Lutheranism and the Nordic Welfare States in Comparison

Perichoresis, 2015

As the main religion of Finland, but also of entire Scandinavia, Lutheranism has a centuries-long history. Until 1809 Finland formed the eastern part of the Swedish Kingdom, from 1809 to 1917 it was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, and in 1917 Finland gained independence. In the 1520s the Lutheran Reformation reached the Swedish realm and gradually Lutheranism was made the state religion in Sweden. In the 19th century the Emperor in Russia recognized the official Lutheran confession and the status of the Lutheran Church as a state church in Finland. In the 20th century Lutheran church leaders preferred to use the concept people’s church. The Lutheran Church is still the majority church. In the beginning of 2015, some 74 percent of all Finns were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. In this issue of Perichoresis, Finnish historians interested in the role of church and Christian faith in society look at the religious history of Finland and Scandinavia. The ar...

Paper presented at the conference La réforme 1517-2017. Sorbonne University, Paris, 2017

What may be the short-term and long term-reasons behind this in a nation with an internationally and historically very high degree of secularization? In the Inglehart/Welzel map of world values, Sweden stands out as the world’s arguably most secular and individualistic nation. At the same time, Sweden is one of the nations in the world where the state has the strongest control over the people. How is this paradox possible? And more specifically: What significance could one of the world’s largest Lutheran churches and its relationship with a dominating Social democratic party have had for this peculiar pattern?

Lutheranism and the Nordic Spirit of Social Democracy, 2017

Temenos, 2013

The article compares the role in welfare provision of the majority churches in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Nordic welfare state model implies a large public sector and a correspondingly small contribution to welfare provision by the voluntary sector, of which church-based welfare activities, as defined in the article, are part. The data used in the article are derived from a European project, 'Welfare and religion in a European perspective', concerning the role of European majority churches as agents of welfare provision. The findings show many similarities between the Nordic cases, but also some differences. In all cases it is clear that both the church and the public authorities take the Nordic welfare state model more or less for granted. The Swedish and Norwegian cases, unlike the Finnish one, show that the public authorities at the municipal level are fairly unfamiliar with local church-based welfare activities. The article raises topical questions as to the role of the Nordic churches in social policy and as moral authorities in contemporary society.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2021

Scandinavian social democracy is increasingly upheld as an alternative that could reform capitalism. The Nordic Model produces income equality, low-conflict politics, and happy people. When half of young Americans express that they would prefer "socialism," they generally mean to live in a society that provides for its citizens as the Nordics do. Such aspirations are complicated by how social democracy can be viewed as a secularized form of Lutheranism, the Protestant creed that the Nordic region embraced in the 16th century. Lutheran norms and values carried into the modern era and made possible social democracy's two distinguishing features: fascist corporatism and socialist redistribution. A strong state facilitates statist individualism, which empowers individuals vis-à-vis employers, parents, and spouses. The outcome could be cross-culturally salient, as it brings people closer to our species' fission-fusion baseline. Yet in the modern environment, only Nordics seem to have a cultural imaginary that makes compelling the politics that drive such high levels of both productivity and egalitarianism. The region's storytelling reflects this Lutheran past and is used to negotiate modern adaptations. A better understanding of social democracy could help prevent that demands for "socialism" motivate a turn to actual socialism.

Journal of Church and State, 2018

Kvinder, køn & forskning, 2001

Today there are two lively but rather separate discussions on the welfare states in the Nordic countries. One concerns the welfare state in a gender perspective; the other is mainly interested in the role of Lutheranism in the Nordic welfare state model. 1 Interestingly, gender research has a longer and better established tradition while the religious aspect has only recently gained a better foothold in the Nordic academic arena. Both discussions are based on the perceived historical and social dimensions of the Nordic societies, i.e. gender relations on the one hand and a unique religious history on the other. As far as gender relations are concerned, the Nordic welfare states have often been seen as model states of gender equality. The share of women in the labour force is high and there is an extensive network of social services for children, youth and old people. Women's suffrage in the Nordic countries was gained relatively early-between 1906 (Finland) and 1919 (Sweden)-and today

Exploring a heritage : Evangelical Lutheran churches in the north, 2012

The article addresses two major issues: the legacy of the communist regime on the popular attitudes towards religion and the Church, and the patterns of religious politics and the political behaviour of the Lutheran Church in a traditionally Lutheran post-communist country.