The role of charity in public relief, 1708–1871
Copenhagen as case
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11992565 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Inger Lyngdrup Nørgård (0000-0001-7544-7534, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 260-283 |
| Publication date | 2018-02-05 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scandinavian Journal of History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0346-8755 • E-ISSN: 1502-7716 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03468755.2018.1430655 |
| OpenAlex | W2793537976 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
This article explores when and why charity vanished from public relief in Copenhagen and thereby differentiates itself from the traditional research field on welfare that focuses on studying the growth of taxation and social spending in the 19th century. This article reveals that charity was not solely a transfer of financial resources, but that charitable donations also entailed a cultural symbolism, which implied that charity was meant to support the local worthy poor. When the function of public relief underwent a transformation, especially at the beginning of the 19th century, the cultural symbolism of charity became incompatible with public relief. After the 1830s, the inhabitants of Copenhagen ceased to donate to public relief and instead donated charity to private philanthropy, which usually targeted the worthy poor for its help
Economic policy · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Poor relief · Public welfare · Sociology · Welfare · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Public Administration
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |