely the creation of ‘you’ and ‘me’, but it is the entire circle around life for the individual that determines the space for multiculturalism in society. Halime Oguz, a Danish politician from the Socialistic People’s Party (translated from Socialistisk Folkeparti), argues that it is easier to figure out one’s identity when living in communities of one ethnicity; however, it becomes difficult when placed in a country of a different ethnicity (Danmarks Radio, 2019). She argues that when growing up, it was ‘dangerous’ to play with children solely from Turkey, as she experienced that specific cultural codes were difficult to understand once she had to enter the labour market in Denmark (ibid.). This argument Parekh agrees with, and he states that one understands the culture that they grow up in (Parekh, 2006). To follow this, if multiple cultures exist in society, it creates confusion regarding what one’s identity is when growing up. Moreover, Danish politicians cannot decide what the Danish identity is. It is even more evident, when Danish politicians, such as Oguz argues that she grew up in one culture that differs from the one the politicians argue is Danish. Furthermore, Hall states that identity can develop through time and place, and this exists in societies where there are multicultural groups as it gives access for the “natural closure of solidarity” (Du Gay & Hall, 2011). To follow Hall, Parekh and Oguz’s view of identity and how it develops, one must conclude that the social settings are significant for the self-reflection and identification. At the same time, Zahra Pedersen, a Danish woman with roots in Morocco, states how difficult it is to live in a country and be ‘trapped’ between two cultures (Prakash, 2019). Pedersen states that she continually has to defend her identity or has to tell people that she does not account for all Muslims and at the same time, she feels that she is never entirely accepted as Danish (ibid.).
As a result of the presence of different identities in society, the local identity feels threatened (Eriksen, 2014), and this is one of the impacts that come with globalisation. Because of this, many political parties throughout Europe are less open-minded about fostering the existence of multicultural societies and also enacting more anti-immigrant policies (Lesińska, 2014; Eriksen, 2014). Liang stresses that in European societies, there has been a rise of right-wing parties (Liang, 2007). They utilise, to a high degree, populistic statements as their political campaign that often discriminate against other cultures, which leads her to a concept called “ethno-pluralism” (ibid.). She argues that this concept rests on the idea that more than one ethnicity can exist but should exist side by side and not be mixed, as that would result in an “ethno-suicide” (ibid. p. 7). Parekh (2006) states that an individual can live in a society culturally different from one’s own and still be able to integrate.
34 Liang argues that after the Cold War, the radical right parties developed a principle based on ethnocultural pluralism that focuses on strict beliefs of society, citizenship, and democracy and that this has its foundation in a culturally and ethnically homogenous communities (ibid.). Ethno-pluralists further argue that “if each ethnic identity were to develop its own separate political space, cooperation and harmony among different ethnicities would be assured.” (Liang, 2007, p. 7). This belief has resulted in some radical right parties, from seven countries meeting up to discuss what they view as the right way for Europe. Furthermore, to express a globalised nationalistic 8-point agenda, where point 6, for example, calls for “A pro-natalist family policy, which aims at the promotion of larger numbers of children of the European ethnic communities within the traditional family” (Liang, 2007, p. 14). The points are all related to the understanding of having an ethno- pluralist society without mixing the different cultures or ethnicities through marriages or family expansions. This way of controlling civil society goes, in a high degree, against the liberal democratic ideal which the radical right parties are arguing to be of primary interest. They argue that the European Union is too supra-national and anti-democratic when the union attempts to make treaties that involve all member states. They argue that the EU’s method of exerting ‘control’ on other member states are anti-democratic, which, ironically, is what they wish to do. In this matter, it seems like Europe belongs to a particular group of people, and they can dictate the mix of ethnicities. In Denmark, the discourse in this sense often refers to people with a different ethnicity other than Danish, with no regards that it might be descendants. This point is crucial, as Pedersen states that appearance plays a significant role when approached by others, even though one is born and raised in Denmark (Prakash, 2019). This way of dividing people into boxes and terms such as, ‘native Dane’, ‘other-ethnic-Dane’, ‘descendant’, ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ seem to be acceptable with no recognition of the separation of communities it creates. In the political discourse in Denmark, we witness the urge to present the ‘new’ idea of parallel communities, which, strictly put, means the community between the Danish population and the rest (Regeringen, 2018). The identity of being Danish no longer depends on having a Danish passport or being born and raised in Denmark, but instead, it is about appearance and is in a high degree caused by the discourse by politicians and media. Parekh states that it is naïve when governments attempt to diminish the fact that more than one culture, one ethnicity or community reside in their country (Parekh, 2006). He, further, states that through our demand for universal rights (e.g. human rights) or international collaboration (e.g. against climate change), it must conclude that the societies within state borders are culturally diverse (Parekh, 2006). Moreover, in the political debate, the groups from both sides tend
35 to talk past each other, mainly because they want to define the term ‘multicultural’ themselves, rather than finding common ground and understanding and then departing from that view (Parekh, 2006, p. 304). To sum up, this section gave an analysis and overview of the struggle to find an identity in a society that is culturally diverse but does not acknowledge that. This part is included because chapter six analyses the aspect of law-making and citizenship, which is relevant to the debate about identity. Furthermore, because the political discourse and positions affect the perceptions of multiculturalism in a sense, that people tend to look at the appearance of people to determine their identity. In the debate about multicultural society in Denmark, it often tends to be about the consequences of having a culturally diverse country, and that those with a different culture cannot seem to fit in. Concerning this, the next section analyses integration and what that entails in Denmark and at a broader scale.
5.3 Integration in Denmark.
In a country, the state creates a political structure which interacts with cultural diversity (Parekh, 2006). This political structure appears as either interacting too little or too much, and both scenarios are critical of the development of the country and the ability to have cultural diversity (Parekh, 2006, p. 205). In Denmark, integration seems to be one of the most frequently asked questions if it succeeds or fails. However, what does integration mean in reality, and who determines this? This section looks into the discourse of integration posed by Danish politicians to answer the overall research question: “How is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking relating to personal status law?”
