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Lövheim, M. (2024). The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press: Negotiating Freedom of Speech in a Mediatized andReligiously Diverse Society. Temenos, 60(2), 225-250
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press: Negotiating Freedom of Speech in a Mediatized andReligiously Diverse Society
2024 (English)In: Temenos, ISSN 0497-1817, E-ISSN 2342-7256, Vol. 60, no 2, p. 225-250Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

During the summer of 2023 news and debates about public burningsof the Qur’an dominated the Swedish and international media. In theaftermath of the flames and the debate this article aims to presentand discuss the representation of the event as a ‘crisis’ in the Swedish daily press between 1 April and 1 October 2023. The article usesa quantitative analysis of the main topics in a selection of Swedishand Nordic daily newspapers, and a combination of co-occurrenceand qualitative frame analysis of how the event came to be debatedin a sample of Swedish opinion articles. Theories of mediatizedconflicts as dynamic and complex processes revealing the state ofdemocracy in a society are used to analyse the findings. The resultsare discussed in light of previous research on Qur’an burnings inSweden and on debates about previous events involving clashesbetween freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the Nordiccountries. The article concludes by arguing that the ‘Qur’an crisis’ asa mediatized conflict co-structures an ongoing negotiation betweendifferent positions on the most fundamental values of democracy,which has become increasingly contentious in Swedish public andpolitical debate.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Finnish Society for the Study of Religion, 2024
Keywords
Qur’an burnings, Sweden, mediatization, daily press, freedom of speech, religious diversity
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-546591 (URN)10.33356/temenos.142668 (DOI)001384841600003 ()
Note

The project was funded by the Erik Allardt fellowship grant, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

