Nordic Humanities Center

Democracy is an absolutely central form of government and value for Danish society. But the term has always been up for debate and had changing meanings. This event sheds light on the history of the intense democracy discussion of the 1970s through a debate on Jesper Vestermark Køber's book Det nære demokrati (Southern Danish University Press, 2024). The book shows how local democracy emerged as a strong social ideal in reaction to the growing welfare state and centralization of the time. To understand our current conflicts between country and city and criticism of the distance between citizens and politicians, we need to understand the 1970s. After a presentation of the book, two comments follow – respectively by Professor Johan Strang, Center for Nordic Studies, University of Helsinki, and Lea Cecilie Brinkgaard (PhD researcher, Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen) and a Q&A with the audience The event will be in Danish.

The Swedish-Somali poet and writer Faysa Idle, born in 1998, grew up in a Somali family in the Stockholm suburb of Tensta. She has witnessed violent gang wars, and her own family was embroiled in conflict, crime and murder. Many very young people were brutally murdered, and Faysa Idle felt that she herself was dying. But her poems and rap lyrics became a point of reference in an existence that otherwise seemed hopeless. She posted the lyrics on social media and gained many readers. Her peers responded, expressing protest and sympathy as she began to describe her grief and anguish over life close to the criminal gangs. She has written her biography, A word for blood, in collaboration with the editors Daniel Fridell and Theodor Lundgren. 'A word for blood' has just been published in Danish by the publisher HarperCollins. At the author's meeting, Faysa Idle talks about her book and the many reflections it calls for. Can the deadly conflicts be brought to an end?   There will be an opportunity to ask questions and we will serve coffee. The meeting is chaired by Professor Karen Vallgårda and Professor Anne-Marie Mai. Room: 15 A.0.13 Admission is free and registration is not required

This year's special theme: Supervision

This year's special theme: Supervision