In Cambridge Dictionary the word ‘integrate’ is “to mix with and join society or a group of people, often changing to suit their way of life, habits and customs” or “to combine two or more things in order to be more effective” (Dictionary.cambridge.org, n.d.). This definition illustrates the shared view of civic assimilationist. Thus, the word assimilation describes a situation where it expects that those who enter Denmark should attempt to ‘be Danish’ and eliminate other cultural habits. It is unclear precisely what the expectation to the migrants is when asked to be Danish, as the argument of ‘Danishness’ changes, and not even the politicians seem to agree on what ‘to be Danish’ means (Arendt, 2018; Knuth, 2017; Jakobsen, 2014 & Hussain, 2017). Consequently, many in the debate agree that one must adopt the Danish norms and values and behave according to these. The perspective of Parekh argues against this assumption or argumentation (Parekh, 2006); he instead
36 argues that one can act accordingly to society and still culturally differ. The top three Danish values are freedom, equality and tolerance, but this seems to be irrelevant when it comes to other cultures (Christensen & Løbner, 2011). It appears that the debate mainly focuses on Muslim migrants and no other ethnicities or religious migrants. Nevertheless, what happens when the Muslim integrate? Or is this even possible?
In 2011 Søren Pind from Venstre (Liberal Party) became Minister of Integration, and he argues that people should no longer integrate; instead, they should assimilate (Hjortdal, 2011; Christensen & Løbner, 2011). Parekh’s perspective on multiculturalism suggests that more than one culture can exist in society, he further argues that it is not an issue of the individual assimilating in public and staying loyal to a different culture in private (Parekh, 2006). Psychologist, Maria Christensen states that Pind’s demand for assimilation and that all migrants should be like Danes or stay away is “disrespectful and not realistic” (Christensen & Løbner, 2011). It is highly problematic that a Minister wants to change the entire point of his ministry, but it is not the first time this demand for assimilation occurs in the debate. In 2016 Pia Kjærsgaard also wanted assimilation (Poulsen, 2016) and stated a Mosque in Denmark is not Danish, and when asking an Iman about his wife, he says that she is Danish, and Kjærsgaard interrupts to ask: “but is she Muslim?” (Poulsen, 2016). However, even this can be difficult to live up to, when Kjærsgaard argues that neither girls nor women should wear scarfs in public (Jakobsen, 2014). Adam El-Matari, a 20-year old high school student, express in the debate of being Danish, that he has been called “the Paki that is more Danish than the Danes” (translated from Perkeren der er mere dansk end danskerne) (Bech, 2019b). This accusation comes along with him eating a hotdog, and the expectation is that someone with Muslim parents does not eat pork. Suddenly, it appears to be a matter for the public to comment on how people behave at home. Even if, El-Matari seems to have ‘integrated’ well and adopted the Danish norms, people still appear to have the urge to point out to what degree he is Danish. In this sense, it appears that Parekh’s view on how states can behave lack the inclusion of the local communities’ response. However, it is not merely the public’s reaction to him; it also shows in the statistics, as he is not registered to be Danish (ibid.). He is born and raised in the Danish city, Vejle, but in the statistics, he is documented as a descendant and not as a Dane (ibid.). He comes from an area in Vejle where a large amount of the children are descendants, and he agrees that it, to an extent, can be problematic, but that the solution is not to demand assimilation nor to separate people more (ibid.). The experience of confrontation with the appearance rather than the feeling of being Danish is not unique. Mateen Malik
37 Hussain (Hussain, 2017) also experiences this hostile attitude from others due to his Pakistani look, even though he is Danish citizen with a Danish passport and also has a Danish education (ibid.). However, the state of Denmark has developed this belief and opinion that to be Danish one must look a certain way, which is impacted by the Danish People’s Party (Jakobsen, 2014; Poulsen, 2016) and Søren Krarup (Holm, 2016), but before them Mogens Glistrup (Glistrup, 1999). In the Danish, Christian Magazine, ‘Tidehverv’, it states that Muslims are not able to integrate and that it is due to their cultural differences (Haugen, 2011, p. 491). Parekh argues differently and states that it is possible to assimilate with the culture one lives in and still maintain a different cultural and religious belief (Parekh, 2006; Modood, 2013). Ali Bayate, whose father is a Syrian guest-worker, has experienced this typical, prejudice of the ‘Muslim stereotyp’ that the media and politicians create when his name is Ali (Bech, 2019a). He states that his mother-in-law feared that her daughter would now have to wear a scarf because she found a man named Ali (ibid.). This fear is an example of the power the media and loud voices have, such as Glistrup, Krarup, Kjærsgaard and Paludan who spend much time to illustrate the differences between Danes and Muslims (Glistrup, 1999; Danmarks Radio, 2018; Jakobsen, 2014; Stramkurs.dk, 2019). The debate about Muslims and Danes often separates the political spectrum in two, the right and the left-wing. Nevertheless, today, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen from the Social Democrats has joined the hostile attitude towards non-western migrants (Information, 2018). Frederiksen states that the most substantial challenge Denmark faces today is the migration from non- western countries. It is an argument that the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supports, he states that the influx of refugees in 2014 was an ‘invasion of Muslims’ (Goździak, 2019). Besides, she argues that they have difficulties integrating. As a result, there should be a limit to the allowance of how many that enter the country (Information, 2018). This argument leads to the next chapter of the analysis, which analyses the different law proposal and policymaking that is relevant for the personal status law in Denmark.
To sum up, this chapter illustrated some of the most relevant debates when analysing the public debate about multiculturalism. It shows that often the debate revolves around ideological beliefs rather than the fact that people are Danish or not. It illustrates the voices in the Danish debate, often concluding that multiculturalism is about Muslims instead of being about different cultures existing in Danish society. Further, people born and raised in Denmark are categorised not as Danes due to their names or their parents’ origin. This categorisation creates a particular division in society and a feeling of
38 identity. The last section of the chapter looks into the discussion of integration and what that means. It is clear that throughout history, the liberal parties often claim that people from non-western countries cannot integrate and that there is no evidence that this is true. It is a very simplified view of reality.
