The Free Popular University represents one of the "lost voices" that contested the dominant colonial-national discourse. The university serves as an important example of social mobilization and the ...transmission of ideas at a non-elite level.
In this study, I address the relationship between religion and politics in the Nordic countries, 1988–2012, against a background of increasing religious diversity alongside more or less continuous ...relationships between church and state. My aim is to analyse possible changes in the way religion is referred to by Nordic parliamentary parties, and in the way these parties use religion as a means to societal cohesion. I use theories on religious change and on the motives for using religion in politics to discuss a possible re-emergence of religion in politics, with the help of concepts such as functional differentiation, glocalisation and politicisation. I apply different forms of content analysis in a mixed-methods approach, using both substantial and functional definitions of religion. The thesis is based on four articles published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed international journals: First, a study on religion in Nordic party platforms from around 1988, 1998 and 2008. Second, a study on religion in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish parliamentary debates, 1988/89, 1998/99 and 2008/09. Third, a study on the role of the majority churches in the final Nordic parliamentary debates on same-sex unions 1989–2012. Fourth, a study on Danish and Norwegian parliamentary debates on the wearing of veils among judges and policewomen in 2009. The major findings are that the references to religious diversity in party platforms and parliamentary debates have increased, which leads to a more complex understanding of the religious cleavage in politics, and that right-wing populist parties in particular politicise religion to achieve political influence. Furthermore, human rights have been increasingly used to address religious diversity as a political issue. I interpret these findings as continuous use of religion for societal cohesion in Nordic politics, through a model of different forms of politicisation using the concepts civil religion, human rights and nationalism. The thesis contributes to a better understanding of the religious cleavage, politicisation of religion, the impact of globalisation on the political debate about religion and changes as well as continuity regarding the use of religion in Nordic politics.
Cover photography: Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt (chairman of The Moderate Party) debates with Member of Parliament Jimmie Åkesson (chairman of The Sweden Democrats) in the Swedish parliament Riksdagen on 19 January 2011. Photographer: Melker Dahlstrand/Riksdagsförvaltningen.
NOREL
Impact of Religion
Buddhism which was founded in northern India transmitted into China along the two main route of the ancient trade route, the Silk Road. One route is the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert, which ...is pass through Kashgar, Kuche, Kharashahr, Gaochang. The other route is the southren edge of the Taklamakan desert, which is pass through Kashgar, Khotan, Minfeng, Loulan. Regardless of which route it take, the Buddhism can`t spread into Central China without passing Dunhuang. In this paper, I have discussed about the secularization of Dunhuang Buddhism contained in Bianwen from six aspects. First, a large number of works are based on Indigenous sutras. Second, Buddhist sect is a feature of Chinese Buddhism, but Bianwen was not caught in the Buddhist sect`s thoughts. Third, the divining art and idea of topography is used in it. Fourth, the priest who gived a description of the works thoroughly serves to the ruling clique. Fifth, the monks had high interests in the secular music and the writing lyrics, Quzici(曲子詞). Sixth, many works of non-Buddhist Bianwen was transcribed by Buddhist monks.
Secularisation, once a key concept in debates about modernisation and modernity, has received very little academic attention over the last half century. In fact, it is often seen as a subset of or ...engulfed within secularism, which has been central to academic and political debates about democracy, nationalism and contemporary politics. In this special issue, we focus on both in their mutual interaction. It provides a mix of theoretically informed pieces with detailed, contextualised research adding granularity to the discussions by asking: Can secularisation happen without secularism? Or vice versa? What kinds of secularisation have specific versions of secularism promoted? Have there been reversals in secularisation, or has it been a largely linear process in south Asia?
This thesis is the first study of 'Christian radicalism' in the Church of England between 1957 and 1970. Radicalism grew in influence from the late 1950s, and burst into the national conversation ...with John Robinson’s 1963 bestseller, Honest to God. Emboldened by this success, between 1963 and 1965 radical leaders hoped they might fundamentally reform the Church of England, even though they were aware of the diversity of their supporting constituency. Yet by 1970, following a controversial turn towards social justice issues in the late 1960s, the movement had largely reached the point of disintegration. The thesis offers five central arguments. First, radicalism was fundamentally driven by a narrative of epochal transition, which understood British society in the late 1950s and early 1960s to be undergoing a seismic upheaval, comparable to the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Secondly, this led radicals to exaggerate many of the social changes occurring in the period, and to imagine the emergence of a new social order. Radicals interpreted affluence as an era of unlimited technology, limited church decline as the arrival of a profoundly secular age, and limited sexual shifts as evidence of a sexual revolution. They effectively created the idea of the ‘secular society’, which became widely accepted once it was adopted by the Anglican hierarchy. Third, radical treatment of these themes was part of a tradition that went back to the 1940s; radicals anticipated many of the themes of the secular culture of the 1960s, not the other way round. Fourth, far from slavishly adopting secular intellectual frameworks, radical arguments were often framed using theological concepts, such as Christian eschatology. Finally, for all these reasons, Christian radicals made an original and influential contribution to the elite re-imagination of British society which occurred in the 1960s.
What kind of perceptions of God do children have? Do they believe in God? Does change take place over time and is there a connection with changes in society? These questions are answered on the basis ...of texts and surveys involving children between 8 and 12 years of age in Sweden during 2002 and similar material from the years 1969, 1979 and 1987-90. Results show that children who do not know what to believe make up the largest group throughout the period. Perceptions of God are relatively stable over time but belief in Allah as well as personal relationships with God seem to be more common. The proportion of children who believe was visibly greater than the proportion of non-believers in 2002, which disrupts the tendency running up to 1990 where the proportion of non-believing children was on the increase and is greater than the proportion of believers. Issues about God also get a higher ranking order in 2002. A careful interpretation shows that a change has taken place. The number of children with foreign backgrounds has increased. While the tendency in ethnically Swedish schools remains the same, believers constitute the majority in multi-ethnic areas, and also among Swedish children. This suggests an increasing interest and dialogue among all children in multi-ethnic schools about religious matters. Great demands are placed on the teaching of religion and ethics in order to capture this increase in interest. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)
U europskoj povijesti, Reformacija je bila pokušaj uklanjanja crkvenog autoriteta iz političkog (ili sekularnog) autoriteta i kulture – postupak koji nazivamo sekularizacija. Tijekom osamnaestog i ...napose devetnaestog stoljeća, sekularizacija je zadobila drugačije značenje koje, kratko rečeno, evoluira iz religioznosti u ireligioznost. Umjesto da se odnosi na postajanje slobodnim od crkvenog tutorstva, počelo se odnositi na potpunu izolaciju društva od religije. Za one koji su sekularizaciju vidjeli kao ateizam, istovremeno nositi sekularizacijske ideje i imati religijsku osnovu bilo je proturječno. Primjerice, Francis Bacon je interpretiran kao nesekularan zato što je koristio Bibliju kao izvor za opravdanje svojih ideja vezanih za oslobođenje znanosti od teologije. Suprotno tome, u ovom radu argumentiram da je Baconova prirodna filozofija sekularna. Da bih to dokazao, izuzev referiranja na biblijske izvore u njegovim radovima također ću istražiti kako je Bacon oslobodio prirodno (ili sekularno) znanje od religijskog utjecaja time što je uklonio konačne uzroke iz prirodofilozofskog ispitivanja.
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