New Religiosity in Contemporary Sweden

Liselotte Frisk† [+–]

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Peter Åkerbäck [+–]

Stockholm University, Sweden

Peter Åkerbäck has a PhD in History of Religion from Stockholm University and is Director of Studies in the Department of Sociology there. His dissertation The Impermanent Religions: Collective Suicide and Salvation in Peoples Temple, Ordre du Temple Solaire and Heaven’s Gate was published in Swedish in 2008. He is co-author with Liselotte Frisk of New Religiosity in Contemporary Sweden: The Dalarna Study in National and International Context published by Equinox in 2015.

The book is based on a local study of contemporary popular or new religiosity in the area of Dalarna, Sweden. Religious expression always reflects its time. One of the book’s purposes is to explore how religion is perceived in our time and how Christianity has shaped our view of what belongs to the “religion” and what is seen as “superstition”. To understand religion it is necessary to study its practical everyday expressions.

Preliminaries

Acknowledgements [+–] vii-viii

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

The contemporary popular or new religious landscape in Sweden — arenas with religious elements outside the established churches — is large and multifaceted. Religion is today expressed in different localities, like retreat centers, health centers and gyms, and can manifest as for example healing, mindfulness, seances, coaching and body therapies. The boundaries between religious and secular arenas are becoming increasingly blurred. The popular or new religiosity is firmly rooted in older traditions, but also expresses creative innovation as a result of globalization, secularism, individualism and the impact of psychological and therapeutic orientations. The book is based on a local study of contemporary popular or new religiosity in the area of Dalarna, Sweden. Religious expression always reflects its time. One of the book’s purposes is to explore how religion is perceived in our time and how Christianity has shaped our view of what belongs to the “religion” and what is seen as “superstition”. To understand religion it is necessary to study its practical everyday expressions.

The Meditating Dala Horse Project: A Presentation [+–] 1-14

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter explains the background to the study which was funded by the Swedish Research Council between 2008 and 2011. It goes on to discuss different definitions of the term religion and the demarcations and position taken in this work. It then explains the conduct of the present study.

A Presentation of the Religious Landscape in Dalarna [+–] 15-38

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter presents the general results of the survey and touches on the problematic issue of quantity.

Religion Anywhere: Structure and Content [+–] 39-51

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter looks at businesses and phenomena with entrepreneurial structures, proposing a classificatory schema for this facet of popular religion. It also looks at the typology developed by sociologists of religion Ronald Stark and William Sims Bainbridge contrasting it with the model of Jonathan Z. Smith covered in the preceeding chapter. Finally, the authors look at the question of gender, focusing on the question of why 80 per cent of the producers in their study are women.

Comparing Dalarna with Other Areas [+–] 52-80

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter looks at local mapping studies similar to theirs that have been conducted in other parts of Europe, discussing why and how the Dalarna data is different. This comparison raises questions in general about how to define and demarcate an area of research and how to approach challenges of terminology. The studies compared are Kendal in the U.K, Klagenfurt and Leoben in Austria, Enkoping in Sweden and Arhus in Denmark.

Contemporary Religious Arenas: Retreat Centres, Health and Coaching Institutes, and Health Fairs [+–] 81-115

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter looks more closely at the physical places and locations where the phenomena of contemporary religious expression occur, with particular emphasis on Jonathan Z. Smith’s notion of ‘religion anywhere’.

Mindfulness in Dalarna: A Focused Area of Study [+–] 116-129

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

The focus of this chapter is on the idea of ‘mindfulness’ as used within the conventional, secular health-care sector, a sector that did not feature in the authors’ survey. The intention is to map the migration of the concept from a religious (Buddhist) to a therapeutic context in the west.

The Church of Sweden: Its Response to Religious Pluralism [+–] 130-148

Liselotte Frisk†

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

This chapter outlines the position/s adopted by the mainstream Church of Sweden to the growth of pluralism in Sweden.

Dalarna: A Local Place in a Global World [+–] 149-166

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

This chapter looks at some examples from Dalarna that illustrate the effects of globalization on the popular religious milieu and the ways in which global influences are expressed through adaptations at the local level.

Secularization, Individualism and Identity [+–] 167-177

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

The pentultimate chapter examines three concurrent themes which are discussed in relation to the authors’ empirical material from Dalarna: Secularization, Sacralization and Post-Secular Culture; Individualism; Religion and Identity.

End Matter

Conclusion [+–] 178-179

Liselotte Frisk†,Peter Åkerbäck

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Högskolan Dalarna University

View Website

The final chapter summarizes the authors’ conclusions and in particular expresses the observation that popular religion constitutes an ongoing challenge for the field of religious studies.

References [+–] 180-190

Liselotte Frisk†

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Index [+–] 191-193

Liselotte Frisk†

Dalarna University, Sweden

Liselotte Frisk, who died in 2021, was a professor in Religious Studies at Dalarna University, Sweden.

Reviews

The book gives us a remarkable impression of the religious lives of many different people.
Numen

Written in a straightforward and lucid style, the account touches on a large number of topics. It is theoretically informed and reflective throughout, engaging with key concepts like religion, spirituality, globalization, secularization, and individualism. Also, the findings and conclusions are discussed in relation to relevant international scholarship. The book places Dalarna on the map of international scholarship preoccupied with religious changes in our time.
Nova Religio

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Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

New Religiosity in Contemporary Sweden

The Dalarna Study in National and International Context

Liselotte Frisk† [+–]

Dalarna University, Sweden

Peter Åkerbäck [+–]

Stockholm University, Sweden

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