The study delves into reasons and arguments why Kristofferskolan, the first Waldorf school in Sweden, was able to get financial aid from the government in a time when it was unthinkable to support private schools in Sweden. From the 1950s until the 1990s publicly controlled schools were the norm in the Swedish school system and private schools were systematically dismantled. The government of this time motivated the objective of centralization with it being a democratization process to achieve equality. The public-school system was transformed during the 1950s and this transformation needed inspiration. Ironically this was found in private schools such as Kristofferskolan since it had a unique pedagogy, waldorf pedagogy. The study draws the conclusion that a long period of persuasion from the actors supporting the school’s principles was set into play, in which to convince the government of allowing the privately-operated school to be able to base the education on waldorf pedagogy. The reason why the school could flourish during these times was proved to come down to forces not foreseen by first glance. Lobbyism by the founders of Kristofferskolan to get the media on their side was discovered to be one of the utmost reasons to how the school could convince the government of providing subsidies yearly. The study was made using the method argumentation analysis and qualitative text analysis.

This study's main aim is to contribute with an insight regarding how employees of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) experience religion as a component of development work in religious contexts. The study focuses on whether or not religion is given enough space within Sida's development work and if the policies of Sida are enough to cover the needs in religious contexts. To answer these questions we have interviewed six employees of Sida which holds experiences of development work in religious contexts. The results show a lack of knowledge and encouragement of these questions within Sida and that the interviewees experience religion as a complex concept. The study also shows that the interviewees find policies, methods and tools within Sida as inadequate to cover the needs of religion in development work. In order to highlight and to problematize the results, the study has mainly been inspired by the secularization, the post-secularization and the sacralization theories that focuse on the role of religion in the public sphere. / Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att bidra med enförståelse för hur anställda på Sida upplever religionsfrågor som komponentinom utvecklingssamarbete i religiösa kontexter. Det vi frågat oss är vilkaupplevelser och behov av att arbeta med religionsfrågor som finns samt omreligionsfrågor ges tillräckligt med utrymme inom Sidas utvecklingssamarbete ireligiösa kontexter. För att svara på uppsatsens frågeställningar har vi utförtsex kvalitativa intervjuer med anställda på Sida som har insikt i deraslångsiktiga utvecklingssamarbete och erfarenhet av arbete i religiösakontexter. Studiens resultat visar att intervjupersonerna upplever att religionfår bristande uppmärksamhet och uppmuntran inom Sida samt att de uppleverreligion som ett komplext begrepp. Studien visar även att intervjupersonernaupplever att Sidas policyer, metoder och verktyg inte tillräckligt täcker debehov som finns av religion i utvecklingssamarbetet. I vår analys avintervjumaterialet har vi utgått från teorier om sekularisering,postsekularisering och sakralisering som belyser utvecklingen av religionensroll i den offentliga sfären.

During the 20th century, our planet and its population have faced a number of environmental challenges. The climate on earth is changing and it is most likely due to human activity and the destruction of the earth's resources, ecosystems and waterways. More recently a very active environmental movement is taking up more space in people's lives. In many ways, it can be considered that climate change, and the movement that accompanied it, created a generation of people who proclaim a doom as a result of human destruction of the planet. I have conducted qualitative online interviews with nine representatives from the Church of Sweden, mainly church pastors from southern Sweden, to see how they relate to climate change, their views on judgement day and how they respond to people in their office who have anxiety and are concerned about climate change and the possible destruction of the human race. The result shows that all respondents in the survey place a great focus on man's individual and collective responsibility in the care for the earth, that is, according to them, God's creation. Through Berger’s social-constructivist theories of secularization, the study shows that the climate movement itself sometimes lacks Christian values of optimism and Christian concepts, such as God's grace, forgiveness, and hope. It thus gives the impression that the movement in some ways has a secular character. In contrast to this, the representatives of the Swedish Church claim to have a hopeful attitude and mostly believe that climate change is not part of the eschatological prophecies described in the Bible. However, they often reason that one cannot know for certain what the future holds, but as they hope and long for Christ's return, they have no fear but instead put their faith in hope and in God. They believe there is a clearer optimism on their part in the form of forgiveness, grace and hope and are willing to lead by example by caring for people who fear and encourage them to hope and the trust in God.

