Return of religion in the public sphere? The Nordic countries from 1980s until the present

KIFO Centre for Church Research invites you to the final conference of the NOREL research program, which will be held on March 27-28 2014 at Diakonhjemmet Høgskole in Oslo

Many have claimed that there is a resurgence of religion in the public sphere, as witnessed in debates over religion in parliaments and the media, in contests over the relationship between the state and religion, the rights of religious minorities, and the visibility of religious symbolism in public. Research from the Nordic countries conducted three decades ago suggested that the major trend was a privatization of religion. The question posed during this conference is if there has been a resurgence of religion in the public sphere in Denmark, Sweden, Norway Finland and Iceland during the past twenty years.

Key note is Professor Michael Minkenberg at Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder) who will speak on religion, state, and democracy in Western societies. Many influential Nordic sociologists of religion will also present findings from comparative, empirical studies of religion and state, politics, media, and civil society.

The presentations at the conference are based on research from the five-year NORDCORP project “The Role of Religion in the Public Sphere. A Comparative Study of the Five Nordic Countries 1988-2008” funded by Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (NOS-HS).

Program

Registration.
The conference is open. In order to plan the serving of (free) lunch and refreshments, registration is required. Registration deadline March 20.

KIFO covers travel and stay for one person from KIFO’s main collaborative partners.

For questions and more information, please contact: kifo@kifo.no phone 0047 23 33 47 20

 

Program

 

Thursday March 27

08:30 Registration and coffee
09:00 Welcome and practical information
  Ånund Brottveit, KIFO Centre for Church Research
09:15 Return of religion in the Nordic Public spheres?
  Inger Furseth, KIFO and University of Oslo
09:45 Religion, State, and Democracy in Western Societies: Old Questions and New Challenges
  Michael Minkenberg, Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)
10:45 Coffee
11:00 Changing religious landscapes in Europe’s Nordic region 1980s-2013
  Inger Furseth, KIFO and University of Oslo
Kimmo Ketola, The Church Research Institute, Finland
Annette Leis Peters, Uppsala University
Bjarni R. Sigurvinsson, University of Iceland
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Religion and state
  Brian Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen
Lene Kühle, Aarhus University
Ulla Schmidt, KIFO
15:15 Coffee
15:30 Religion on the political agenda
  Pål Ketil Botvar, KIFO
Jonas Lindberg, Uppsala University
Mia Lövheim, Uppsala University
Kati Niemelä, University of Helsinki
17:15 End of first day
   
 

Friday March 28

09:00 Religion and the media
  Henrik Reintoft Christensen, Aarhus University
Ann Kristin Gresaker, KIFO
Knut Lundby, University of Oslo
Mia Lövheim, Uppsala University
Kati Niemelä, University of Helsinki
10:45 Coffee
11:00 Religion and civil society – the interfaith sector
  Inger Furseth, KIFO, University of Oslo
Kimmo Ketola, The Church Research Institute, Finland
Annette Leis Peters, Uppsala University
Pål Repstad, University of Agder
Bjarni R. Sigurvinsson, University of Iceland
Sivert Skålvoll Urstad, University of Agder
12:45 Lunch
13:45 Major findings and implications
  Comments by Michael Minkenberg and discussion
14:30 End of conference