Det gode moderskab - et biopolitisk perspektiv på dansk moderskabspolitik i 1930'erne

Abstract

In 1935 the Danish government appointed a Commission on Population (‘Befolkningskommissionen’). The purpose was to ensure a development towards a better and healthier population as well as an increase in the birth rate. Inspired by Michel Foucault and his theory on biopolitics this article examines how the Commission on Population strove to govern the women and mothers of society according to norms for good motherhood. Three subject positions are identified in the work of the commission: ‘The healthy mother’, ‘the traditional mother’ and ‘the independent working woman’. The analysis of the historical material shows continuous negotiations about what to include and exclude from these normative positions, as well as negotiations about which of the three positions that should dominate as ‘good motherhood’. In the welfare policies the norm for good motherhood that became the most influential was: ‘A healthy mother, raising healthy children’. The initiatives that supported ‘the independent working woman’ were not pursued in the welfare policies of the 1930’s.