Complexity and Beyond in Studies of Religiosity in the Nordic Countries (CBSR)

Raised hands

At present, we encounter multi-faceted developments within the field of Religion all through the Nordic countries. The influence of religion seems to be increasing in some situations whereas it seems to be decreasing in other situations – complicated developments going beyond theories addressing secularisation and individualisation. Today we will address the meaning of changing relations between the state and religious communities. Other issues will be the meaning of the COVID-19-pandemic, and how to approach comparative studies.

Programme

13:00 (open from 12:00) Welcome
13:15 Elisabeth Tveito Johnsen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Theology (University of Oslo) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious practices in the Nordic countries
14:00 Morten Frederiksen (University of Aalborg) Comparative methodology: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods perspectives
14:45 Coffee break
15:00-17:30 The impact of the changing relationship between state and church for individual religiosity in the Nordic countries*)
  • Jonas Bromander, Associate Professor
  • Helge Årsheim, Associate Professor (Inland Norway University)
  • Marianne Gaarden, Bishop, PhD, The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark (Lolland-Falster Diocese)
  • The Church of Sweden, 20 years of new relations
  • Assisted Living? How Law affects Individual Religiosity in Norway
  • The impact of the relationship between state and church for individual religiosity in Denmark, an insider’s view

*) Secularization and individualization, the dominant sociological theories of religious change, predict linear changes in religiosity. However, such trends may be disrupted by structural changes. During the last decades, the state-church relation has changed in varying degrees and ways in the Nordic countries. It seems highly probable that such variations have influenced religiosity in the Nordic countries in different ways. This session discusses theoretical and practice-oriented perspectives on whether the changing state-church relationships have affected different types of religious behaviour and thinking in the Nordic countries

The seminar is funded by the NOS-HS as part of the workshop series Complexity and Beyond in Studies of Religiosity in the Nordic Countries (CBSR). Hovedarrangører af seminaret er Peter B. Andersen og Peter Gundelach.