Political instability and the persistence of religion in Greece: the policy implications of the cultural defence paradigm

This paper examines the implications of ‘cultural defence’ in the nature of democracy and the stability of the political system in Greece. It focuses on the Greek Orthodox Church’s maintenance of power and political relevance by virtue of its strong link to national identity. We argue that the inhibition of secularization in Greece as a result of cultural defence has significant policy implications, especially in times of crises, when the role of nationalism as a cohesive factor against perceived threats is intensified. The paper further explores three policy/politics areas: (1) political orientation; (2) religious pluralism; and (3) education.

Secondary school teachers' perspectives on teaching about topics that bridge science and religion

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, Science and Religious Education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject area. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils hold religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training.

Vem är samen? : En läromedelsanalys av hur samisk kultur och identitet presenteras i Undervisningsmaterial i historia och religion

The aim of this essay is to study how the Sami are presented in four textbooks about religion and history that are used in the schools of the majority culture of Sweden today and one book of ideas asto how a textbook could look like from a Sami's perspective. Its aim is not only to study how the Sami are presented but also to discuss how students who read these books could interpret what it means to be a Sami and what their culture is about. It is also meant to discuss how the Sami identitycould be formed. In order to be able to discuss this the essay uses three different kinds of theories about identity and culture. The analysis showed that there is little information about Sami culture, identity, religion and historypresented in the four textbooks used in schools of the majority culture and that these books seem to want students to think that the Sami are troublemakers but are and should be assimilated into the majority culture.

Religion, populärkultur och demokrati : När filmer blir utgångspunkt för moralisk reflektion och samhällskritik

ISBN 978-91-978683-3-4

Krönika : Max Weber – myt och verklighet. Religion, kärlek, pengar och politik

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Vernacular meaning making : Examples of narrative impact in fiction film questioning the 'banal' notion in mediatization of religion theory

The outcome of an audience study supports theories stating that stories are a primary means by which we make sense of our experiences over time. Empirical examples of narrative impact are presented in which specific fiction film scenes condense spectators' lives, identities and beliefs. One conclusion is that spectators test the emotional realism of the narative for greater significance, connecting diegetic fiction experiences with their extra-diegetic world in their quest for meaning, self and identity. The 'banal' notion of the mediatization of religion theory is questioned as unsatisfactory in the theoretical context of individualized meaning-making processes. As a semantically negatively charged concept, it is problematic when analyzing empirical examples of spectators' use of fictional narratives, especially when trying to characterize the idiosyncratic and complex interplay between spectators' fiction emotions and their testing of mediated narratives in an exercise to find moral significance in extra-filmic life. Instead vernacular meaning-making is proposed.

Vad innebär religion för dig? : En kvalitativ intervjustudie av 10 elevers uppfattning av religion och religionsundervisningen i dagens gymnasieskola

Syftet med föreliggande undersökning är att undersöka tio gymnasieelevers uppfattningar om religion och religionsundervisning utifrån Gilhus och Mikaelssons teori om förståelsehorisonter och paradigm.. Denna studie är kvalitativ och i undersökningen används intervjuer av elever från årskurs 2 och 3 på en gymnasieskola. 10 elever intervjuades och deras syn på religion visar sig vara en syn på en högre makt eller Gud. De ser på religionsundervisningen som viktig, då den tar död på främlingsfientlighet och ger kunskap. Eleverna vill att undervisningen mestadels ska bestå av att lära sig om olika religioner och möte med religiösa människor. Undersökningen kan bidra till större undersökningar i ämnet, men även skapa en syn på hur några elever från en gymnasieskola ser på religion och religionsundervisning