Religious Complexity in Nordic Public Spheres

This article studies empirically the complexity of religion in the public sphere by systematically comparing the five Nordic countries. Sociologists debate if current trends in the West point to secularization or a return of religion (deprivatization, desecularization, or post-secularity). By drawin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nordic journal of religion and society
Authors: Furseth, Inger (Author) ; Lövheim, Mia 1968- (Author) ; Kühle, Lene 1971- (Author) ; Lundby, Knut 1948- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Universitetsforlaget [2019]
In: Nordic journal of religion and society
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Nordic states / Religion / Publicity / Discourse
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AX Inter-religious relations
KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia
Further subjects:B Nordic countries
B religious complexity
B Secularization
B post-secularity
B Deprivatization
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article studies empirically the complexity of religion in the public sphere by systematically comparing the five Nordic countries. Sociologists debate if current trends in the West point to secularization or a return of religion (deprivatization, desecularization, or post-secularity). By drawing on the social science complexity reference, this article offers a critique of current scholarship and introduces the concept of religious complexity. The empirical study asks how religion is regulated, debated, and negotiated in the state, the polity, the media, and civil society in the Nordic countries since the 1980s. It is based on multiple sources of data. The analysis shows several religious trends at different levels: A growing secularization at the individual level, and the deprivatization of religion in politics, the media, and civil society. The conclusion outlines the religious complexity in the Nordic countries and discusses possible explanations that link the different and seemingly inconsistent trends.
ISSN:1890-7008
Contains:Enthalten in: Nordic journal of religion and society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.18261/issn.1890-7008-2019-01-05