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Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief andPrimary Education in Denmark and Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2008

Lars Bo Kaspersen  and
Johannes Lindvall
Lars Bo Kaspersen
Affiliation:
International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School [[email protected]]
Johannes Lindvall
Affiliation:
University of Oxford [[email protected]].
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Abstract

In many European democracies, religion was an important political cleavagethroughout the twentieth century. But in Denmark and Sweden, religiousdifferences have not been translated into political competition. Instead, classconflict has dominated. This article attempts to explain why. Our argument isthat in the first decades of the twentieth century, the issue that mattered mostfor the politicization of religion elsewhere in Europe – the role ofchurches in the provision of poor relief and education – was alreadysettled. The main reason was that in the nineteenth century, the secular statehad captured the organizational infrastructure that churches used to providethese services.

Résumé

Dans nombre de démocraties européennes les divisionsreligieuses ont été encore au Xxesiècle, un puissant facteur de clivage politique. Ce ne fut le cas niau Danemark ni en Suède où le conflit de classe futprédominant. L’article propose une explication, àsavoir que le rôle des Églises dansl’éducation et la gestion de la pauvretéétait une question déjà réglée.Dès le Xixe sièclel’État avait pris aux Églises les infrastructures etmis en place une gestion étatisée de ces services.

Zuzammenfassung

In vielen europäischen Demokratien des 20. Jahrhunderts war die Religionein politisch trennendes Element, außer in Dänemark undSchweden. Hier dominierte der Klassenkampf, da, anders als in andereneuropäischen Ländern, die Rolle der Kirche in punctoArmenfürsorge und Erziehung bereits geregelt war, da im Laufe des 19.Jahrhundert der Säkularstaat die sozialen Infrastrukturen der Kirchenübernommen hatte.

Type
Research Articles
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , April 2008 , pp. 119 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © A.E.S. 2008

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