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Hygge & Lykke: Good Old Danish Enclosures Or Gates To A Brave New World?, Poul Houe

The Bridge

every year since becoming a Danish expat some forty-five years ago, I’ve spent part of each summer in Denmark. 2017 was no exception, but unlike previous years, this time I reflected explicitly on something most Danes probably take for granted or don’t pay much attention to: their country’s global reputation as the hyggeligste and lykkeligste place on earth (although Denmark came second to Norway in the global happiness rankings in 2017).1 Denmark’s reputation as the happiest (lykkeligste) place on earth is increasingly matched by the claim that it harbors the coziest (hyggeligste) culture imaginable. Many observers and commentators have credited …