Available from: 2025-01-09 Created: 2025-01-09 Last updated: 2025-01-16Bibliographically approved
Lövheim, M. & Jensdotter, L. (2024). Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram. Nordic Journal of Media Studies, 6(1), 36-56
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram
2024 (English)In: Nordic Journal of Media Studies, E-ISSN 2003-184X, Vol. 6, no 1, p. 36-56Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this article, we analyse implicit connections between gender equality and particular forms of religion in Sweden, as expressed in political discourse and social media debates. Instagram posts responding to the Christian Democrats [Kristdemokraterna] political party's proposal to ban the wearing of veils in Swedish primary schools in 2021 were analysed through methods of co-occurrence analysis and feminist critical discourse analysis. By applying the concept of banal religion from mediatisation of religion theory, the results reveal how implicit connections between veiling as opposed to gender equality in the proposal turn into explicit debates on Instagram regarding what kind of religious practice is compatible with Swedish identity and values. This reveals the ambiguous nature of Instagram as a digital platform that may enhance hegemonic ideas of gender, ethnic, and religious identities, but that may also enable Muslim women to challenge understandings of Islam and gender equality in the public debate.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Göteborgs universitet, 2024
Keywords
banal religion, veil, Muslim, Instagram, Christian Democrats, Sweden
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-539375 (URN)10.2478/njms-2024-0003 (DOI)
Projects
The Nordic Network of Religion, Media and Populism, NOREMPO
Available from: 2024-09-27 Created: 2024-09-27 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Lövheim, M. & Jensdotter, L. (2023). Banal Religion and National Identity in Hybrid Media: “Heating” the Debate on Values and Veiling in Sweden. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 36(2), 95-108
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Banal Religion and National Identity in Hybrid Media: “Heating” the Debate on Values and Veiling in Sweden
2023 (English)In: Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, ISSN 0809-7291, E-ISSN 1890-7008, Vol. 36, no 2, p. 95-108Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Religion has become a hot topic in Sweden, often perceived as the most secularized corner of the world. This article analyzes how Islam and Lutheran Christianity come to be used in the construction of national identity, through discourse analysis of an opinion piece by the Christian Democrats in 2021 on banning veils in elementary schools, and the following discussion on Twitter(1). The concept "banal religion" from mediatization of religion theory is used to analyze when implicit understandings of religion and national identity become "heated" into a polarization between Islam and Swedish values. This represents a novel use of the concept that can contribute to previous research on religion and national identity by revealing how this dynamic is played out in hybrid media, where the logics of conventional news media become mixed with those of social media.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2023
Keywords
Banal religion, hybrid media, Christian Democrats, veil, Sweden
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-518687 (URN)10.18261/njrs.36.2.4 (DOI)001167363300004 ()
Funder
The Impact of Religion, Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy
Available from: 2023-12-21 Created: 2023-12-21 Last updated: 2024-03-20Bibliographically approved
Lövheim, M. (2022). Gender and Agency in Digital Religion. In: Heidi A. Campbell; Pauline Hope Cheong (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Digital Religion: (pp. C12.P1-C12.N1). Oxford: Oxford University Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Gender and Agency in Digital Religion
2022 (English)In: The Oxford Handbook of Digital Religion / [ed] Heidi A. Campbell; Pauline Hope Cheong, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, p. C12.P1-C12.N1Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Gender has become a prominent theme in research on digital religion, as part of a focus on the particular social, cultural, and embodied context. The most salient issue has been women’s religious agency, in particular within certain gender-traditional communities. The chapter presents three themes emerging in research on gender and digital religion since the year 2000 and discusses how these connect to current approaches to women’s agency within religious studies. The first theme focuses on how digital media enhances women’s agency through expressing religious experiences and connecting to a larger public. The second theme concerns uses of digital media to handle tensions between gender-traditional norms in religious communities, and ideals of gender equality and women’s independence in the wider society. The third theme bring out how digital technology enhances but also challenges women’s agency in new ways. The chapter ends with highlighting critical issues on agency within the area of digital religion that should be attended to in future studies.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022
Series
Oxford Handbooks
Keywords
gender, women, agency, Islam, evangelical Christian
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-491801 (URN)10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197549803.013.12 (DOI)9780197549834 (ISBN)9780197549803 (ISBN)
Funder
The Impact of Religion, Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy
Available from: 2022-12-23 Created: 2022-12-23 Last updated: 2023-05-05Bibliographically approved
Klingenberg, M. & Lövheim, M. (2022). Genus, makt och religion (2ed.). In: Mia Lövheim & Magdalena Nordin (Ed.), Sociologiska perspektiv på religion i Sverige: (pp. 95-116). Malmö: Gleerups Utbildning AB
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Genus, makt och religion
2022 (Swedish)In: Sociologiska perspektiv på religion i Sverige / [ed] Mia Lövheim & Magdalena Nordin, Malmö: Gleerups Utbildning AB, 2022, 2, p. 95-116Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö: Gleerups Utbildning AB, 2022 Edition: 2
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-487759 (URN)9789151107479 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-11-01 Created: 2022-11-01 Last updated: 2023-02-16Bibliographically approved
Lövheim, M. & Lundmark, E. (2022). Identity (2ed.). In: Heidi A. Campbell & Ruth Tsuria (Ed.), Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media (pp. 56-70). Oxon & New York: Routledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Identity
2022 (English)In: Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media / [ed] Heidi A. Campbell & Ruth Tsuria, Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2022, 2, p. 56-70Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The affordances of digital media highlight changes in the way individuals understand and express their sense of self in everyday life, as well as the way researchers have understood identity as an analytical category. Starting from an understanding of identity as an ongoing process formed in social interaction, this chapter presents and discusses two key themes that have saturated studies of identity in digital media and research on digital religion. The first of these themes concerns differences between “offline” or face-to-face, and “online” or digital contexts of social interaction, and how such differences shape the presentation of self-identity. The second theme concerns whether digital media as context for social interaction enhances the individual’s ability to form a self-understanding that gives meaning to her life-experiences, and negotiate the ways in which she becomes positioned by discursive and social structures that she encounters in interaction with others in various social spheres. The chapter concludes that the hybrid and personalized manifestations of religious identity that emerge in digital media spaces should not be disregarded as individualistic. Rather, they are deeply indicative of the new forms of social and technical infrastructures under which religion exists in contemporary society.  