39 Chapter 6. State-level and Municipality-level governance.
Since 2014 there have been 54 law proposals regarding personal status laws in the Ministry of Migration and Integration (translated from Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet) (Folketinget, 2019). Beside these law proposals, the new Finance Law in 2019 (translated from Finansloven 2019) included several pages with a focus on migration and integration, which is a new tendency compared to previous finance laws that primarily focuses on business models, taxes and other aspects of the financial sector (Finansministeriet, 2019). The previous chapter analysed the debate regarding three elements: the argument of religion, the issue of identity and lastly, the aspect of integration. This chapter examines how the perception and debate impact law-making in Denmark regarding family reunification and personal status law relating to work or study. Furthermore, this section draws on the theoretical approach by Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka, (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006), which differs from the theoretical approach utilised in chapter five. Moreover, the methods in this chapter is a triangulation of the data, which means that the section uses the quantitative data from statistics and changes in personal status laws, to compare with the discourse discovered in the previous chapter. Banting and Kymlicka (2006) provide two trade-offs with a focus on multicultural policies. The first is heterogeneity/redistribution trade-off and the second, recognition/redistribution trade-off (ibid., p. 3-4). The former argues that it is problematic to ensure national solidarity and trust across different ethnic/racial lines. If a vast cultural diversity exists in society, it affects the welfare state negatively (ibid.). The latter argues that if a state begins to recognise other cultures or ethnic groups in society, this undermines the trust of national economic redistribution (ibid.). This chapter reviews different, chosen policies or laws concerning personal status law to test their hypothesis based on the argument for implementing these policies. Furthermore, this section analyses the differences between state-level legislation and municipality- level commitment. The last part of the analysis includes the aspect of citizenship to discuss how these law implementations impact the feeling of citizenship, and how integration is difficult in a society where the political structure ensures a distant relationship between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Additionally, this chapter aims to answer the second work question, which is “how does law-making of personal status law impact cultural diversity?”.
40 6.1 The Personal Status Laws in Denmark.
In Denmark, there are several laws regarding personal status. This master thesis focuses on a select few that are most relevant, and also those the public debate/discusses the most. To ensure a common ground for the following analysis and discussion of these laws and changes concerning them, table 1.1 illustrates the selected permits, the requirements for them, and that the number of people who have received the different permits in 2014 and 2018. These are based on ‘family reunification’ through marriage between a Danish citizen and non-western citizen, ‘study’ at the university level and the ‘working permit’ is based on regular jobs (excluding, e.g. PhD and agricultural jobs). Moreover, it is worth mentioning that this section bases the numbers and requirements in the analysis with no consideration of any particular exceptions. It is not bearing in mind things such as diseases, children or other elements that might conflict with the ‘general’ requirements under ‘normal’ circumstances. With these analytical limitations, this section does not include the statistics concerning refugees or other EU-citizens, because these are under different settings and sets of requirements.
Personal status Requirements (by 2019) Permits Permits laws in 2014 in 2018 Family Have at least 4 out of 6 requirements. 1.079 761 Reunification Both: through marriage • Have a verified marriage • Be above 24-years old • Be active in the integration and language requirements The Danish Citizen: • Have a place to stay, should be at least 20 square metre per person • The house must not be in areas listed on the ‘ghetto’-list • Have to be self-providing – received public support the past three years conflicts with this • Give financial guarantee of 102.000 DKK
41 • Not be convicted of physical abuse against a partner • Have passed Danish Language test, level 3 • Have had full-time job for at least 5 years • Have been studying for at least 6 years
The partner: • Visited Denmark at least 1 time • Passed Danish Language Test A1 or English B2 • Had full-time job (average of 30 hours per week) at least 3 out of the last 5 years • Passed an education of at least 1-year duration • IF the partner gets it, he/she has to pass the Danish language test within the first 6 months after receiving the permit. Study • Have to be accepted 3.984 3.921 • Have to have certain language skills • Have to be self-providing • The study has to be full-time • The institution has to be acknowledged by the Danish government.
Job • Yearly salary of 426.985,06 DKK 11.741 12.020 • A contract of at least 30 hours • Money for holiday is not counted in • Holiday without salary cannot be included • A job on the positive list (a list the Danish government publish with needed labour at the present time)
Table 1.1.: Data from NyiDanmark.dk1 and Danmarks Statistik 2
1 Ny i Danmark, 2019a,b +c 2 Statistikbanken.dk, 2019
42 Table 1.1 helpfully illustrates some of the requirements that the Danish government has set in their attempt to prevent an increase of migration to Denmark. Banting and Kymlicka (2006) argues that a state’s approach towards multiculturalism impacts policymaking. Chapter five illustrates that the public debate emphasised more on the disadvantages of culturally diverse societies than the advantages. One of the many debates centres on refugees and the international collaboration between the European countries of shared commitment. Inger Støjberg, the previous Udlændinge- og Integrations Minister, became internationally known for having some of the strictest asylum laws in Europe and by celebrating these with cakes (Pasha-Robinson, 2017). Furthermore, Støjberg was one of the minds behind stricter requirements for family reunification, and she states that she is happy that it pulled through, so those who want to contribute to society when they arrive can come (W, 2018). This initiative of stricter rules is an example of policymaking to prevent migration, and this contributes to the recognition/redistribution trade-off. Simply because Støjberg argues that letting migrants arrive in Denmark, it should only be on the promise that they contribute positively to the welfare state (W, 2018; Banting & Kymlicka, 2006). Besides, Banting and Kymlicka argue that if a state believes that acknowledgement of minority groups in society erodes the welfare state, then the state legislates to prevent these minority communities from existing (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006). They argue that the recognition/redistribution trade-off hypothesis faces a severe issue in the future if governments attempt to ignore the fact that more and more societies will become culturally diverse (ibid., p. 4). This development is also evident when looking at Table 1.1, and that through labour, people with non-western backgrounds seek to Denmark, and in the case of education, there has been a slight decrease. However, it is so little that it can hardly be said to have anything significant to do with the populistic statements in Denmark. The statement of Støjberg and Paludan of migrants who want to contribute to Denmark are ‘good’ migrants is often seen in the debate and when states implement anti-multicultural policies (W, 2018; Paludan, 2019; Banting & Kymlicka, 2006, p. 9). One of the arguments of the recognition/redistribution trade-off is that if it recognises and acknowledges ethnic diversity in a society, the economic redistribution harms the ‘native’ citizens (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006). The politicians adopt this perspective in their argumentation, and further argue that migrants are a threat to the Danish welfare (Sloth, 2011). They base their argument on migrants’ high level of unemployment (Sloth, 2011; Dansk Folkeparti, 2019), moreover, when looking at the Danish
43 People’s Party’s website, it states that “Denmark has accepted enough migrants throughout the years. So, we need to accept less and get more out” (Dansk Folkeparti, 2019). Nevertheless, it is not just the Danish People’s Party that resists acceptance of migrants. The Social Democrat, Henrik Saas Larsen argues that due to the collaboration with the EU, the allowance of migrants has been too high (Larsen, 2017). He even claims that the Danish citizens demand stricter rules, and the Social Democrats obey this demand. Also, he argues that the problem of migration occurs with the belief of a humanistic utopia where international collaboration allows free mobility (ibid.). A counterargument is from Andreas Steenberg, from the Radical Left (translated from Radikale Venstre), who argues that the strict Danish legislation leaves the Danish citizens with no possibility to be with their non-European spouses (Hansen, 2018). The Radical Left even attempted to change the requirement of the financial security of 102.000 DKK (Nielsen, 2019). Even the data shows that Denmark has not experienced more migration; instead, the migration from non-western countries have decreased by almost 50% since 2014 (see table below). However, the media still portrays the non-western migrants as the most significant issues and implies that it is still necessary to have strict rules to prevent this migration (Udlænding- og Integrationsministeriet, 2019).
