Ideas about the classlessness of Icelanders

Abstract

The goal of this study is to analyze how ideas of Icelandic classlessness mani fest themselves in public discourse. The data used are first and foremost news items and articles from the national newspaper Morgunblaðið from 1986 to 2007. Secondary data are also used for context and support. One of the main conclusions is that ideas of Iceland as a relatively classless society are widespread. Ideas about Icelandic classlessness are quite varied. The biggest common denominator is that Iceland is relatively classless compared to other societies. People mainly refer to cultural class division in this regard. Nonetheless it is quite common that people think that ideas of Icelandic classlessness are not grounded in reality, particularly as regards economic classlessness. Furthermore people feel that class division is increasing parallel to fundamental social changes, especially as the market becomes more predominant. In the same way, ideas of Icelandic classlessness have increasingly become the subject of criticism.