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Superman, kitchens and the battle of minds and
souls. Danish reflections on the cold war and the
welfare state

• Klaus Petersen
• Centre for Welfare State Research
• University of Southern Denmark

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Three relations
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Denmark in the 1950s

• Politically
• Since the 1930s Social Democracy had been the
  dominating political party
• Political culture dominated by consensus and
  negotiation
• Economy
• Relatively poor country until late 1950s
• Late modernization and economic growth
• Small open economy
• Social
• Modern welfare state (social security)
• Equality and social citizenship
• Culture
• Homogenous society Language, religion
• Strong democratic tradition
• Welfare state culture (belief in state solutions,
  paternalistic)
• International orientation
• Member of NATO since 1949
• Marshall Help recipient
• American free trade bloc (IMF, GATT)
• Nordic welfare identity (third way)

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The Cold War and the Welfare State

• General arguments
• National expansion of the Cold War
• Revolution insurance
• Small nation state strategy

• Danish arguments
• Consensus-building
• 3. road strategy
• Anti-communist strategy
• Bread or Weapon?

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Example 1 Communist organized Womens
demonstration 1947 (We demand soap and cheaper
underwear)
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Example 2 Communist Poster Against DK buying US
Jet Fighters (For en Air Fighter you can get 4
sheets for each newly married couple
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What is Americanization?

• Standardizing new citizens in the US
• American influences on other countries
• Similar concepts (synonyms)
• Coca-Colanization
• McDonaldization
• Modernization/globalization
• Standardization

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Americanization and the Welfare State

• Different models but
• Directly
• Policy Transfer
• Indirectly
• America as model

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A WS Policy Transfer

• Predates 1945 (ex eugenics, social work)
• Marshall-travellers
• Americanization of social sciences
• Henning Friis (1911-1997) New School,
  Lazarfeldt, Wright Mills
• Sociology
• Social psychology
• Economist, lawyers, political scientist
• Import of the concept Welfare State

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A WS US as a model

• A vision of the future
• Role model for modernization
• Creolization

• Fields
• Language
• Economy (capital, production)
• Market economy (liberalization, marketing
  strategies, retail trade etc.)
• Political Economy
• High culture
• Popular culture (commercial culture) Film,
  Music, comics etc.
• American way of life (homes, cars etc.)
• Consumer culture (products and ways of consuming)
• Youth culture (fashion, life style, protest)

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Wikipedia Definition

• Americanization (or Americanisation) is the term
  used for the influence the United States of
  America has on the culture of other countries,
  resulting in such phenomena as the substitution
  of a given culture with American culture. When
  encountered unwillingly or perforce, it has a
  negative connotation when sought voluntarily, it
  has a positive connotation.

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What it is about?

• US as role model for modernization, a vision for
  the future or as a dystopia
• Cultural encounter

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Americanization and the Cold War

• A battle over hearts and minds
• Victoria de Grazia Irresistible Empire (2005)

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Whats the point?

• A supermarket can outweigh a lot of isms
• (R.W. Boogaart, American capitalist 1958)
• Pictures
• Minister of Trade Lis Groes opening the first
  Danish self service shop in 1947

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US official programmes

• psychological warfare or cultural diplomacy
• information programs
• exchange programs
• introduction of modern retail trade
• learning American life style
• Undercover operations

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Consumer Culture I

• American products under license
• Nylon stockings
• Books, comics, magazines
• Ersatz-Americana
• Cigarettes
• Sweets
• Soft drinks

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Ersatz-Americana Popular Mechanics 1959(How do
we tame the Hydrogen Bomb?)
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Ersatz-Americana Holiday cigarettes (1956)
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• Ersatz-AmericanaMajami soft drink

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Consumer Culture II

• Creating positive images
• American kitchen ideals
• Economic growth
• Most developed country
• US as scientific efficient
• US as in and modern
• Creating security

• US as a projection of the future?
• America shows us our future, in so far as one
  country can reveal it at all to another
• (Karl Kautsky 1902)

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But what about anti-americanism?

• An elite project in the 1950s (cultural
  conservaties communists
• Supported by business interests
• America is different pro- and anti-American,
  the two Americas
• Much anti-americanism imported from the US
  (comics and youth rebellions)
• (BUT .)

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• The Housewifes dream kitchen (1955)

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Youth Culture

• Young people as consumers
• Rocknroll
• Jeans (American uniforms)
• Language OK
• Yankie Bar and Milk Pops

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Danish Cold War Thriller (1958)
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Rocknroll in Denmark

• Copenhagen 1956
• Danish cover versions
• Preben Uglebjerg

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Concluding Remarks

• Focus on the relations (the historical contexts)
  and not a full explanation
• Americanization Economic interests, culture,
  anti-Americanism
• Cold War Ideology, diplomacy, national
  interest/security
• Welfare State Politics, Institutions, Values
• But inter-related topics, that
• need to be studied as such.

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