Table 1.2.: Source: Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet, 2019, p. 113
3 I use the data from the report of the Ministry, and they have it from Statistikbanken i Danmarks Statistik
44 This table also supports Bach (2019), in his statement that the media is calling the influx of 2015 a crisis, and indicates that it is still a crisis today, but the data shows that it has decreased by more than 50%. Moreover, it was a result of war, not a regular migration that occurred in 2015, which is also evident from the table above.
Typically, the division of political opinions regarding migration is between the left and right, but in the past years the Social Democratic Party has become hostile towards migration, and the Radical Left, which is a liberal party is pro-migration. Steenberg argues that the Danish state must recognise its citizens and provide better possibilities for family reunification (Hansen, 2018).
Banting and Kymlicka argue that parties or governments which oppose multicultural policies do not state that they want to be more homogenous, but instead, they cover it up by making it difficult for foreign cultures to arrive and develop (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006, p. 9). This cover-up is evident with both the Danish People’s Party that want to limit the accessibility through stricter requirements, and then the Social Democrats agree with these proposals (Sloth, 2011; Larsen, 2017). Consequently, Pia Kjærsgaard publicly states that in order to be Danish, Muslim women should drop their scarf and that Mosques should not exist in Denmark and her view is that it is not Danish to be Muslim (Jakobsen, 2014; Poulsen, 2016). However, it has not gone as far as we can see in France where they made laws against wearing a scarf in schools, but it led to the politicians making a ban in 2018 against wearing Burka in public (Ferreira, 2015; Terkelsen, 2016). In Denmark, Kjærsgaard argues that the laws should solely be towards the Muslim scarf, and no other religious symbols, whereas in France, it is a ban of all religious symbols (Terkelsen, 2016). Therefore, the debate in Denmark seems to be a matter of discrimination, and in this sense, emphasises that those who wear scarf do not acknowledge Danish values (Jakobsen, 2014). In this relation, the heterogeneity/redistribution trade- off is evident from the politicians’ view and the fear of different cultures eventually counteract each other and the values of the nation-state (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006, p. 5). Peter Skaarup from the Danish People’s Party agrees with the argument. He argues that Denmark is a welfare state, and the security and safety of the people are under a lot of stress and pressure if too many migrants and cultures that are not similar to Denmark settle in Denmark (Sloth, 2011; Dansk Folkeparti, 2019). It then makes it abundantly clear why the legislation appears to focus on limiting access to the state for a specific type of migrant.
45 On the other hand, there are laws in Denmark that seem to encourage or at least give the possibility of cultural diversity. These laws are, e.g. the religious freedom, or the freedom to sign children up in schools that are not state-owned, in so-called ‘free-schools’ (translated from friskoler). The freedom to choose one’s religion encourages heterogeneity more than homogeneity, which in Banting and Kymlicka’s view do not support the fear that the existence of several religions or ethnicities erodes the welfare state nor impact the possibility to gain national trust (Banting & Kymlicka, 2006). The law that permits the citizens to choose their religion is a part of the Constitutional Act of Denmark. It states the following: “the citizens have the right to unify in communities to worship God in the way, which is consistent with their beliefs, however, that nothing is taught or done that contradicts the morality or public order” (Folketinget, n.d. (a)). Moreover, §70 postulate that “No one can be denied access to the full enjoyment of civil and political rights because of his creed or descent or evade the fulfilment of any ordinary civil duty” (Folketinget, n.d. (b)). These two paragraphs indicate that Danish legislation counteracts the hypothesis of both heterogeneity/redistribution and recognition/redistribution trade-off. However, when viewing recent debates, it is clear that the political debate does not follow the same tolerance as the laws implicate. So, in 2017 the Danish government made a law to prevent a particular preacher from coming to Denmark (Birk, 2016). This type of policymaking follows the hypothesis of heterogeneity/redistribution trade-off, that if religious diversity exists, it is on the expenditure of the Danish citizens and their security. So, despite that at first, the law of religious freedom enables cultural diversity, the politicians today counteract its purpose and seem to want religious homogenisation instead. It comes across through legislation on personal status law and appears to affect people from specific origins to not be welcome in Denmark (Paludan, 2019; Vermund, 2019). In line with this, the Danish government attempts to diminish the possibility of migration through labour and family reunification to be solely possible for wealthy partners or extremely skilled labour. There are two significant changes in the laws regarding family reunification and the requirement of the yearly salary when applying for a working permit. Firstly, regarding family reunification: in 2018, the Danish applicant had to have a financial guarantee of 55.350,27 DKK to be able to apply for family reunification with a partner or spouse. However, already in 2019, this changed to 102.000 DKK, a rise of 84% in just one year (Ny i Danmark, 2019b). Secondly, in 2016 the yearly salary required to get a work permit was 375.000 DKK, today that number is now 426.985,06 DKK (Ny i Danmark, 2019a), a rise of 13.86% within three years. It indicates that the change of law is a strategic attempt to diminish particular labour and to permit
46 wealthy citizens to apply for residency permits in these categories. A review of Table 1.1 shows that their mission was accomplished as the people granted a residence permit based on family reunification have decreased with 30%. Another attempt to eliminate cultural diversity in society is the law proposal to give a handshake at a ceremony when receiving citizenship (Nyheder.tv2.dk, 2018). This law was implemented in 2018, and it demands that a ceremony to get Danish citizenship should occur along with a handshake with an authorised man or woman from the municipality. The inclusion of municipalities leads to the next section. This section is a discussion and overview of the difference between state legislation and the role of the municipality.
