Imperializing "Norden"

The two pre-Napoleonic Nordic polities are best understood as empires. Drawing on recent analytical and historical scholarship on empires, I argue that 17th and 18th century Denmark, on which the piece concentrates, was very much akin to the other European empires existing at the time. Read in this light, national identities within the fragments of the empire appear similar. Nationalisms are all shaped directly on the Danish model, having at the same time Denmark as their constitutive cultural other. The introduction notes that, where all European imperial experiences are concerned, overseas territories had the most wounds inflicted upon them. We would not know this if we considered Faroese, Icelandic and Norwegian nationalism in isolation. These polities, Norway in particular, participated in and benefited from the colonial policies of the empire. This notwithstanding, their national identities insist that these nations were on the receiving - as opposed to the imposing - end of imperialism. This is a historically unwarranted and ethically problematic stance requiring further discussion.