Project MUSE®: Scandinavian Studies - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Scandinavian Studies.daily12026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 83 (2011) through current issueLatest Articles: Scandinavian StudiesTWOProject MUSE®Scandinavian Studies2163-81950036-5637Latest articles in Scandinavian Studies. Feed provided by Project MUSE®Introduction: Religion? In Nordic Party Politics?
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/981898
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The complaint that religion is invisible in much of social science and thus that social scientists studying religion are marginalized, is so old hat (e.g., Beckford 1989) that it feels somewhat inane to start with this observation.1 Yet when speaking of the Nordic countries (or Norden; Sørensen and Stråth 1997), the invisibility of religion often seems not to be a function of disciplinary indifference but something designated by empirical reality. It is not a stretch to say that the region is best known for the conspicuous absence of religion in public affairs and individual lives. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all have publicly visible national Lutheran churches with differing but close ties to the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526/image/coversmallIntroduction: Religion? In Nordic Party Politics?2026-02-06text/htmlen-USIntroduction: Religion? In Nordic Party Politics?2026-02-062026TWOProject MUSE®202632026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-02-06Embedded or Embattled? Constructing Legitimate Religion in Finnish Political Party Platforms
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/981899
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The "summer hymn controversy" is a media event that happens almost every summer toward the end of the school year in Finland. It concerns the Suvivirsi (summer hymn), hymn 571 of the official hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF), traditionally sung at end of academic year festivities in primary and secondary schools across the country. For some, the hymn represents a relic that does not fit the secular and increasingly religiously diverse world of publicly funded schools in twenty-first-century Finland.1 For others, it is an inseparable part of Finnish culture. The controversy is about whether the Suvivirsi should or should not be sung at the end of the school year in an assembly compulsory
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526/image/coversmallEmbedded or Embattled? Constructing Legitimate Religion in Finnish Political Party Platforms2026-02-06text/htmlen-USEmbedded or Embattled? Constructing Legitimate Religion in Finnish Political Party Platforms2026-02-062026TWOProject MUSE®1403162026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-02-06Why Religion Matters (Or Doesn't): Political Legitimation and Delegitimation in Norwegian Party Manifestos
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/981900
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In Norway, an increasingly secular and pluralist country, religious and life stance communities (tros- og livssynssamfunn) are funded by the state. Hence, funding of religion is a matter of public expense and needs a high level of political legitimation. In this article, I ask: How is religion and life stance legitimized and delegitimized in the manifestos of the Norwegian political parties? I identify various motifs and analyze the constructions of legitimation and delegitimation in them.Although numerous studies have examined religion in public and political discourses in Norway, there has been limited research on the legitimation and construction of religion in Norwegian political manifestos and parliamentary
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526/image/coversmallWhy Religion Matters (Or Doesn't): Political Legitimation and Delegitimation in Norwegian Party Manifestos2026-02-06text/htmlen-USWhy Religion Matters (Or Doesn't): Political Legitimation and Delegitimation in Norwegian Party Manifestos2026-02-062026TWOProject MUSE®1172562026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-02-06The Evolution of Abortion Legislation in Denmark: From Religious Justifications to Secular Ethics
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/981901
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Denmark was the first Western country to adopt access to abortion as a statutory right in the national health system in 1973. Since then, abortion legislation has not changed much. In the twenty-first century, debates on extending the week limit from twelve to eighteen weeks slowly gained traction, and in 2023, a broad political coalition decided to change the legislation pending debates in parliament in the parliamentary year of 2024–2025. This article analyzes legislative proposals and argues that abortion debates have changed substantially in the past fifty years, with religiously legitimated arguments being superseded by arguments legitimated with reference to individual rights and health ethics. The article
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526/image/coversmallThe Evolution of Abortion Legislation in Denmark: From Religious Justifications to Secular Ethics2026-02-06text/htmlen-USThe Evolution of Abortion Legislation in Denmark: From Religious Justifications to Secular Ethics2026-02-062026TWOProject MUSE®1084182026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-02-06Religion as a Social Problem in the Swedish Parliament: Constructions of the "Religious Other" in Motions on Banning the Muslim Veil and Call to Prayer
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/981902
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Religious expressions in the Swedish public sphere have become increasingly problematized and politicized, and the call to prayer and the Muslim veil are two examples of such contested issues. Today, regular public calls to prayer occur in three Swedish mosques for three to five minutes every Friday. The mosque in Fittja, south of Stockholm, was granted permission for public call to prayer in 2013. In Karlskrona, the call to prayer was first heard in 2017; in Växjö, the mosque has been making public calls to summon Friday prayers since 2018. In all three cases, the police have granted permissions with reference to the municipalities' regulations on disturbing noise levels, which has caused extensive public and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/526/image/coversmallReligion as a Social Problem in the Swedish Parliament: Constructions of the "Religious Other" in Motions on Banning the Muslim Veil and Call to Prayer2026-02-06text/htmlen-USReligion as a Social Problem in the Swedish Parliament: Constructions of the "Religious Other" in Motions on Banning the Muslim Veil and Call to Prayer2026-02-062026TWOProject MUSE®1559072026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-02-06