This section highlights some law implementations within the past years to illustrate and test the two hypotheses proposed by Banting and Kymlicka. The laws presented are examples, and they clearly show that the Danish government appears to implement and propose laws and policies whose purpose is to eliminate cultural diversity. Some of the bureaucrats argue that it is a matter of protecting ‘Danishness’, to sustain the welfare state, or to ensure more security for the Danish population. This section is relevant to answer the research question of “how is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking regarding person status law?” because it highlights how different policies have been made to erode cultural diversity in Denmark. Either due to religious belief or appearance or because some politicians believe that there is an exchange between the stability of the welfare state and cultural diversity.
6.2 The Municipalities’ work in culturally diverse societies in Denmark.
Denmark has one ruling government, 98 municipalities and five regions. These are all constituted so the country can function with as little complications as possible. The idea is that when the government implements different laws, the responsibility is distributed to each region and municipality to react (Buchhave, 2019). In many aspects of daily life in Denmark, the municipalities play a significant role. They are the ones that one must contact in case of any questions regarding elements such as health, education, housing, daycare and eldercare. Despite their significant role, they are under much pressure from the Danish government because it legislates and implements rules and laws that the municipalities have to follow (Buchhave, 2019). Each region and municipality also have a budget and receive financial support from the government, and it is a way of decentralising the power (ibid.).
47 Municipalities in Denmark have a certain level of liberty concerning how they decide to distribute money from their budget on different initiatives. Moreover, each municipality has political councils that might differ from the ruling government (Lægaard, 2013). This political construction means that one municipality can have a mayor from the Social Democratic party and another by a mayor from the Danish People’s Party (ibid.). Because of this diversion of political composition on the municipal- level, the different initiatives posed by the municipality can either encourage or discourage cultural diversity. Lægaard (2013) present different reasons for some municipalities to encourage cultural diversity in society and why others might not. He argues that when the state might attempt to minimise the influx of migrants, the municipalities are forced to implement different initiatives that work around the state-level policies (ibid., p. 181). In this matter, Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and automatically benefit from the cultural diversity that exists, this is for example with tourism (e.g. Nørrebro is known for its bazaars and diversity when walking down the street) (Schmidt, 2013). Another example is ‘The Danish Charter of Diversity in Denmark’ (translated from Det Danske charter for mangfoldighed i Danmark) (Poulsen, 2014). The three municipalities, Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus, are participants in providing better inclusionary conditions for diversity in their cities (ibid.). Eventually, by participating in these organisations whose goal is to promote cultural diversity both in the city itself, but also through labour, the municipalities are contradicting the state- level policies. The hypothesis of recognition/redistribution trade-off argues that being inclusive has negative consequences on economic distribution and welfare. However, new research indicates that migrants with non-western backgrounds are working compared to the past (Lassen, 2019). Hans Lassen, a Danish PhD in integration (Sisyfos, 2019), argues that it is the different initiatives on municipality-level that assists non-western migrants to get access to labour. He argues that the different, stricter rules, such as changing the amount of support to, e.g. refugees, are not helping. He argues that the restrictions are not motivating migrants to work more, they already want to work, but have difficulties entering the labour market while being held hostage with all the different rules and laws (ibid.). Furthermore, that, e.g. the jobcentre and collaboration with various efforts are those who work towards the inclusion of non-western migrants (ibid.). Thus, this also diverges from municipalities, and Lægaard states that Copenhagen aimed to be the most inclusive city in 2015. This goal contradicts the Danish government’s initiatives to be stricter and limit migration (Lægaard, 2013). He stresses that even if municipalities are subject to the government’s overall legislation, they can send different messages that directly contradict those legislations.
48 A study of municipalities’ approach of options of food in kindergarten also shows that municipalities are different in the sense of their inclusiveness (Warrer & Leer, 2018). The study investigates whether municipalities raise the children in kindergarten towards ‘Danishness’ or ‘multicultural’ through the version of food and lunches (ibid.). The study’s results are that the municipalities can be categorised in three, which is 1) raise to ‘Danishness’, 2) raise to have respect for others, or 3) raise towards multiculturalism (ibid.). These types of initiatives also indicate that while the government has one approach, the municipality might act differently (Lægaard, 2013; Warrer & Leer, 2018). This thesis includes this study as an example of how the levels of institutions in Denmark might have different approaches than nation-level legislation. Moreover, while the government believes that recognising other cultures leads to economic disadvantages, the municipalities might view it differently. These differences between the government and municipality are essential to point out, namely because the state-level legislation provides the framework for the municipalities. Additionally, to this, the local-level (municipalities) approach is more pragmatic and work towards how it works in reality, instead of focusing on the moralised suggestions, legislations and approaches that the politicians often adopt (Lægaard, 2013). Lægaard suggests that the most substantial difference between the national-level and local-level governance is that the government fears for the economic sustainability of the welfare state, and the municipality fear for the overall pragmatic function of the state. However, the municipalities target and focus on the specific initiatives that make migration and integration more sustainable (Lægaard, 2013, p. 183). This difference is evident regarding the handshake-ceremony to achieve Danish citizenship, and several mayors have opposed this law (Henley, 2018). The mayor in Ishøj states that it is a disrespectful action with no respect for other religions (ibid.). Another mayor states that he is not going to be present the day that the ceremony is going to happen and a third mayor states that it is ‘un-Danish’ to have this law (ibid; Vithner & Elkjær, 2019). Again, this supports the argument mentioned above that municipalities can act contradictory to the ruling government.
