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Cultural protocol. You just can't read about it. You have to experience it, though it may be only briefly. I love visiting different countries. 😀

The Law of Jante - explained

Lately, in the UK media, people have been asking themselves if this Law of Jante that exists across Scandinavia is the secret to living in a harmonious and happy society. Clearly, this set of cultural and society rules are a little more complex than simply looking at them and assessing whether they would fit elsewhere. To understand how the Scandinavian society works – and why – we need to go a bit deeper.

The Ten Rules of Jante

  1. Don’t think you are anything special.
  2. Don’t think you are as good as we are.
  3. Don’t think you are smarter than we are.
  4. Don’t convince yourself that you are better than we are.
  5. Don’t think you know more than we do.
  6. Don’t think you are more important than we are.
  7. Don’t think you are good at anything.
  8. Don’t laugh at us.
  9. Don’t think anyone cares about you.
  10. Don’t think you can teach us anything.

Janteloven (the Laws of Jante) aren’t that unlike most countries’ cultural codes that silently ensure some sort of peace and common ground is upheld. However, because the laws were actually formalized by Sandemose, these cultural values became much starker and obvious when seen in print.

To understand how they are applied so strongly in Scandinavia, you need to look at our general culture: Scandinavians love being equal in everything – from what we do in our work to how we like to live in our homes. Nobody is to have too much more – or less – than everyone else. We like having the same car as the neighbours, we like earning similar salaries. We like not having a huge class divide –it makes us feel like the world is a fairer place when things are shared between us.

Read on...

[scandikitchen.co.uk]

Ryo1 8 May 29
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4 comments

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1

I read about Jante being an unspoken deference to others, without rule of law. Words like equitable, proportionate, even-handed, modest, unpretentious, unboastful and even-steven seem to be general descriptors of Jante.

Hi there. Every society has social/cultural protocol. I know many Brits say it is hard to do business with the Japanese, for example, because of their unwritten protocol. It doesn't happen overnight, obviously. The Jante Law probably won't fit in American society, for example.

@Ryo1
Yes, I agree Americans, in general, tend to be pretentious, and will turn up noses at Jante.

@AnonySchmoose Not all of them, I'm sure. 🙂

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Someone called Chris in Sweden says:

Ryo1 Level 8 May 29, 2021

Do the Swedes seriously believe/obey the Jante Law?

Chris:
Yes, as far as I can tell, Jantelagen is a lived reality here.

It’s not a big deal to adhere to. If you’re Australian, New Zealander, Canadian, or British, you’ll already be steeped in its spirit. It works on the same premise as the good old “cutting down the tall poppy” - only that nobody would cut you down actively here in Sweden if you ever transgress. Instead, you’ll just have made an a$$ of yourself, and enter the village- or company chronicles as the guy who went a tad too far, and may therefore no longer have any friends. And everyone will just quietly go their way.

Personally, I love Jantelagen.

I grew up in Germany and Austria, and lived in the US, India, and China for many years, where it’s basically “flaunt it if you’ve got it, and if you haven’t got it, fake it till you make it.” When I’m down south on holiday with my folks, listening to the conversations going on with the locals there, I am often really grateful to have a biiiig glass of wine standing in front of me, and the bottle in reach, because by golly, all that bragging really goes on my nerves.

And you’re safe from that up here.

My favourite joke to illustrate how it works goes like this:

An American visitor attends a conference in Oxford. Next to him sits a Nobel Prize winner from Sweden. They strike up a conversation, and the American, having just come from another conference in Norway, launches into a lengthy proclamation of how he absolutely loved Oslo, and his wife, too, and how he wishes he could go and spend a holiday there. After a good twenty minutes of that, he asks the Nobel Prize laureate: “Have you been to Oslo?” To which the good man says: “Once.”

And that’s Jantelagen in action. 🙂

Interesting.

@Ryo1 I may have to move to Sweden. Even though I detest the cold.

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Over the years a I’ve come to know a few people from Scandinavian Counties, and have to agree with this author. They really do try and make sure that no one is ever left behind, and the people I’ve known were very down to earth and Unpretentious.

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That is not so. Total nonsense.

Would you care to elaborate?

I know nothing about it at all.

@Ryo1 Yes, I happen to be Swedish.

@Jolanta So, you disagree with Bronte, the author of the article, and Chris who lives in Sweden. Fair enough. I don't expect all Swedish people, or any nation for that matter, think the same way all the time.

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