Autonomy, Cooperation or Colonization? Christian Philanthropy and State Welfare in Denmark

Abstract

Irrespective of how one characterizes the Danish welfare state, publicly provided welfare benefits are at the very core of any description.1 This has not always been the case. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the public sector played a far more restricted role in the provision of welfare services, which, as many people felt, was how things ought to be. It was up to the individual to take care of himself and his family, but if one belonged to the wealthier section of society, it was implicitly understood that one had a moral duty to contribute to helping those unable to help themselves. For that reason, a great many philanthropic associations and institutions were established on private initiatives to help the poor, orphaned children, fallen women, the sick, and so on. In recent years, research has increasingly turned its gaze toward late-nineteenth-century philanthropy,2 seeing it as a precursor of the welfare state and consequently making it seem probable that the church and religion played a key role in the development of the Danish welfare state.3 The subsequent interaction between Christian philanthropy and the development of the modern welfare state, however, has not commanded the same degree of attention. In a recent study, Lars Bo Kaspersen and Johannes Lindvall reported finding hardly any traces of religious debates and influences on social policy development in Denmark in the interwar period.4 However, as is demonstrated below, the situation is rather the opposite. There was a strong and lively debate on social policy within the philanthropic movement, as philanthropy played an important role in welfare production, and politicians and civil servants cooperated with, reflected on, and regulated philanthropic organizations.