To sum up, this chapter has illustrated the relationship between either heterogeneity and redistribution or recognition and redistribution trade-offs. This research has investigated different laws and policies that influence the migration to Denmark and focused on whether it indicates that Denmark is for or against multicultural societies. The analysis shows that the changes made in the laws regarding residence permit by family reunification and labour, make migration difficult and it shows that the
49 Danish government believe that there is a trade-off between the welfare state allowing and recognising different cultures and ethnicities. Finally, this trade-off eventually leads to the erosion of the welfare state, even though more non-western migrants are present in the labour market now more than before, and that their different initiatives do not allow them many social benefits. Finally, the chapter illustrated the work the municipalities do to integrate and embrace cultural differences in society, which at some point contradicts the government’s legislation. It shows the importance of municipalities on the practical and local level. In this matter, it answers the working question of how law-making can impact cultural diversity positively.
50 Chapter 7. A discussion of media’s impact on the local and global debate of cultural diversity.
The two previous chapters analysed the debate and discussion about culturally diverse societies in Denmark and how this impact law-making regarding family reunification and the granting of residence permit through work or study. In the matter of legislation, it depends on the premise if the government views cultural diversity as an advantage or disadvantage. Also, it appears that the debate roots in religious difference and ethnicity, rather than a general plurality of cultures. The following chapter discusses how strict legislation concerning migration impact Denmark, Danish citizens and in the end, how it impacts the internal movement across Europe. This section discusses and illustrates that people tend to believe the reality the media and local environment introduces instead of building their views on verified facts. This discussion includes the parties that govern, and it also includes what causes the movement of anti-migration parties to rise across Europe. This chapter discusses the results mentioned above and the concept of multiculturalism relating to legislation and recognition in the society. This discussion assists to answer the research questions of “how is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking regarding personal status law?”.
7.1 A discussion of the logic behind the voter and the succeed of anti-migration parties.
The debate on migration and multiple cultures in Denmark often departs in media coverage, and it is from where people tend to get their information. Media is not the sole source of people’s opinions; it also occurs through daily encounters and the local environment. Moreover, Denmark is a small country, which also limits the access for everyone to encounter different cultures. There are small towns where the number of other ethnicities is meagre, and therefore, some might base their opinion on the media coverage. These media coverage can be problematic to be the source of information because a third of all articles related to migration stems from politicians (Jensen, 2017), and therefore, it can be not very objective both in support and against the idea. Furthermore, editor of ‘co-existing.dk’ (translated from sameksistens.dk), Bent Dahl Jensen states that politicians and media should stop portraying Muslims negatively because it harms our co- existence (Jensen, 2017). This indicates that certain people in Denmark criticise the media’s anti-
51 immigration rhetoric. Moreover, it is not necessarily the existence of other ethnicities that cause problems, but merely the cynical discourse politicians utilise (ibid.). Christian Friis Bach, former general secretary of Danish Refugee Aid, Development Minister from the Radical Left, agree with Jensen that the media and politicians illustrate and provide information that is not coherent with the facts (Bach, 2019). Bach, further, states that the media portrayed Denmark and the EU to experience a so-called ‘migration crisis’ in 2015. However, the majority was refugees, and because of this, it was an extraordinary case (ibid.). Moreover, that in 2018, the number of migrants that crossed the border to any EU country was 150.114 (a decrease of 92% from 2015), but it is equivalent to one migrant per 3.400 citizens (ibid.). Therefore, it seems rather strange that politicians such as Rasmus Paludan, Pernille Vermund, but also Mette Frederiksen state in the media, that migrants are the most considerable challenge that Denmark faces today (Paludan, 2018; Vermund, 2019; Information, 2018). However, Denmark follows the rhetoric that Obán in Hungary uses, where he states that the case of 2014 is an invasion of Muslims. Obán does not recognise that war caused the migration (Goździak, 2019). Furthermore, he decides not to provide food for refugees when they are in asylum camps (Human Rights Watch, 2018). He stresses that as long as their cases are under process and not legally a part of Hungary, it is not his obligation (ibid.). This is highly problematic, as this behaviour goes against Human Rights. In this matter, Denmark might share the attitude as Hungary and might be on the limit to discriminate, but yet is not there in this extreme case. In 2017 a survey was made in Denmark to get a peek of how people view migration, and 11% answered that migration contributes mainly negatively to Denmark and 3% thought the opposite (Jürgensen, 2018). In 2019 a survey was done among European countries, and 34% answered that the most current issue for Europe is migration, and climate change second with 22% (Winter, 2019), so it is not merely a Danish trend, but more a European trend. This answer shows that there are two views on the matter and that one side backs up their arguments by the influence of politicians and media and others by specific statistics and facts. For instance, Europe experiences decreasing migration (Bach, 2019), and benefit from the possibilities of multiple cultures, through, e.g. tourism, which is good business. In 2018, 700 million tourists came to Europe, but this seems to be irrelevant when governments attempt to legislate against diversity in societies (ibid.). However, media portrays the movement of people as a ‘migration-crisis’ (ibid; Information, 2018), and Herbert Simon, a psychologist, argues that when introducing people to specific data, one must expect that it influences their opinion in a specific way (Simon, 2000). The particular impact information can have on people’s opinions, also influences the quality of the outcome. To elaborate,
52 it means that if the disadvantages of cultural diversity are the primary information people get, it can be the belief they obtain unless they can see through the propaganda, or populistic statements (ibid., p. 35). Hans Lassen provides an excellent example of this tendency when it comes to crime and foreigners (Lassen, 2019). He points to the fact that 1.6% of foreign men between age 15-29 commit crimes that lead to at least five years in prison, at the same time, that means that 98.4% do not commit a crime (ibid.). This example illustrates that data can be formulated and utilised in the way one might wish.
In Denmark, the changes regarding family reunification illustrate one type of initiatives towards less migration, but in other cases, it impacts Danish citizens as well. This is the case when Danish citizens have non-European spouses and are unable to meet the strict requirements for family reunification residence permits. Pernille Vermund (2019) acknowledges that the law might impact other people as well. However, in her opinion, the overall goal is to stop migration from Muslim countries, and therefore, it is a necessary sacrifice (Vermund, 2019). The sender of the message is essential as we can see a change and development through different political statements which do not necessarily follow the traditional view of the political party. An example of this in 1999, where Social Democrat and former Prime Minister, Poul Nyrup stated that all humans were humans and should be treated equally (Schmidt, 2013). Moreover, he encouraged the embrace of cultural diversity instead of viewing it as a disadvantage that we witness today with Mette Frederiksen (Schmidt, 2013; Information, 2018; Orange, 2019). Through her leadership of the Social Democrats, Frederiksen changes some of the characteristic political stands, from left to right (Orange, 2019), and in 2018 when the Danish politicians made the strictest laws regarding migration in Danish history, she did not oppose these changes but instead supported them (ibid.). Frederiksen, further, states that the mass-migration has to stop, which can indicate to the population that the level of migration is higher than before, which is not the entire truth (Orange, 2019; Bach, 2019). Moreover, Denmark only accepted the equivalent of 0,5% refugee per Danish citizen (Bolvinkel, 2015; Bendixen, 2019). When media in Denmark or other European countries utilise a specific discourse regarding migration and other cultures, it impacts the social conceptualisation of these individuals and groups either to be an issue or an asset for the country (Parekh, 2006; Simon, 2000). Consequently, the population believe Frederiksen and therefore, obtain a belief that migration is genuinely a problem for Denmark. The goal of Frederiksen is to ensure herself a winning position in the run for Prime Minister in 2019 and polls indicated that the Danish citizens worry about migration,
53 one might argue that it is a calculated move by her to distance herself from migration (Orange, 2019). Simon argues that if one utilises specific rhetoric and discourse, it is for the population to have the ability to understand the purpose of the information given (Simon, 2000). Therefore, if fear is the power behind statements, the rationale of humans is not logic anymore (ibid.). Moreover, an internal survey shows that a Social Democrats voter in 2018 thought the party’s immigration orientation was too ‘soft’ (ibid.) and bearing this in mind when analysing the rhetorical and positional change it appears that Frederiksen aims to gain more votes through fear (ibid.). The fear of the ‘other’, is not only in Denmark, but as mentioned earlier in Hungary, or in the Netherlands where politician Wilders states that the ‘Islamisation’ must stop (Damhuis, 2019).
In table 1.3, it is visual how the distribution of non-western migrants is in Denmark, and this gives an insight to why the population is influenced differently in terms of media coverage and discourse about migration and plural cultures in Denmark.
Table 1.3: Source: Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet, 2019, p. 154
In 2019 Copenhagen counts for 19% (Udlændige- og Integrationsministeriet, 2019) of migrants with a non-western background, and, e.g. Horsens counts for 1% (ibid.). Therefore, it seems logical that people living in Horsens would feel less hostile towards migration than the residents of Copenhagen, based on their daily encounters with other nationalities. Besides, Michala Bendixen, Head of Refugee
4 I use the data from the report of the Ministry, and they have it from Statistikbanken i Danmarks Statistik
54 Welcome, states that the media often portrays integration to be a failure, but the facts are that the employment of new refugees in 2018 was 60% more than the year before (Bendixen, 2018). Nevertheless, if one lives in Horsens and do not see or meet many other ethnicities, the media platforms might be their only source of information. On the other hand, it can backfire, like when Paludan states that it is a Muslim invasion of Denmark, or Wilders argues that it is Islamisation, the residents of Horsens might be critical as they do not experience this invasion with only 1% of the non-western population in their town. However, fear seems to go a long way for the politicians to gain people’s trust, which is evident in the behaviour of the voters at the national election in June 2019. In Copenhagen, Enhedslisten (a pro- migration party) received 16,8% of the votes compared to 5,1% in Horsens, and the difference is also apparent with the Social Democrats who in Horsens gained 27,8% and in Copenhagen only 17,2% (with a decrease of 5,1% since the last election) (Dr.dk, 2019). These results suggest that when people live with cultural diversity, they are better capable of seeing through populistic statements. Bendixen says that she, too, experiences that refugees in Copenhagen feel welcome by the citizens and threatened by the politicians (Bendixen, 2018). Moreover, it is worth noting that several factors impact what one might vote, so it is not conclusively due to migrants that people either vote Enhedslisten or Social Democrats. However, it still shows a connection between the rhetoric and information that people receive from different political parties. Another aspect is citizenship and how it appears that today citizenship (on paper) does not seem relevant if your appearance is foreign, or if you have different values. This element is discussed in the following section, and this section is included because the argument from the politicians today is about appearance more than it is about the behaviour of the individual.
7.2 A discussion of citizenship.
Christian Joppke, a political sociologist, argues that in contemporary western societies, the nation- state tends to exclude more than include through their citizenship legislation (Joppke, 2005). In contrast to previous historical exclusion, this form of exclusion concerns the individual more than groups (ibid.), which in the case of Denmark is apparent through the requirements for the individual to gain residence permits. Joppke further points to the development of the European belief of utopia with solely one ethnicity, which contradicts the foundation of liberal societies (ibid.). The belief of liberal states contains that individuals have rights and can be whom they wish to be as long as it is in accordance to the laws of the state, hence when legislation limit such rights it seems contradicting.
55 Willem Schinkel, a German sociologist, researched in the Netherlands on how the nation-state attempt to create this social imaginary of who belongs in society and can be include, hence whom to exclude (Schinkel, 2013). This is clear with Wilders’ statement that the Netherlands should be for the Dutch people again and not be invaded by others (Damhuis, 2019). Schinkel illustrates this with a phenomenon; he calls ‘moral citizenship’, which no longer focus on the legal grant one might have from the government of citizenship. Instead, society determines who is accepted as a citizen (Schinkel, 2013. Therefore, when media portrays, e.g. Muslims as terrorists or in Denmark state that the Muslims eliminate the ‘Danishness’ because they are too many in the country (Paludan, 2019), this can impact the citizens to view migrants and other cultures negatively.