The objectives of this study is to investigate how the church has changed over time, with focus on how modernity has influenced the church’s construction of its identity through martyrs’ texts, and to contribute to theory development through analysis. The study takes its theoretical starting point in Rowan Williams perspective on history as stories we tell to understand who we are. My main question is: how are changes in the church’s identity reflected in texts of martyrs from two historical periods? This question is answered through comparative analysis of texts written by martyrs from both the early church and the twentieth century, focusing on how the martyrs interpret and describe their coming martyrdom and suffering. Ignatius of Antiochs letters together with the prison narrative from The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas is compared to texts by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and by four trappist monks from Algeria: the brothers Luc, Paul, Christophe and Christian.  Six motifs are identified as common in the martyrs’ texts regarding their interpretation of martyrdom and its suffering:  1.    Suffering as freedom and liberation, 2.    the transformative suffering, 3.    suffering and martyrdom as argumentation, 4.    suffering as communion with God, 5.    the martyr’s suffering as the special path, 6.    and martyrdom as combat. Changes within these motifs are identified between the historical periods. Central differences between the texts involve a recurring shift from a transcendental to immanent interpretive framework, a movement from power to powerlessness and an increased focus on humanity and mankind in the modern era. The image of God has changed: from identification with the risen powerful Christ, the martyr rather identifies with the incarnated, suffering, serving, powerless and dying human Jesus in the modern era. The self-image of the martyrs has changed: the modern martyrs see themselves not becoming anything other than human, and instead becoming more human through her suffering and martyrdom. The political potential and hope have also changed: powerlessness is premiered, the martyr’s own guilt as human beings replaces the demonization of the other, and the change the martyrs hope for is in the immanent realm of humanity for the common well of all mankind in modern times. These changes can only to some extent, but not fully, be explained and understood by Charles Taylors theory on modernity and suffering presented in his A Secular Age (2007) and Byung-Chul Hans theory on modernity and suffering as discussed in his Palliativsamhället (2021). The immanent frame, the process of disenchantment and the anthropocentric shift helps to understand some of the differences between the eras.  But both Taylor’s and Han’s basic thesis is that suffering is impossible to handle and by default meaningless and negative in the modern west, and that suffering in modernity has lost all its political and societal dimensions that previously could result in the fight for political change, and that there is no possibility to maintain a Christian belief in God whilst suffering. This is by this study proven to be incorrect. The modern martyrs, and the church in the modern era reflected through the texts of the martyrs, is influenced by but not synonymous with the modernity pictured by Taylor and Han. They are not non-modern, but neither do they repeat the same interpretations and theology as their precursors in the early church. Instead, we see in them the expression of a renewed Christian identity. The modern martyrs in this study have, through theological creativity, recontextualized and reinterpreted their faith informed by the experience of modernity as pictured by Taylor and Han. The church has changed over time and it shows through the martyrs accounts and interpretations of their suffering and martyrdom. The renewed identity, both anthropocentric and theocentric, formed through creative theological recontextualization, has made it possible to maintain a Christian belief in God, a hope for a better world and a sense of meaning midst suffering, in the modern era. Taylor’s and Han’s theories about the secularization of the church’s identity and the modern west have not happened in practice.

