Vi må Slippe Fantasien om, at lighed betyder, at vi også skal være ens

During the recent Danish election, there was much talk about constructing a government constellation that is more inclusive (meets across the middle). In this month’s column I suggest that a good place to start is a shared point of departure in a (genuine) commitment to social, environmental, and economic sustainability. My main focus here is social sustainability, and the international framework that Denmark has already committed to, as well as those in process (Human Rights and the initiatives that build on these such as EU directives, Global Sustainability Goals, CSRD, CSDD, etc.).

My point is that social sustainability that builds on human rights makes for a good shared political center framework. Relegating human rights, non-discrimination, equity, etc. to the right or left margins is politically and economically and socially irresponsible. These issues concern us all.

Non-discrimination is a cornerstone of human rights and democracy. We all have a responsibility to respect and uphold our democracy and basic democratic principles - such as the intrinsic equality and dignity of all individuals and groups. When we make this a “red" issue or a “blue" issue we demonstrate how little we understand about our history and the fundamental principles that our democracy builds on. Political parties - especially those who “hide” in the middle and shirk educating themselves and speaking responsibly (and knowledgeably) about human rights and non-discrimination are not only missing a political opportunity to reach voters who care about social justice (as well as environment, economy, health, etc.) they are not socially sustainable - they are complicit in weakening our democracy.

I note that many companies and organisations are already doing work in this regard, for example in their DEI, CSR, ESG approaches. The point here is that there is already a shared set of values (common denominator) for social sustainability work. We are already required to work with this framework, and doing this work would benefit citizens and companies alike.

There is a strange (and disturbing) political resistance to openly embracing the human rights framework. While we are quick to criticize other countries for their human rights issues, we are adept at finding excuses for Danish political efforts to undermine the human rights framework in its own backyard.