Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T10:06:08.717Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary 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]].
Get access

Abstract

In many European democracies, religion was an important political cleavage throughout the twentieth century. But in Denmark and Sweden, religious differences have not been translated into political competition. Instead, class conflict has dominated. This article attempts to explain why. Our argument is that in the first decades of the twentieth century, the issue that mattered most for the politicization of religion elsewhere in Europe – the role of churches in the provision of poor relief and education – was already settled. The main reason was that in the nineteenth century, the secular state had captured the organizational infrastructure that churches used to provide these services.

Résumé

Dans nombre de démocraties européennes les divisions religieuses ont été encore au Xxe siècle, un puissant facteur de clivage politique. Ce ne fut le cas ni au Danemark ni en Suède où le conflit de classe fut prédominant. L’article propose une explication, à savoir que le rôle des Églises dans l’éducation et la gestion de la pauvreté était une question déjà réglée. Dès le Xixe siècle l’État avait pris aux Églises les infrastructures et mis en place une gestion étatisée de ces services.

Zuzammenfassung

In vielen europäischen Demokratien des 20. Jahrhunderts war die Religion ein politisch trennendes Element, außer in Dänemark und Schweden. Hier dominierte der Klassenkampf, da, anders als in anderen europäischen Ländern, die Rolle der Kirche in puncto Armenfürsorge und Erziehung bereits geregelt war, da im Laufe des 19. Jahrhundert der Säkularstaat die sozialen Infrastrukturen der Kirchen übernommen 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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahrén, Per-Olof, 1964. “Stat och kyrka i Sverige”, in SOU, 964, p. 16.Google Scholar
Algotsson, Karl-Göran, 1975. Från katekestvång till religionsfrihet (Stockholm, Rabén & Sjögren).Google Scholar
Anderson, Karen, 2008. “The Church as Nation? Religious Factors in the Development of the Swedish Welfare State”, in van Kersbergen, and Manow, , eds.Google Scholar
Asschenfeldt-Hansen, C., 1917. “Kristendommen i skolerne”, Den indre Missions Tidende, 65, p. 3.Google Scholar
Bergsten, Torsten, 1995. Frikyrkor i samverkan (Örebro, Libris).Google Scholar
Berman, Sheri, 2003. “Islamism, Revolution, and Civil Society”, Perspectives on Politics, 1, pp. 257–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, John L., 2004. Institutional Change and Globalization (Princeton, Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centerwall, Otto, 1923. “Vår kyrkas sociala uppgift”, Nya Dagligt Allehanda (6 October).Google Scholar
Dybdahl, Vagn, 1982. Det nye samfund på vej 1871-1913 (Copenhagen, Gyldendal).Google Scholar
Edebalk, Per Gunnar, 1991. Drömmen om ålderdomshemmet (Lund, Socialhögskolan).Google Scholar
Eklund, Johan Alfred, 1919. Kyrkan och den sociala frågan (Stockholm, Sveriges kristliga studentrörelses förlag).Google Scholar
Engberg, Artur, 1925. “Kristendomsundervisningen”, Socialdemokraten, October 29.Google Scholar
Erfurt, Program, 1891. Protokoll des Parteitages der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands: Abgehalten zu Erfurt vom 14. bis 20. Oktober 1891, Berlin.Google Scholar
Ertman, Thomas, 2008. “Western European Party Systems and the Religious Cleavage”, in van Kersbergen, and Manow, , eds.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gellerstam, Göran, 1971. Från fattigvård till församlingsvård (Lund, Department of Theology).Google Scholar
Gorski, P., 2003. The Disciplinary Revolution (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedemann, P., 1911. “Socialistisk Kristendom”, Højskolebladet, 35.Google Scholar
Hoff, Johs., 1929. “Vor Kirkes Svaghed”, Den indre Missions Tidende, 76, p. 30.Google Scholar
Høirup, Johs., 1911. “Folkeskolens Tilsyn og Styrelse”, Højskolebladet, 36, p. 21, 25.Google Scholar
Jägerskiöld, Stig, 1955. “Från fattigvård till socialhjälp I-II”, Förvaltningsrättslig tidskrift, 18.Google Scholar
Jordansson, Birgitta, 1998. Den goda människan från Göteborg (Lund, Arkiv).Google Scholar
Kahl, Sigrun, 2005. “The Religious Roots of Modern Poverty Policy”, Archives européennes de sociologie, XLVI, 1.Google Scholar
Kalyvas, Stathis N., 1996. The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe (Ithaca, Cornell University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knudsen, Tim, 1993. Den danske stat i Europa (Copenhagen, Djøf Publishing).Google Scholar
