Dugnads

Norwegian society is quite social in nature.   Everything pretty much revolves around the family, but getting together with friends and neighbors is also highly valued. 

In the old days, Norwegian culture operated somewhat like the Amish, in that they often pulled together to help one another during a crisis, or to build a large structure, somewhat like the Amish do for barn building.  This type of volunteer community work party is called a “dugnad” (pronounced doog-nod).  Traditionally, the family benefitting from the work of others provided a meal for the volunteers afterwards. 

Dugnads are still a big part of Norwegian society, but they have a little different twist. The dugnad has moved away from helping individual families, mostly because  the government pretty much takes care of every need they will ever have.  Dugnads are still held regularly, but now by schools, churches and clubs, which don’t tend get the same level of government support as individuals.

These “not for profit” organizations need volunteer labor to clean up the grounds or buildings or to get places spiffed up for a big event.  Usually, volunteers make waffles or hot dogs and keep the coffee flowing, somewhat following along with the spirit of the traditional dugnad.

Neighborhood streets also post notices at least annually of upcoming dugnads, where everyone is socially pressured to be home that day, trimming hedges, sweeping sidewalks and prettying up their place.  I guess this is where the Norwegian culture “helps” neighbors to get together “socially” for the benefit of many.  No one is safe from the dugnad’s obligations.  Dugnads put on by churches and schools don’t come with the same sense of commitment as the ones put on by neighborhood groups, however.

Apartment and condo buildings also have dugnads on a regular basis. If a person lives in the building, whether they rent or own their place, they are obligated to participate in everything from washing common windows, floors and stairs to sweeping sidewalks and doing yardwork. It’s just too expensive to hire people to do these kinds of jobs in Norway, so it’s a way to keep costs down while sharing the workload.

If a person is out of town or has some other good reason for not participating in a dugnad where they live, it usually results in a kind of “tax,” where the person must pay something into a fund which then helps buy the food that feeds the others.

The very nature of the dugnad is that it’s free labor, but in today’s Norway, they’ve even figured out a way to put a tax on that.