Society in Transformation – State and Church as Co-Actors in Matters of the Family

The aim is: a) To analyse, from a historic-legal perspective, the Swedish model of delegation by the state to the church of various administrative functions relating to the family, such as officiating of marriage ceremonies with full legal effects. b) To study empirically how religious communities and their members are affected by new internal or external developments, such as creation of new practices or immigration into Sweden. The impact of these changes on how a religious doctrine/faith is constructed will be analysed with respect to issues such as the family and its functions, the welfare system, and gender.

Within this work package, Rolf Nygren is working on an opus major on how society has regarded children born out of wedlock during the last three centuries. The method is that of a historian, but with emphasis on legal materials and church documents.

Several articles and book chapters of Jänterä-Jareborg, published (or under publication) in Sweden or abroad, focus directly on the theme of the Church and the State as co-actors in, primarily, family law. The method is primarily the legal dogmatic method, but with regard to empirical material and other sources than traditional legal sources. This approach is novel among established European researchers. Domestically, the results have been of direct use in the work of Swedish law commissions in the past years, with Jänterä-Jareborg as an expert member. 

Participating researchers: Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg, Rolf Nygren, Mosa Sayed