Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T18:15:07.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Alternative Religion – A New Political Cleavage?: An Analysis of Norwegian Survey Data on New Forms of Spirituality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2009

Pål Ketil Botvar
Pål Ketil Botvar*
Affiliation:
Center for Church Research
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Pål Ketil Botvar, Center for Church Research, P.O. Box 45, Vinderen N-0319, Oslo, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article addresses the relationship between religion and politics, and combines theories on religious change with theories on political cleavages. Empirical evidence is presented from a Norwegian survey of new forms of religiosity and political attitudes. Woodhead and Heelas (2004) have posited the hypothesis that a silent revolution is taking place where (traditional) religion is giving way to what they call “spirituality of life.” This article questioned the assumption that the individualistic and consumer-oriented New Age movement of the 1980s and 1990s has developed into a new religious movement that is concerned with life quality and social questions. According to the literature on political cleavages, certain demands have to be fulfilled before a social divide or a conflict develops into a full political cleavage. With respect to alternative religion, the empirical analysis reveals that the main obstacle is related to the lack of a collective ideological platform.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , December 2009 , pp. 378 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2009

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

REFERENCES

Aftenposten, . 2007. “Princess Claims Clairvoyant Powers, Aims to Share Them.” http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1901846.ece (Accessed August 7, 2009).Google Scholar
Ahlin, Lars. 2001. “New Age – konsumptionsvara eller värden att kämpa för?” (New Age — consumer good or value to fight for?). Doctoral thesis. Lund, Sweden: Teologiska institutionen, University of Lund.Google Scholar
Ahlin, Lars. 2005. “Pilgrim, turist eller flyktning? En studie av individuell religiøs rørlighet i senmoderniteten” (Pilgrim, Tourist or Refugee. A Study of Individual Religious Change in Late Modernity). Stockholm: Symposion.Google Scholar
Bartolini, Stefano, and Mair, Peter. 1990. Identity, Competition, and Electoral Availability: The Stability of European Electorates, 1885–1985. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Botvar, Pål Ketil. 1999. “Gammel og ny folketro” (Old and New Folk Beliefs). Halvårsskrift for Praktisk Teologi. 1:20–27.Google Scholar
Botvar, Pål Ketil. 2004. “The Civic Role of Individualised Religion. New Age and Social Capital.” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 17:121–136.Google Scholar
Botvar, Pål Ketil. 2007. “Why New Age is Giving Way to Spirituality. The Silent Revolution within Alternative Spirituality.” In Religion in Late Modernity. Essays in Honour of Pal Repstad, ed. Furseth, Inger, and Leer-Salvesen, Paul. Trondheim, Norway: Tapir Academic Press.Google Scholar
Brooks, Clem, Nieuwbeerta, Paul, and Manza, Jeff. 2006. “Cleavage-Based Voting Behaviour in a Cross-National Perspective: Evidence from six Post-war Democracies.” Social Science Research 35:88–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruce, Steve. 1996. Religion in the Modern World from Cathedrals to Cults. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Canetti-Nisim, Daphna, and Beit-Hallahmi, Behjamin. 2007. “The Effects of Authoritarianism, Religiosity, and ‘New Age' Beliefs on Support for Democracy.” Review of Religious Research 48:369–384.Google Scholar
Dagsavisen, . 2008. “Kritikk mot engleskole for barn” (Criticism of the Angel-School for Children). http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/article357168.ece (Accessed August 7, 2009).Google Scholar
Davie, Grace. 2002. Europe: The Exceptional Case. Parameters of Faith in the Modern World. London, UK: Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.Google Scholar
Deegan-Krause, Kevin. 2007. “New Dimensions of Political Cleavage.” In Oxford Handbook of Political Science, ed. Dalton, Russell J., and Klingemann, Hans-Dieter. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Donahue, Michael. 1993. “Prevalence and Correlations of New Age Beliefs in Six Protestant Denominations.” Journal of Scientific Study of Religion 32:177–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammer, Olav. 1997. På spaning efter helheten. New Age–en ny folktro? Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.Google Scholar
Heelas, Paul, and Woodhead., Linda 2004. The Spiritual Revolution. Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Heelas, Paul. 1996. The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralisation of Modernity. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Heelas, Paul. 2008. Spiritualities of Life. New Age Romanticism and Consumptive Capitalism. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodne, Ørnulf. 1999. Norsk folketro (Norwegian Folk Beliefs). Oslo, Norway: Cappelen Damm.Google Scholar
Hollinger, V. Franz, and Smith, Timothy. 2002. “Religion and ‘New Age'ism Among Students: A Cross-cultural Comparative Study.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 17:229–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holm, Nils G., and Björkqvist, Kaj. ed. 1996. Worldviews in Modern Society: Empirical Studies: Empirical Studies on the Relationship Between World View, Culture, Personality and Upbringing. Turku, Finland: Åbo Akademi University.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R. 1977. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Jagland, Thorbjørn. 1995a. Brev (Letters). Oslo, Norway: Tiden Norsk Forlag.Google Scholar
Jagland, Thorbjørn. 1995b. Den politiske situasjonen og programarbeidet. Innledning på det Norske arbeiderpartis 55. Ordinære Landsmøte 10–12 Februar 1995. (Opening speech at the Norwegian Labour Party's 55th ordinary national congress). A-info 6/95.Google Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter. 1998. “The Transformation of Cleavage Politics.” European Journal of Political Research 33:165–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyle, Richard. 1995. The New Age Movement in American Culture. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Lewis, James R., and Melton, Gordon J.. 1992. Perspectives on the New Age. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour M., and Rokkan, Stein. ed. 1967. Party Systems and Voter Alignments. Cross-National Perspectives. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Nerbøvik, Jostein. 1999. Norsk historie 1960–1914 (Norwegian History 1860–1914). Oslo, Norway: Det Norske Samlaget.Google Scholar
Rokkan, Stein. 1967. “Geography, Religion and Social Class: Cross-Cutting Cleavages in Norwegian Politics”. In Party Systems and Voter Alignments. Cross-National Perspectives, ed. Lipset, S.M., and Rokkan, Stein. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Solum, Øyvind. 2008. “Holistisk Forbund — vi er dem vi har ventet på” (Holistic Association — We are the Ones We are Waiting for). Visjon 2:74–77.Google Scholar
Solum, Øyvind. 2001. “Nyreligiøsitet i møte med Kirken” (New Religiosity Meets the Church). Luthersk kirketidende 6:135–136.Google Scholar