Religion on the political agenda

• Nordic politics on religion has historically been formed by the close relationship between the state and the Lutheran majority churches. There has been a consensus on religious tolerance and the value of an inclusive majority church. This chapter asks whether the growing religious diversity during the past thirty years has implied a shift in the role of religion in political opinions and debates. ISSP survey data on political and religious views from 1991-2008 shows continuity as well as change across the Nordic countries. The growing religious diversity does not seem to have changed previous patterns of connections between individual religiosity and political party preferences. However, people in Denmark, Norway and Sweden have become more tolerant towards religious minorities and their rights. Nordic political party platforms and parliamentary debates is a rich source of information to changes in the role of religion in political discourse. Christianity and the majority churches are still used as references to national identity in party platforms, in particular in Denmark and Norway. The analysis of the parliamentary debates shows that there is a growing invocation of religion in the parliamentary debates in all the Nordic countries. This tendency is most obvious in Denmark and Norway and weakest in Sweden. In particular, issues that connect religion to Islam and to human rights have increased, particularly in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where levels of immigration are higher than in Finland and Iceland. In conclusion, religion has become more diversified and more contested as a political issue during the period studied, both in terms of the issues to which it is connected, and in terms of the range of religious traditions that are addressed. This development can be seen as a politicization of religion in a process of renegotiating social and cultural identities and values in the Nordic countries.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Religion

Politics

Nordic countries

Politicisation

Sociology of Religion

Religionssociologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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