Knudsen, Tim, ed., 2000. Den nordiske protestantisme og velfærdsstaten (Århus, Århus Universitetsforlag).Google Scholar
Korsgaard, O., 2004. Kampen om folket (Copenhagen, Gyldendal).Google Scholar
Krabbe, O., 1967. Kirkens sociale arbejde (Copenhagen, G.E.C. Gads Forlag).Google Scholar
Ladewig, Petersen E., 1980. Fra standssamfund til rangssamfund 1500-1700 (Copenhagen, Gyldendal).Google Scholar
Leo, XIII, 1891. Rerum Novarum (Vatican City).Google Scholar
Lindbom, Anders, 1995. Medborgarskapet i välfärdsstaten (Uppsala, Department of Political Science).Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin and Rokkan, Stein, 1967. Party Systems and Voter Alignments (New York, Free Press).Google Scholar
Lundquist, Lennart, 1997. Fattigvårdsfolket (Lund, Lund University Press).Google Scholar
Lützen, Karin, 1998. Byen tæmmes (Copenhagen, Hans Reitzels Forlag).Google Scholar
Martensen, H. L., 1878. Den sociale Ethik (Copenhagen, Gyldendals boghandels forlag).Google Scholar
Mikkelsen, J., 1914. “Folkeskolens Religionsundervisning”, Højskolebladet, 39, p. 2.Google Scholar
Moe, Carl, 1916. “Rigsdagsvalgene”, Den indre Missions Tidende, 63.Google Scholar
Morgan, Kimberly J., 2002. “Forging the Frontiers Between State, Church, and Family”, Politics & Society, 30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordström, Nils Johan, 1922. De frikyrkliga och statskyrkoproblemet (Stockholm, B.-M:s bokförlags AB).Google Scholar
Østergård, Uffe, 2003. “Lutheranismen, danskheden og velfærdsstaten”, in Petersen, Klaus, ed., 13Historier om den danske velfærdsstat (Odense, Syddansk Universitetsforlag), p. 27–37.Google Scholar
Pedersen, Arne, 1981”.Grundtvigianismens forhold til det sociale spørgsmål fra ca. 1855–1903”, in Holmgaard, J., Det Grundtvigske Bondemiljø (Aalborg: Aalborg Universitetsforlag).Google Scholar
Pehrsson, Per, 1917. Vår kyrkas sociala uppgifter (Gävle, Svenska skolmaterielaktiebolaget).Google Scholar
Philip, Kjeld, 1947. Staten og fattigdommen (Copenhagen, Jul. Gjellerups Forlag).Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul, 2004. Politics in Time (Princeton, Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pontoppidan, Thyssen A., 1981. “Indre Missions og grundtvigianismens stilling til samfundsspørgsmål i 1930’erne”, in Holmgaard, J., Det Grundtvigske Bondemiljø (Aalborg, Aalborg Universitetsforlag), pp. 190–191.Google Scholar
Qvarsell, Roger, 1993. Skall jag taga vara på min broder? (Umeå, Department of History of Ideas).Google Scholar
Randkær, M.N., 1930. “Skolens betydning og fremtid”, Den indre Missions Tidende, 77, p. 6.Google Scholar
Rokkan, Stein, 1966. “Norway. Numerical Democracy and Corporate Pluralism” in Dahl Robert, A., ed., Political Oppositions in Western Democracies (New Haven, Yale University Press).Google Scholar
Rokkan, Stein, 1983. Economy, Territory, Identity (London, Sage).Google Scholar
Schwarz, Lausten M., 1999. Kirkens historie i Danmark (Århus, Forlaget).Google Scholar
Ström, Tord, 1927. “Socialt arbete inom svenska kyrkans ram”, Stockholms-Tidningen, 8 October.Google Scholar
Ström, Tord, 1937. Det timliga i evighetens ljus (Stockholm, Svenska kyrkans diakonistyrelses bokförlag).Google Scholar
Svenstrup, Thyge, 2000. “Den etiske socialisme”, in Knudsen, Tim, ed., Den nordiske protestantisme og velfærdsstaten (Århus, Århus Universitetsforlag).Google Scholar
Söderblom, Nathan, 1918. Religionen och staten (Stockholm, Norstedts).Google Scholar
Sørensen, Aa.B., 1998. “On Kings, Pietism and Rent-Seeking in Scandinavian Welfare States”, Acta Sociologica, 41, p. 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tegborg, Lennart, 1969. Folkskolans sekularisering (Stockholm, Föreningen för svensk undervisningshistoria).Google Scholar
Therborn, Göran, 1989. “‘Pillarization’ and ‘Popular Movements’”, in Castles, F. G., ed., The Comparative History of Public Policy (Cambridge, Polity Press).Google Scholar
Thorkildsen, D., 1997. “Religious Identity and Nordic Identity”, in Sørensen, Øystein and Stråth, Bo, eds, The Cultural Construction of Norden (Oslo, Scandinavian University Press).Google Scholar
Tingsten, Herbert, 1941. Den svenska socialdemokratiens idéutveckling (Stockholm, Tiden).Google Scholar
van Kersbergen, Kees and Manow, Philip, eds, 2009. Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare State Regimes (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villadsen, Kaspar, 2004. Det sociale arbejdes genealogi (Copenhagen, Hans Reitzels Forlag).Google Scholar
Wallinder, Josef, 1934. “De kristna inför det aktuella sociala läget”, Svenska Morgonbladet (3 September).Google Scholar