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

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...

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Asıl Yazarlar: Lindvall, J, Kaspersen, L
Materyal Türü: Journal article
Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: Cambridge University Press 2008
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author Lindvall, J
Kaspersen, L
author_facet Lindvall, J
Kaspersen, L
author_sort Lindvall, J
collection OXFORD
description 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.
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spelling oxford-uuid:27afcbcd-7ba5-4b4f-8d3e-fdd90cf60ba62022-03-26T12:08:23ZWhy No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and SwedenJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:27afcbcd-7ba5-4b4f-8d3e-fdd90cf60ba6Social Sciences Division - DaisyCambridge University Press2008Lindvall, JKaspersen, LIn 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.
spellingShingle Lindvall, J
Kaspersen, L
Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title_full Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title_fullStr Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title_full_unstemmed Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title_short Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden
title_sort why no religious politics the secularization of poor relief and primary education in denmark and sweden
work_keys_str_mv AT lindvallj whynoreligiouspoliticsthesecularizationofpoorreliefandprimaryeducationindenmarkandsweden
AT kaspersenl whynoreligiouspoliticsthesecularizationofpoorreliefandprimaryeducationindenmarkandsweden