Denmark and the law of Jante - Light on the North

Denmark has been number one in the global Happiness Index for years. Everything seems to be right in Denmark. It is clean, there is equality and prosperity. But isn't it too good to be true? Is it so 'lykkelig' in Denmark? To really understand the Danes you have to know the 'law of Jante'.
In this episode Jensen investigates the influential law of Jante in Denmark. From the beginning, this law teaches Danish children that they are no better than anyone else. The law is a code of conduct consisting of ten lines, written by the writer Aksel Sandemose. The basic idea of Jante's law is: you can not put your head above the ground level. Jante is the fictional name of the town Nykøbing on the island of Mors in the northwest of Denmark where Sandemose grew up. The law is an explanation for the low social inequality in Denmark.

In Light on the North, Stine Jensen gauges one after the other the Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Danish souls.
'The good Scandinavian life is of course relative. As soon as you start to look at it from different eyes, the image topples.'
In four episodes, the philosopher Stine Jensen, who was born in Denmark but grew up in the Netherlands since her first year, is looking behind Scandinavia's clichés of emancipation, prosperity, natural beauty and space.

Presented by: Stine Jensen
Director: Hans Pool
Editor: Matthieu Hes
Producers: Rosan Boersma, Karin Vermeulen, Jan de Ruiter, Niek Koppen

© VPRO November 2013

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