Fra pøbelopløb til massepolitik

Demokratiet og kampen om det offentlige byrum fra enevælde til besættelsestid

Resumé

During the interwar period (1918-1939), the struggle for building public opinion was staged by political movements as a propaganda-war for mass mobilisation. This unfolded on city streets and squares, which played a much more integrated role in the political culture than before. However, public demands on public urban space have in fact played a significant role in the political negotiation in Denmark since the era of absolutism (1660-1849). By analysing the long-term trends in this negotiation, this article examines the role played by so-called street politicsin the development of democracy in Denmark from spontaneous rioting during absolutism and the rival Constitution Day parades of the 1880s, to the propaganda race waged on the streets by political youth during the 1930s, and finally, the resurgence of popular rioting at the core of Danish politics during the German occupation (1940-1945). Considering this development, the article discusses the historical role of street politics as a democratic corrective to the established political system. The article synthesises previous Danish research conducted over the past 40 years, which has contributed with various individual studies of 18th and 19th street mobilisation with research on the role of street politics during the first half of the 20th century by the author, in an analysis addressing the question: What role did street politics and the struggle for public urban space play in the development of Danish democracy from the era of absolute monarchy to the war-time period? The article thus presents a first attempt to synthesise older case studies and recent research into a comprehensive analysis that develops the concept of “street politics” not only as a field but also as an analytical framework for the study of extra-parliamentary political culture in Denmark. The article concludes that the struggle in and for public urban space has indeed played a important role in the development of democracy during this period. it has functioned as both an arena where demands not accommodated in institutional politics could be asserted towards the political system and as a means of expanding the boundaries of political culture. Furthermore, the article demonstrates the potential of using the concept of street politics in analysing the population’s use of public urban space to articulate their political demands.