Summary of Tensions of Europe presentation, 2001.
Jørgensen defines the laboratory (as a place of cleanliness, hygiene, testing) and the factory (as a place where nature is turned into culture; a place linked to work and efficiency) as prominent symbols of the modern, and described how these symbols were used in Norway in the 1930s as a metaphor for the scientific kitchen. Jørgensen even argued that “scripts for consuming” were embedded in and manifested by the idea of the scientific kitchen; the kitchen is for the home what the factory is for modern society. In the household discourse of the time, the scientifically based household, the rational consumer and the idea of the modern woman as a consuming housewife emerged as ideals. These ideals were negotiated by “interested women” (e.g. housewives’ organisations) who acted as translators and visionaries. Jørgensen gave an outline of the historical development of the household discourse in Norway, starting with the foundation of home economics as a new science in the beginning of the 20th century and describing the growing interest of the State in the scientific kitchen from the 1920s onwards. During WWII however, nutrition became the dominant issue in the household discourse, rendering former utopian visions obsolete. The discussion suggested that future research should contrast these ideas, ideals and metaphors with everyday life and take gender and class aspects into account. Also, the presentation led to a reflection over the words “rationality” and “rational” versus “rationalization”. It was also hinted at that the bedroom might provide an interesting comparison, since the semiotics of the bedroom shifted from a multifunctional place in which to socialise to a “monofunctional” hygienic place in which to sleep.