CRS newsletter no 3 2013

Visiting professor Hans-Georg Ziebertz problematized in his lecture both confessional and non-confessional RE.

Patrik Bremdal gets 827 000 SEK for research on the liability of cabinet ministers.

Per-Erik Nilsson leaves CRS for three years in France.

CRS- and Impactresearcher Maria Klingenberg is the best teacher, according to the students.

Blog post about secularism by CRS-researcher.

Yesterday afternoon about 40 researchers from the Impact programme gathered at CRS for the second researchers’ meeting of 2013. They got to listen to panel debate about multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary research which exposed strong and differing opinions.

As the religious diversity in the Nordic countries grows, religion becomes an issue in more political areas than before. That is one of the conclusions of doctoral student and Impact researcher Jonas Lindberg, who has studied religion in Nordic party platforms 1988-2008.

This semester and until March next year, CRS is visited by German professor Hans-Georg Ziebertz, thanks to a grant provided by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. He spends most of his time in Uppsala working on a big, international project about religion and human rights.

Since October 15th, CRS and the Impact programme have a new information officer.

A new Impact-project has just started as the Swedish part of international research collaboration 2013-2017 between Uppsala University, Helsinki University, Diakonhjemmet höjskole in Oslo and University of South Africa.

Freedom of religion is, according to the Swedish constitution (regeringsformen), an absolute right that cannot be limited. But in reality religious freedom is often limited by various considerations. That concludes jurist and Impact researcher Victoria Enkvist. In her doctoral thesis, Enkvist recommends Swedish lawmakers to be honest, and to clarify the limits of religious freedom.

How does the changed role of religion in today’s society affect Religious Education in schools? And how do teachers handle the inherent tensions in the subject in school? These are the topics of a new research project at CRS. The researchers also hope to find improved methods for teachers to reach and motivate their pupils.

Professor emeritus Anders Bäckström bloggade om helgens traditioner.

CRS-researcher Per-Erik Nilsson about the popular TV-show: “Homeland legitimizes the struggle against terrorism”.

Associate professor Anders Sjöborg has studied how students in Swedish gymnasium (high school) feel about religion and religious education in school. His results show clear disparities between secular and religious students.

Impact researcher Gina Gustavsson, ph.d., has made her contribution to the debate over the wordings over the Uppsala University lecture hall. Her standpoint is clear: We shouldn’t change the words of Swedish writer Thomas Thorild, even though they are opposite to the free and equal quest for truth.

 The Christian newspaper Dagen today publishes an interview with Impact doctoral student Marta Axner. The article focuses on Axner’s doctoral thesis, Public religions in Swedish media: a study of religious actors on three newspaper debate pages 2001–2011.

Representatives of religious groups are published on the debate pages of the large Swedish newspapers. The conditions are set by media though, and the prospects vary between different religious groups, according to sociologist of religion Marta Axner. Axner, who is part of the Impact programme, has studied debate articles by different religious actors in large Swedish newspapers. The results are now presented in her doctoral thesis.

I en artikel på Svenska Dagbladets Brännpunkt skriver Miriam Hollmer (CRS) och Anna Ardin (Sektor 3) bland annat om den enkätundersökning om svenskarnas attityder till olika välfärdsaktörer.

The international conference The Impact of Religion - Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy took place in Uppsala May 20-22 with 160 participants. Leading scholars contributed and we now publish podcasts from some of the speakers here at our website.

Poverty in South Africa is still rampant and many inequalities that existed during the apartheid legislation remains. The churches, however, play an important role in the fight against poverty. A new book describes the complex welfare space in the country after the apartheid-era with a focus on the churches welfare work.

A new study about young Christians' relationship with alcohol and other drugs shows that alcohol consumption is significantly lower among active Christians than among young people in general. However, only a minority totally abstains from alcohol as they move in various social environments and have friends that drink alcohol.

Susanne Schenk is a PhD student in ethnology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She comes to CRS in April and May.

Professor Ignatius Swart from the Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR) at the University of South Africa, is a guest researcher at Religion and Society in May.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Impact member – professor Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg the 2013 Söderbergska Prize in Jurisprudence for her scientific contributions within international family law.

Professor Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg was recently awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Bergen, Norway for her international research into family law.

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There is a predominantly positive attitude among Swedes to non-profit or commercial welfare providers. In total almost half think that other providers should be allowed to offer welfare services, while just a third are against. This is shown by an attitude survey conducted by CRS at Uppsala University, commissioned by the Church of Sweden. 

A network of qualified researchers in youth and religion research has been established at Religion and Society. The research focus on issues of religion’s importance for young people from several perspectives:
– There is much ignorance within this area and many prejudices exist, a multidisciplinary approach is therefore needed, says Professor Mia Lövheim.

A new book in CRS's publication series: "Studies in Religion and Society" shows the first complete picture of the Assyrian identity. The book addresses different eras and issues that have not previously been highlighted:
– There has been a void in the Assyrian people's story which my co-authors and I wanted to fill, says Önver Cetrez, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Religion at Uppsala University.

Anders Bäckström, Senior Professor at the Religion and Society Research Centre and one of the founders of the Impact Programme and CRS, has received Uppsala University's Rudbeck Medal.

In the dissertation “Everybody, Welcome to France” Per-Erik Nilsson is studying the topic of secularism and national identity in contemporary France. The specific research question is how France has been articulated as a “secular” republic in political speech and legislative text and how this articulation relates to conceptions of “nation”, “integration”, and “citizenship”.

IMPACT-forskaren Mats Kumlien har publicerat en studie med titeln Finns det ett kristet synsätt på abort?

I sin blogg kommenterar Svenska kyrkans ärkebiskop Anders Wejryd Impactprogrammet.