Perspectives: Outcasts After All?

Deviance is a classic subject of study for sociologists, anthropologists and social education workers, but not yet for Danish historians, who have been concerned predominantly with political history or other aspects of social history. This article arises from a conference, the purpose of which was to make Danish historians aware of deviance as an analytical concept that connects what would initially seem to be very diverse topics, such as disability, race, ethnicity and class. The conference highlighted a wide range of interesting examples of “deviant” groups that once arose, existed for a period and suddenly disappeared again. The conference showed that deviance is time-specific, cultural and social-specific, and last but not least, that “deviants” are extremely valuable for “normal” individuals to define a common identity and to confirm their own “normality”.