Syftet med föreliggande religionsvetenskapliga studie är att synliggöra hur betydande aspekter av livsåskådningskaraktär återspeglas i den populära tv-serien True Detective 1 – och med särskilt fokus på ateism undersöka och kartlägga en av tv-seriens karismatiska huvudkaraktärers perspektiv och positioneringar. I centrum står Rustin ”Rust” Cohle och dennes hållning, handlingar och tal. Undersökningen utgår från tre frågeställningar: Vilka olika livssynspositioneringar och tematiker av existentiell livsåskådningskaraktär är utmärkande för karaktären Rust? Hur kan dessa närmare beskrivas och förstås på ett övergripande plan? Och i vilken utsträckning har Rust lösgjort sig från en äldre form av ateism, till förmån för en senmodern och mindre polariserande variant? Runt karaktärskomplexet Rust – som en prototyp för en sorts förtrollande ateism – exponeras följande fyra kategorier: 1) Scientisten: En position präglad av en scientistisk och naturvetenskaplig, ateistisk hållning. 2) Zenbuddisten: En position präglad av asketism, kontemplation och en fascination av jaget som en illusion. 3) Terapeuten: En position karaktäriserad av den terapeutiska diskursen, vars psykologiserande förklaringar går ut på att legitimera individens lycka eller lidande – och därigenom tar över den äldre religiösa berättelsens funktion.4) Messiasgestalten: En position med markant messianska förtecken av både hög- och lågkristologisk natur och som i någon mening här inkorporerar övriga kategorier. Serien avspeglar således genom den messiasliknande karaktären Rust både starka ateistiska och scientistiska strömningar i vår tid, präglade av både naturvetenskap men också ett – till vissa delar – österländskt synsätt bortom den judisk-kristna traditionens epistem, hand i hand med ett semi-sekulärt och terapeutiskt trevande efter reflexivitet, mening och en större sakral och kanske rentav metafysisk öppning. Det är möjligen något av ett paradigmskifte – för att tala med Thomas Kuhn – som karaktären Rust föregriper och förkroppsligar. En både-och-människa som både vill ha det sakrala och profana som en möjlighet – inte som ett akademiskt motsatspar! / Enchanting atheism?: A study of atheism pictured in popular culture. True Detective as an example. The purpose of this study of religious science is to visualize how significant aspects of a characteristic philosophy and views of life are reflected in the popular TV series True Detective 1 – and with particular focus on atheism, explore and map the perspective and positioning of one of the charismatic main characters of the TV series. In the center stands Rustin “Rust” Cohle and his attitude, actions and speech. The study is based on three questions: What different views of life and themes of existential views are characteristic of the character Rust? How can these be more fully described and understood on an overall level? And to what extent has Rust broken himself away from an older form of atheism in favor of a late modern andless polarizing kind? Around the complex of character that is Rust - as a prototype for a kind of enchanting atheism - the following four categories are exposed: 1) The Scientist: A position characterized by a scientific and atheistic stance. 2) The Zen Buddhist: A position characterized by asceticism, contemplation and a fascination of the self as an illusion.3) The Therapist: A position characterized by the therapeutic discourse whose therapeutic narrative is based on legitimizing the happiness or suffering of the individual - thus adopting the function of the old religious narrative. 4) The Messiah character: A position with striking Messianic overtones of Christology of both high and low nature and which in some sense incorporates the other categories. Through the Messiah-like character Rust the series thus reflects both strong atheistic and scientific currents of our time, characterized by not only science but also – to some extent – by an Eastern view of life that goes beyond the episteme of the Jewish-Christian tradition, hand in hand with a semi-secular and therapeutic grasping for reflexivity, meaning and a greater sacred and perhaps even metaphysical opening. It is possibly somewhat of a paradigm shift – to some extent plead Thomas Kuhn – that the character Rust anticipates and embodies. A both-kind-person who wants to have the sacred as well as the profane as an opportunity - not as an academicopposing pair!

This thesis examines Augustine and Friedrich Hayek’s notion of subjectivity in the context of cultural translation theory, following Talal Asad. Previous researchers have related Hayek to political theology and economic theology by observing the notion of market’s divinizing implications and tendencies, often through generalized methods of analysis and allegorical comparison. Research treating neoliberal subjectivity seldom considers it building on Christian theological notions. Given the lack of research on the given topic, more specific the relationship between theological and neoliberal understandings of subjectivity, it is pertinent to examine neoliberal subjectivity as expressed by Hayek, by comparing to saint Augustine. By a close reading of one of western societies most important theologians, Augustine, and comparing to Hayek’s economic vision of society, this study examines how Augustine and Hayek interact by using cultural translation as a methodological framework. Augustine’s notion of God, and Hayek’s notion of the market, is analyzed as explicitly proposing, or implicitly presupposing, notions of subjectivity. Translatability and untranslatability are used as methodological concepts for discussing where Augustine and Hayek’s notions overlap and where they differ. This study demonstrates that Hayek’s understanding of subjectivity in relation to the market has comparable aspects with Augustine’s understanding of human subjectivity in relation to God. Though some aspects where the authors differ, such as the understanding of knowledge, might be described as untranslatable. Use of cultural translation theory, allows for important nuances in the relationship between theology and economic understandings of subjectivity to transpire in analysis.

The ideas of Richard Sennett in his most influential book The Fall of Public Man from 1974 are many, but the main point is that the resolution of the lines between the public life and the private life has affected society, the democracy and individuals in a negative way. The main point of this essay is to understand the nature of Sennet’s thinking, ideas and philosophy and how they are connected. I am focusing on the true nature of the way he is formulating the issues and conflicts he is dealing with. Even though Sennett is a very influential thinker, very few people actually have analyzed his works, especially The Fall of Public Man. “Res publica” is the Roman expression of the bigger responsibility each citizen has in a society that goes beyond themselves. This is when you are a part of something bigger than yourself, your friends and your family, you are a part of a close connected community and society. You are not strangers to each other, you are all one. This is exactly the type of society that sociology professor of London School of Economics Richard Sennett means has gone away. Richard Sennett is often described as a person standing on the left on the political scale when it comes to economics and at the same time culturally conservative. The result of this essay shows that Richard Sennett blames industrial capitalism, secularism and urban planning for the new modern society when the distinction between public life and private life has gone away. This is the new kind of society in the western world where people shifted focus from an extrovert personality to an introvert one, a world where we are trapped in our own minds instead of stepping out of it and actually living in it. Many times, the sociology professor goes back to the mid 18th century to understand the thriving public life in Paris and London. My theoretical perspective is based upon Collingwoods thoughts about question and answer which you need to understand the question in order to understand the thinker's answer. You could call Sennett either a nostalgic or a very sharp critic of the modern world, it all depends on how much you resonate and believe in his ideas.

Tidigare forskning visar att höga nivåer av andlighet kan associeras med bättre psykiskt välbefinnande och lägre nivåer av psykiska besvär. Meningsfullhet framhävs som en av nyckelkomponenterna i detta sammanhang, och framtida forskning uppmanas till att utforska bakomliggande mekanismer ytterligare. En begräsning i det aktuella forskningsläget är att majoriteten av studierna har utförts i samhällen med en stark religiös anknytning, och att ingen forskning har kunnat hittas som utforskar sambanden i det mer sekulariserade Sverige.  Denna studie syftar till att analysera eventuella samband mellan mening i livet, psykisk hälsa och trosuppfattning i en svensk kontext, för att undersöka huruvida sekularisering som samhällsförändring bör beaktas inom socialt arbete. Studiens forskningsfrågor besvarades via en enkät, och utgick från ett bekvämlighetsurval där respondenterna tillfrågades att delta i undersökningen på en offentlig plats i en av Sveriges storstäder.    Studiens resultat visar att andlighet inte kan relateras till bättre psykiskt välbefinnande, men att meningsfullhet ökar psykiskt välbefinnande och att ju högre grad av andlighet som skattas desto mer upplevelse av meningsfullhet i livet. Dessutom visar resultatet att majoriteten av undersökningens respondenter har en personlig anknytning till en andlig dimension oavsett trosuppfattning.   