Changing Religiosities in the Nordic Countries

A Complexity Perspective
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-73680-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 341 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: International Studies in Religion and Society

The book argues that changes in religiosity in the Nordic countries cannot be adequately explained by the dominate all-encompassing generalizations theories of religious change because religious changes are both similar but and diverse in the Nordic countries. For instance, church membership is decreasing in all countries, but the state–church relationship varies. The book argues for the fruitfulness of the Complexity Frame of Reference, a new theoretical framework which is favours a more nuanced analysis of religious change. This is demonstrated in qualitative and quantitative studies of comparative studies and case studies of religious participation, beliefs, rites, and values.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Andersen, Peter B.

Gundelach, Peter

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

List of Tables and Figures

List of Abbreviations

Notes on contributors

PART 1: The Complexity Approach: Trends and New Concepts

Introduction: Complexity and Religious Changes Peter B. Andersen and Peter Gundelach

1 Religion in Nordic Societies: Legal Structures and Demographic Trends Sille Fusager, Kimmo Ketola, Pål Ketil Botvar and Maria Klingenberg

part 2: Complex Changes in Religiosity

2 Belief in an Irrelevant God: Exploring Fuzzy Belief in the Nordic Countries Maria Klingenberg and Evelina Lundmark

3 ‘Religious Change Is Not Only about Decline’: the Complexity of Religious Change from a Family Perspective in Finland Kati Tervo-Niemelä

4 The Ritual Shift: Examining Religious Complexity in the Light of Life Cycle Rites Ida Marie Høeg and Karin Jarnkvist

5 A Complexity Analysis of Religiosity in the Nordic Countries Peter Gundelach and Peter B. Andersen

6 Between God and Caesar: Young People’s Views on the Public Role of Religion Pål Ketil Botvar

7 Who are the ‘Spiritual but Not Religious’? Complex Patterns of Religiosity in Nordic Countries Kimmo Ketola

part 3: State Regulation, the National Church and Religiosity

8 Considering the Default Template: Supreme Overseers of Legality and Religion Complexity in Finland Pamela Slotte Russo

9 ‘There Is No Proof that the Law Has Had No Effect’: Recent Danish Legislation on Islam and the Problem of Complexity in Regulating Religion Niels Valdemar Vinding

10 National Identity and Religion in the Nordic Countries Hans Morten Haugen and Heikki Hiilamo

11 The Danish Folk Church and the Complexity of Social Cohesion Karen Marie Leth-Nissen and Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen

12 An Unexpected Dimension of Care Work: Feminine Evangelization among Christian Filipinas in Denmark Astrid Krabbe Trolle

13 School and Religious Complexity: Lessons from Four Nordic Countries Anders Sjöborg

part 4: Testing the Complexity Approach in International Settings

14 Complexity Religiosities beyond the Nordic Countries Peter B. Andersen and Peter Gundelach

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Peter B. Andersen Ph.D. (1994) is an associate professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen. He has published monographs, edited volumes and articles on religion and modernity in India and in Europe. He has recently chaired a survey on Covid-19 in Denmark.

Peter Gundelach mag. scient. soc. (1972) is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen. He has published monographs, edited volumes and many articles on social movements, national identity, religon and values including a series of edited volumes on the European Values study in Denmark