Book Description

"This book is about individuals in their daily lives." So writes Robert Anderson, a distinguished anthropologist whose study of Denmark offers the reader a unique opportunity to analyze a culture before development, during development, and as a modern nation. His purpose is to give the reader a feeling of what it means to live in a developing nation and the quality of life afforded by each historical period. "Danish social scientists and historians nurture a long tradition of research matched by those of only a few nations in the thoroughness and skill with which they have retrieved knowledge of their own past." Thus, while the readable content of the book is geared to the student or layman, the original analysis and data behind it will be of special interest to the professional scholar. The book is divided into topics as well as chronological periods. From Chapter One, "Denmark as a Developing Nation," to Chapter Sixteen, "Danes Today," we see both "Noble Life" and "Village Life" — their uniformities and variabilities. Also treated in depth are "The Working Class in 1900," "The Burghers of Old," "The Middle Class," and the subtle transition "From Peasant to Farmer." Finally, the author explores "Urbanization," and "The Culture of the Masses." Dr. Anderson concludes that "Modern Denmark constitutes the culmination (or near culmination) of changes begun in the period of development." And yet, as he goes on to explain, "Even today, Denmark remains a developing nation." In two ways, then, Denmark is a useful paradigm for study. Its past can be constructively compared to the "present" of other currently developing countries in the southern hemisphere and the Third World. On the other hand, modern Denmark is typical of other Western nations which have yet to reap from industrialized society equal opportunity for all members. In still another way the value of Dr. Anderson's analysis is twofold. The responsive reader cannot fail to find in Denmark: Success of a Developing Nation a "microcosm of the kinds of change which have happened, and continue to happen . . . the world over." In addition, however, and perhaps most importantly, the reader finds the fascinating and very unique world of an important European community.