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Sverige - de sekulära motsägelsernas land: En innehållsanalytisk studie om politisering av religion i de svenska riksdagspartiernas partiprogram
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013).
2023 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (professional degree), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title
Sweden: the land of secular contradictions : A content analytical study on the politicization of religion in the party programs of the Swedish parliamentary parties (English)
Abstract [en]

With its content analysis and discourse-oriented interpretation strategy, this study examines the party program of the Swedish parliamentary parties with the aim of broadening and attempting to contribute to the understanding of and discussion of the relationship between religion and politics. This relationship is analyzed using and with inspiration from Lindberg's (2015) four-field model for politicization and Jensdotter's (2021) method of analyzing through the theory of politicization how and to what degree religion is used and politicized. Sweden has for some time been described as one of the world's most secular countries, which has contributed to a Swedish reluctance to be associated with religion and religiosity - on an individual level as well as on a political level (Zuckerman, 2009; Kittelmann Flensner, 2015; Kittelmann Flensner, 2017; Thurfjell, 2019). However, this has not prevented politicians from using religion as a tool for political goals, politicizing religion. Researchers believe that we can now see, in the process of religious change, tendencies towards increased religious importance in politics (Hjelm, 2014; Nilsson, 2020; Hagevi, 2022). The analysis of the party programs shows a discourse that is often contradictory, where the parties start from a secular approach but still make use of religion to varying degrees in a way that does not correspond to a secular discourse. Most of the parties show signs of weak politicization of religion or find themselves somewhere in between with references to the importance of religion for democracy - with the exception of the Sweden Democrats who use religion with nationalist motives for homogeneity which shows strong politicization of religion. The party programs show a presentation of religion and religious actors first and foremost as objects primarily in relation to religious freedom, as a cultural resource and as an important part of the private sphere within democracy. As a subject, it occurs above all as an identity marker and/or as support for one's own positions in relation to political issues or prerequisites for democracy. In comparison to previous research, this study has provided an in-depth insight into the politics of all the Swedish parliamentary parties based on their party programs. The relationship between religion and politics is found, with this study's theoretical framework and social constructivist approach, to be described more appropriately as a process than a definite state with boundaries or dividing lines. The study contributes to broadening and contributing to the understanding of and discussion of this complex relationship, an inevitable and sometimes ambivalent one.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023.
Keywords [en]
content analysis, discourse, social constructivism, politicization, religion and politics, secularization, party programs
Keywords [sv]
innehållsanalys, diskurs, socialkonstruktivism, politisering, religion och politik, sekularisering, partiprogram
National Category
Religious Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-96614OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-96614DiVA, id: diva2:1800265
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Available from: 2023-10-20 Created: 2023-09-26 Last updated: 2023-10-20Bibliographically approved

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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
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Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
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  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
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Output format
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  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf