Scandinavia, Welfare state, Social democracy, Discourse theory, Ideology
Abstract
The present paper aims to apply the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau in a concrete study of the ideologization of the welfare state in Denmark in the postwar period. Why was 'the welfare state', initially, constructed as an empty signifier, which constituted a nodal point in totalizing vision about how to organize the whole of society? How was, later, the empty universalism filled by a particular political project. My claim is that ‘the welfare state’ emerged as an empty signifier in response to societal dislocation. The particular content of the welfare state project was determined in and through policitical struggles in which the social-democratic party played a crucial role. The paper first discusses Laclaus account of the relation between the universal and the particular. It then offers some methodological reflections about how to apply discourse theory in empirical studies. Finally it provides a detailed discourse analysis of some crucial historical texts and contexts.
