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Abstract | Abstract
This article focuses on the discursive construction of patient identity in the Danish Health Act. Traditionally, the ideology of the welfare state has been based on equality and solidarity, and the state has so far been responsible for the provision of health care services. Recent research suggests, however, that the implementation of New Public Management influences the welfare model in a neo-liberal direction. The study focuses on how such underlying ideologies may influence the dominant discourses present in the Health Act and how these discourses may construct different subject positions and identities. The analysis points to two competing, hegemonic discourses: a welfare discourse and a New Public Management discourse. Those reveal an asymmetrical relationship between three groups: health professionals occupying dominant subject positions, patients empowered to make free choices within the limits stipulated by policy makers and patients constructed as objects in need of care.