The previous chapter illustrated through different personal stories that in Denmark, it is challenging to gain public acceptance as a Dane if the appearance differs from the ‘original, normal’ Danish look. The acknowledgement, Schinkel argues often goes in line with the moral, in the sense that if one is a good citizen, it leads to inclusion. However, on the other hand, if one is immoral, it results in exclusion (Schinkel, 2013).) Concerning the headscarf, a politician from the Danish People’s Party, at a debate at a high school, told a 16-year old girl, that she could easily lose her scarf, that it would not kill her (Vad & Jørgensen, 2019). This kind of rhetoric and the kind of expectations to citizens in Denmark can degrade everyone that appears differently, and it gives certain people in society the idea that the utopia is Denmark with homogeneity instead of diversity. It, therefore, seems like the Danish population judge one on the premise of appearance and behaviour instead of residency permits or even more, citizenship. Moreover, when the party New Liberal’s propose that no one from Muslims countries can gain Danish citizenship (Vermund, 2019), it is no longer the prestige in living up to the formal requirements. Instead, it is about assimilation and acceptance in public (Schinkel, 2013; Polakow-Suransky, 2017). Parekh (2006) argues that the individual can adapt to a new society and remain to their original culture. However, this seems like a utopia for him, instead of the reality that many people are facing in Denmark. The ideal world leaves room for different cultures, but the lawmakers in Denmark and Europe for this matter think differently. Concerning this, the different laws in Denmark have an impact on the EU as a whole. First of all, an EU treaty states that all members states share responsibilities of refugees (Council of Europe, 1980; Sunderland, 2019), but since 2014-15, Denmark made laws that contradict this obligation to the EU.
56 Therefore, when Denmark or other member states, such as Hungary, France, the Netherlands take initiatives that erode the collaboration in the EU, it creates scepticism throughout the European countries. Moreover, this legislation also impacts the countries in a way, that native citizens can apply their EU rights and then migrate to other countries; hence the migration continues.
It can be challenging to determine precisely how many people move away from Denmark to gain family reunification. However, the statistics show that in the first third of 2019, there is a rise of 20% of people who have left the country compared to the past five years (Østberg and Harbo, 2019). This research led to six different groups on the social media platform, Facebook, that focuses on families in situations where they cannot live up to the requirements the Danish government have. As a result, the families are forced to move either to another EU-country (which is often the case), or they can move to a non-EU country. The implementation of the EU-law of free mobility, guarantee the Danish citizens to get residency permits for them and their spouses (and children) (The European Council, 1992).
To sum up, this chapter discussed the premises for people’s acceptance of certain information. The chapter illustrates that when data is formulated and displayed in a specific way, people react accordingly. Concerning the legislation regarding family reunification, many Danish citizens are forced to live abroad with their spouses because they cannot live up to the high requirements of the Danish government. This research has found data that either support or dismantle the information and statements that some politicians use to demonstrate their view on migration and cultural diversity. This chapter discussed the results from chapter five and six in the matter of relevance and how the debate impact policymaking regarding personal status law.
57 Part III: Concluding Remarks
Chapter 8. Conclusion and the influence of the project.
8.1 Conclusion.
As previously stated, the subject of multiculturalism is highly researched, and the scope of this research was limited in terms of adopting an approach to answer the research question. This dissertation relies on two different theoretical approaches which helped in understanding the complexity and layers of the subject matter. The research question is: “How is the local and global debate of multiculturalism impacting policymaking regarding personal status law?” and then Denmark was selected as a case study. This research is consequently divided into three interlinked sections, where chapter five leads to chapter 6, which then led to chapter 7. In each chapter, the previous findings are included, and it became necessary to be able to answer the research question thoroughly. In this research, it appears that Danish politicians wish for the public appearance to be homogenous in terms of religious and cultural beliefs that do not contradict the Christian tradition in Denmark. Also, if one imagined that the media instead show the decrease of migration instead of portraying it as a current issue in Denmark, it might influence the policymaking differently. It is evident that when powerful, ruling ministers display and perceive culturally diverse societies negatively, we can see the link to legislation. In many cases, it seems more symbolic than practical, e.g. the bank guarantee of a 102.000 DKK set aside for ten years. It is not clear why Danish citizens must be able to have a financial guarantee. The spouse is already prohibited from receiving any forms of governmental support, and the Danish citizens must not have done so in the last five years (Ny i Danmark, 2019a). Nonetheless, this requirement mainly drives many Danish citizens to other European countries. This movement from one European country to another makes migration continue and therefore, it seems impossible for the Danish government to limit migration as long as the European Treaty allows for smooth movement of citizens within member states. It is necessary to acknowledge that within the past five years, we have witnessed an increasingly critical and negative discourse relating to migration in many of the European countries. Even Germany and Sweden that were the forerunners in 2015
58 during the influx of refugees have made stricter legislation regarding migration. This research shows that when the public debate is negative around migration and cultural diversity, then countries seem to enact stricter rules.
8.2 The influence of the project and perspectives.
This project highlights the importance of media in changing public perception and opinions, and how quickly information can get from one point to another. Also, due to globalisation, foreign media are available. Nonetheless, as humans, we react to the information we receive and therefore, there must be a more critical approach to the information media produces. In Denmark, most media platforms are governmentally supported, hence why politicians have more influence and space to express themselves more than their critiques. There is a continuous focus on media influence, and this research indicates that the data can be used in the wanted narrative, and this can have high consequences. Another focal point to mention, is the development around the world. It seems naïve to believe that migration will stop due to changes in the law, because in the end, Denmark needs the international market, and the international markets need Denmark. In the case of, e.g. Brexit we can see that the procedure is taking years, and it is not even certain that Britain is leaving the EU, because it is now evident that it has fatal consequences. This research opines that it would suit the media, in general, to be more neutral when producing and reproducing information to the average citizen. Moreover, it is also clear that cultural diversity is not higher or permitted to only European societies than elsewhere in the world, e.g. India has a large population with several different religions living side by side (Modood, 2013.). However, the debate on multiculturalism seems to be higher in western Europe and is mainly negative. Interestingly, the western European countries have a foundation of liberal democracies that are built on the premises of the individual to be free and that the cultural idea is individually determined, hence, the new debate around multiculturalism revolving around the idea of political citizenship (ibid).
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