"Work parties are seen as an essential community-building activity" writes Maja Hojer Bruun in her 2011 article Egalitarianism and Community in Danish Housing Cooperatives: Proper Forms of Sharing and Being Together.
This morning I had the opportunity to participate in one of the semi-annual work parties for the cooperative in which I'm renting a room during my stay in Copenhagen. All members of the cooperative association, which spans three adjacent buildings in an urban block, are required to attend, send someone in their stead, or pay a fine of 1000 DKK ($155 USD).
The work party started at 10am with a spread of cakes, rolls and coffee prepared by an elderly couple in the building. I was told that since they can't do hard labor they always supply the snacks and coffee. The labor we did was not exactly hard and their contribution was key.
The "front man" (president) of the association explained the tasks to everyone standing in a circle in the courtyard lawn near our buildings. He explained there wasn't much to do today so it would be a short day. I was told that a work party might go as late as 3pm but they normally end around 1pm. Everything was in Danish with translations graciously by my flatmate.
We all split into groups to clean up the different yard areas and one group to paint a door. I went with the group cleaning up the back yard of my building, and met some of my neighbors who were all very nice. We promptly got to work clipping the hedges, moving bikes to weed the paving under them, and picking up trash. It was easy work, especially with 10 people helping on and off. One woman was using a hoe to weed the paving stones with her toddler daughter helping hold the tool. After a while I asked her if she'd like a break and she was happy to let me take over. For a minute I wondered if my flatmate and I might be the only ones working very hard, but then more people came back and helped sweep up what I had weeded and pick up the piles. It did feel like a nice group effort. The work was interspersed with chatting. We discovered that wheelbarrow and the Danish word trillebør pretty much the same thing - something that rolls and a strange word "barrow" or "bør" that aren't used in any other context we use (though from a quick Google may refer to male hogs or ancient celtic tombs).
Once I was done weeding the patio I followed my flatmate's lead in trying the coffee and baked goods. I learned about cold risen rolls that were really good, especially with all the crunchy seeds that were in them. A young woman translated for me because the elderly woman who did the baking wasn't a strong English speaker and I can't speak Danish.
By the time I was done with my snack the patio area was clean so we checked in with the "boss man" as my flat mate affectionately called him, and found the only needed task was to bring coffee to the people painting the door. After that we ate more snacks and made small talk, and used a ladder to pick apples. A few people were just standing around not talking to anyone. There was a low degree of mingling though some people seemed to be friendly with each other. Unfortunately I couldn't eaves-drop because it was all in Danish.
After another half an hour I realized everyone was waiting around for the president to mark down that they were in attendance. After that he proclaimed that it had been a good day and people began to disperse. Like all Scandinavian events I've attended, it was short and sweet. We were done by 12:30.
On another occasion my flatmate (a cooperative owner-resident for 20 years) said the work parties are part of the whole point of cooperative living. As Hojer Bruun writes, work parties help develop a sense of 'fællesskab' the Danish concept that can be translated as 'community', 'social fellowship', and 'relatedness'.
Bruun argues that the idea of developing fællesskab through the work party does not stop at improving ones' home, but is seen as improving the whole neighborhood and enacting cooperative ideology in general. She also talks about how fællesskab is diminishing with the commodification of cooperative housing that has been happening ever since mortgaging an individual share has been allowed. I've now been told twice that this cooperative keep its share prices low, one sign that the community here still values solidarity and housing as a commons. However, it's hard for me to tell, as an outsider to the co-op and Denmark, how much fællesskab this community has. At least we had a hyggelig (intimate and casual as translated by Bruun) work party this morning in my opinion!
This morning I had the opportunity to participate in one of the semi-annual work parties for the cooperative in which I'm renting a room during my stay in Copenhagen. All members of the cooperative association, which spans three adjacent buildings in an urban block, are required to attend, send someone in their stead, or pay a fine of 1000 DKK ($155 USD).
The work party started at 10am with a spread of cakes, rolls and coffee prepared by an elderly couple in the building. I was told that since they can't do hard labor they always supply the snacks and coffee. The labor we did was not exactly hard and their contribution was key.
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| Residents gather in the courtyard |
We all split into groups to clean up the different yard areas and one group to paint a door. I went with the group cleaning up the back yard of my building, and met some of my neighbors who were all very nice. We promptly got to work clipping the hedges, moving bikes to weed the paving under them, and picking up trash. It was easy work, especially with 10 people helping on and off. One woman was using a hoe to weed the paving stones with her toddler daughter helping hold the tool. After a while I asked her if she'd like a break and she was happy to let me take over. For a minute I wondered if my flatmate and I might be the only ones working very hard, but then more people came back and helped sweep up what I had weeded and pick up the piles. It did feel like a nice group effort. The work was interspersed with chatting. We discovered that wheelbarrow and the Danish word trillebør pretty much the same thing - something that rolls and a strange word "barrow" or "bør" that aren't used in any other context we use (though from a quick Google may refer to male hogs or ancient celtic tombs).
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| We clean up the patio leaving the back door open. No danger of break-ins today! |
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| People intermittently have snacks and coffee |
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| As I walk into the courtyard, there's a buzz of work |
After another half an hour I realized everyone was waiting around for the president to mark down that they were in attendance. After that he proclaimed that it had been a good day and people began to disperse. Like all Scandinavian events I've attended, it was short and sweet. We were done by 12:30.
On another occasion my flatmate (a cooperative owner-resident for 20 years) said the work parties are part of the whole point of cooperative living. As Hojer Bruun writes, work parties help develop a sense of 'fællesskab' the Danish concept that can be translated as 'community', 'social fellowship', and 'relatedness'.
Work parties point to the etymological meaning of fællesskab, derives from fæ, meaning grazing animals such as cattle or sheep that have been placed together as a common herd and are taken care of according to agreed-upon rules. Fæ can be generalized to include all kinds of common property. The ending -skab means the condition or quality, or the nature or character, of being fælles or having a community, just as in English the word 'fellowship' refers not just to a body of fellows but also to a higher community ideal shaped by 'fellows'. Thus, etymologically, fællesskab refers to the sociality that comes from taking care of common property together. (Bruun, 2011)
Bruun argues that the idea of developing fællesskab through the work party does not stop at improving ones' home, but is seen as improving the whole neighborhood and enacting cooperative ideology in general. She also talks about how fællesskab is diminishing with the commodification of cooperative housing that has been happening ever since mortgaging an individual share has been allowed. I've now been told twice that this cooperative keep its share prices low, one sign that the community here still values solidarity and housing as a commons. However, it's hard for me to tell, as an outsider to the co-op and Denmark, how much fællesskab this community has. At least we had a hyggelig (intimate and casual as translated by Bruun) work party this morning in my opinion!
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