Healthism in Denmark: State, market, and the search for a "Moral Compass".

Kristensen, Dorthe Brogård ORCID: 0000-0002-9008-9349, Lim, Ming ORCID: 0000-0003-1828-7030 and Askegaard, Søren ORCID: 0000-0001-9279-4706 (2016) Healthism in Denmark: State, market, and the search for a "Moral Compass". Health (London, England : 1997), 20 (5). pp. 485-504.

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Abstract

This article focuses on contemporary responses to public health messages in Denmark, a country whose system of social welfare is, like that of the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, undergoing increasing levels of marketization and privatization. Drawing primarily upon Robert Crawford's analysis of healthism as a neoliberal project, the aim of this article is to develop critical understandings of how individuals respond both bodily and emotionally to ideologies of health and the body in the context of a changing marketplace for the consumption of health and its messages. This article will analyze perceptions and practices of health in Denmark. The findings will then be discussed in relation to dimensions inspired by the work of Crawford, who regards "health" as a "super-value," an outcome of individual security strategies, and mode of citizenship in the marketplace. The article argues that Crawford's discussion does not fully capture the ways in which people use their bodies to valorize themselves. First, the perception of the state is perceived as being aligned with commercial interests. As a consequence, neither state- nor market-based (i.e. commercial health product and service providers) health advice is fully trusted. Instead, the opinions of non-market actors such as peers and friends as well as of alternative practitioners that are considered outside the market since they do not represent corporate interests become more attractive among citizen-consumers who are concerned about their health. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of our findings for theorization of public health and health policy.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Attitude to Health, Health Behavior, Morals, Sociology, Medical, Culture, Health Policy, Social Welfare, Denmark
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2017 08:48
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 07:20
DOI:	10.1177/1363459316638541
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3005266