Utifrån studiens resultat dras slutsatsen att sekularisering i det svenska samhället inte minskar behovet av att adressera existentiella och andliga frågor inom socialt arbete. Studien indikerar en potentiell koppling mellan andlighet, meningssökande och psykiskt välbefinnande, vilket underbygger att det kan vara fördelaktigt att integrera dessa komponenter i socialt arbete för att kunna erbjuda ett mer omfattande och heltäckande stöd, och för att bättre bemöta individuella behov i ett samhälle som genomgår ökad sekularisering. / Previous research shows that high levels of religiosity/spirituality can be associated with better mental well-being and fewer mental health issues. Meaningfulness is highlighted as one of the key components in this context, and future research is encouraged to further explore underlying mechanisms. A limitation in the current research landscape is that the majority of studies have been conducted in communities with a strong religious affiliation, and no research has been found that explores these relationships in the more secularized Sweden. This study aims to analyze possible relationships between meaning in life, mental health, and belief systems in a Swedish context, to investigate whether secularization as a societal change should be considered within social work. The study's research questions were answered through a survey, based on a convenience sample where respondents were asked to participate in the survey at a public place in one of Sweden's major cities. The study's results show that religiosity/spirituality cannot be related to better mental well-being, but that meaningfulness increases mental well-being and that the higher the level of religiosity/spirituality assessed, the more experience of meaningfulness in life. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of the survey's respondents have a personal connection to a spiritual dimension regardless of their belief system. Based on the study's findings, the conclusion is drawn that secularization in Swedish society does not reduce the need to address existential and religious/spiritual questions within social work. The study indicates a potential link between religiosity/spirituality, the search for meaning, and mental well-being, which supports the integration of these components into social work to provide more comprehensive and holistic support, and to better meet individual needs in a society undergoing increased secularization.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur nyanlända elever ser på religion utifrån två teman. Det första behandlar hur dessa elever positionerar sig till religiösa traditioner, samt på vilka sätt dessa positioner kan ha förändrats i diaspora. Det andra temat behandlar hur de nyanlända eleverna upplever religionskunskapsundervisningen i Sverige. Studiens resultat är baserat på kvalitativa intervjuer med sex nyanlända elever och deras lärare i religionskunskap. Intervjuerna har analyserats utifrån kritisk diskursanalys och ett postkolonialt perspektiv. Studiens resultat på det första temat visar hur de flesta av eleverna inte ser sig som religiösa, utan benämner sig som troende, och deras religionsutövning präglas av en stor variation. Av de sex eleverna kommer fem från en muslimsk bakgrund, och hos flera av de fem finns ett språk som tyder på stereotypisering av muslimer. Samtliga muslimska elever beskriver en förändring av tro och minskad praktik som ett led av att befinna sig i diaspora. Resultatet av det andra temat visar hur elevernas upplevelser av religionskunskapsundervisningen i Sverige generellt sett är positiv, men en elev har en negativ bild av undervisningen och menar att undervisningen leder till ateism. Undervisningen och läromedel upplevs som bra eller neutrala på att skildra islam, vilket inte stämmer överens med tidigare forskning, samtidigt som några av de muslimska eleverna anmärker på felaktigheter. / The aim of this study is to explore how recently immigrated pupils perceive religion based on two themes. The first theme deals with how these students position themselves in regard to religious traditions, and how these positions might have changed in the diaspora. The second theme deals with how the pupils experience Religious Education (RE) in Sweden. The results are based on semi-structured interviews with six recently immigrated pupils and their RE teacher. Critical discourse analysis and postcolonialism are used as theoretical and analytical approaches. The findings on the first theme indicate that most of the pupils do not see themselves as religious, and instead refer to themselves as believers, and their religious practice is characterised by a large variation. Five of the six pupils come from a muslim background, and the language these pupils use show signs of stereotyping muslims. All the muslim pupils describe a change in belief and a decrease in practice as a result of being in diaspora. The findings on the second theme indicate that the pupils generally have a positive experience of their RE in Sweden. One pupil had a negative view of the education, which was seen as a leading factor in becoming an atheist. The teaching and study materials used in the classroom were perceived as good or neutral in their depiction of islam, which does not match the findings of previous research, although some of the muslim pupils remarked on a few inaccuracies.