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2022 Edition: 2
Keywords
identity, religion, digital media, hybrid, gender
National Category
Media and Communications Sociology Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-463312 (URN)9780367272364 (ISBN)9780367257767 (ISBN)9780429295683 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-01-07 Created: 2022-01-07 Last updated: 2025-01-31Bibliographically approved
Klingenberg, M., Lövheim, M. & Stockman, M. (2021). Delaktighet, inflytande och ledarskap bland kvinnor i trossamfund. Bromma
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Delaktighet, inflytande och ledarskap bland kvinnor i trossamfund
2021 (Swedish)Report (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Bromma: , 2021. p. 37
Keywords
kvinnor, ledarskap, inflytande, trossamfund, jämställdhet, genus
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-460934 (URN)9789198694307 (ISBN)
Available from: 2021-12-09 Created: 2021-12-09 Last updated: 2021-12-09
Klingenberg, M. & Lövheim, M. (2021). Kvinnor och religiöst ledarskap: ny kontext och nya aktörer. In: Curt Dahlgren (Ed.), Religionssociologisk mångfald: Texter till minne av Berndt Gustafsson, grundare av religionssociologi i Sverige (pp. 85-105). Lund: Lunds universitet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Kvinnor och religiöst ledarskap: ny kontext och nya aktörer
2021 (Swedish)In: Religionssociologisk mångfald: Texter till minne av Berndt Gustafsson, grundare av religionssociologi i Sverige / [ed] Curt Dahlgren, Lund: Lunds universitet , 2021, p. 85-105Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lund: Lunds universitet, 2021
Series
Lund Studies in Sociology of Religion, ISSN 1651-4432 ; 13
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-487757 (URN)91-974760-9-9 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-11-01 Created: 2022-11-01 Last updated: 2023-04-26Bibliographically approved
Jensdotter, L. & Lövheim, M. (2020). Criticizing Religion in Mediatized Debates (1ed.). In: Mia Lövheim; Mikael Stenmark (Ed.), A Constructive Critique of Religion: Encounters between Christianity, Islam, and Non-religion in Secular Societies (pp. 164-176). London: Bloomsbury Academic
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Criticizing Religion in Mediatized Debates
2020 (English)In: A Constructive Critique of Religion: Encounters between Christianity, Islam, and Non-religion in Secular Societies / [ed] Mia Lövheim; Mikael Stenmark, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020, 1, p. 164-176Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

In contemporary society debates over the public presence of religion often takes place in various forms of media. The increased mediatization of highly modernized societies means that control over the presence of religion in the public sphere is shifting from religious actors to the media. Mediatization also implies that the affordances of various media forms will enable or constrain interactions between social actors with diverse world-views. The case for the analysis will be a debate about the boundaries for public expressions of religious beliefs and arguments in Swedish society: the so called hand-shaking affair taking place in April 2016, where Swedish Green party politician Yasri Khan was interviewed in TV4 by a female reporter and refrained from shaking her hand with reference to his values and Muslim upbringing. The debate that followed highlight tensions between freedom of religion and gender equality in Swedish society and took place in several forms of media. The chapter focus on the critique of Khan’s action expressed in editorials and in Facebook, and discuss to what extent the affordances of these media forum enable the forms of democratic deliberation proposed by Sheila BenHabib and Chantal Mouffe.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020 Edition: 1
Keywords
Religion, mediatization, daily press, social media, criticism, democracy
National Category
Religious Studies Media and Communications
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-432838 (URN)9781350113107 (ISBN)
Available from: 2021-01-22 Created: 2021-01-22 Last updated: 2025-01-31Bibliographically approved
Lövheim, M. (2020). Media. In: Adam Possamai & Athony J. Blasi (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion: . Sage Publications
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Media
2020 (English)In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion / [ed] Adam Possamai & Athony J. Blasi, Sage Publications, 2020Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2020
National Category
Sociology Religious Studies
Research subject
Sociology of Religion
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-409726 (URN)10.4135/9781529714401.n276 (DOI)9781473942202 (ISBN)9781529714401 (ISBN)
Available from: 2020-04-27 Created: 2020-04-27 Last updated: 2020-05-18Bibliographically approved
Projects
Agency and spirituality: women's contribution to the formation of modernity in Sweden [2023-00686_VR]; University College Stockholm, Department of Religious Studies and TheologyElderly women’s voluntary work: a mixed methods study of resources, values and practices in a religious and a social-humanitarian organisation [2023-00981_VR]; Uppsala University
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-9024-3959

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