Borgerlige

Borgerlige is a term used in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish to describe what is commonly translated as bourgeoise or civil, middle-class in a socio-economic sense. The word derives from borger, meaning citizen or townsman, and functions as an adjective to characterize values associated with the urban middle class, private property, market-oriented activity, and civil life.

In everyday language, borgerlige describes attitudes and policies linked to civil society and the rule of law, often implying support for liberal economic arrangements and gradual reform within constitutional channels. In political contexts, it denotes a center-right or liberal-conservative orientation. The term is used to refer to parties, groups, or ideologies that favor market economies, individual rights, and limited state intervention, in contrast to socialist or social-democratic positions.

The term has a historical and practical use as a label for political alignment rather than a single formal party. In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, media and scholars sometimes speak of a “borgerlige bloc” or borgerlige parties to describe a coalition or set of parties sharing that orientation, without asserting the existence of one unified party identity.

Across the three languages, the cognate forms are Danish borgerlige, Norwegian borgerlige, and Swedish borgerliga. While the precise political composition of the borgerlige category varies over time and country, the core connotation remains a center-right, market-friendly, and pro-civil-society stance. See also bourgeoisie and center-right politics.