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Some Ethnic Swedish Students' Discourses on Religion: Secularism

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Some Ethnic Swedish Students' Discourses on Religion: Secularism j. relig. educ. DOI 10.1007/s40839-017-0036-6 Some ethnic Swedish students’ discourses on religion: secularism par excellence Kerstin von Bro¨mssen1 Ó The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication Abstract Having been almost abandoned during the latter part of the 1900s, religion and youth is currently a growing field of research in Europe. Since people thought that secu- larisation would eradicate religion as a phenomenon, there was obviously no major reason to investigate young people’s attitudes towards religion. Since that time, the understanding of the world and its complex relationship with religion has changed, and this now attracts much discussion. In Europe, this not only concerns religion and youth among different migrant groups, but also research on religion and youth of those born and raised in Europe itself and integrated into the historic majority. The aim of this paper is to revisit and reanalyse the results of two qualitative research projects based on interviews with young students in schools who identify themselves as Swedish. I analyze their discursive con- structions on their own religion and the religions of ‘others’. The data point towards a strong secularist discourse, where the Swedish students identify themselves as having a modern and rational worldview. On the other hand, they regard religion and religious people as old-fashioned and irrational. The focus in this article concerns articulations constructing this overarching secularist discourse, which I discuss in light of the con- temporary debate on secularisation and secularism. However, most of the young students in the research appreciated the subject of Religious Education in Sweden as a means towards understanding the world. This was especially so in discussions on Religious Education with upper secondary school students, whereas younger students found religion to be more boring and traditional; thus the subject having difficulties in relating to the younger stu- dents’ experiences. Keywords Sweden Á Religion Á Youth Á Secularism Á Students Á Discourses & Kerstin von Bro¨mssen [email protected] 1 Department of Individual and Society, University West, 461 86 Trollha¨ttan, Sweden 123 K. von Bro¨mssen 1 Introduction The meaning and impact of secularisation is a subject of much discussion in Europe today, and researchers often mention Sweden as one of the most secular countries in the world (see Zuckerman 2009, pp. 55–69). In a summary from the World Values Survey, Sweden is described as being ‘‘not normal’’, but ‘‘extreme’’, explaining this by stating that ‘‘Sweden’s position tells us for example that God has no natural place in our everyday lives, that we are not questioning homosexuality or abortion, and that we trust others’’ (World Values Survey1). This is the view people have of Sweden, but they often collectively allude to all the Nordic countries in this regard, albeit with some minor differences. However, the grand narrative on secularisation, where people predicted that religion would disappear in Europe as a result of the Enlightenment paradigm, is downplayed in recent research (Grote 2014). Critics argue that religion takes a variety of approaches, and that religion remained important throughout the eighteenth century and subsequently (Haakonssen 1996; see Grote 2014). This debate, initiated by historians, relates naturally to the debate in sociology concerning the secularisation theses of religion (Berger 1999; Dobbelaere 2004; Martin 2005; Pollack et al. 2012). Thus, combined with events where religion has explicitly, and sometimes violently, come back to the forefront of the global scene, religious narratives and discourses among young people provide an interesting topic for research. Also, having been almost abandoned during the latter part of the 1900s, religion and youth as a field of exploration is currently growing in Europe (Bailey and Redden 2010; Collins-Mayo and Dandelion 2010; Hemming and Madge 2011; Possomai 2009). This paper adds to this research by focusing on the views of ethnic Swedish students towards religion. However, this research is not unproblematic, since it is difficult to define what is meant by the terms ‘religion’ and ‘youth’. They are both ascribed various understandings and interpretations. The category ‘youth’ might be a useful category when analysing trends and general patterns of religious change, but must be used with caution since the group of young people is not homogenous (Collins-Mayo and Dandelion 2010, p. 2; see Possomai 2009, pp. 2–5). Also, the term ‘religion’, originating from a European viewpoint during the sixteenth century, together with the concepts ‘secular’ and ‘secularisation’ are ascribed different understandings, and elicit competing discourses (Calhoun et al. 2011, pp. 3–30; McCutcheon 2015, pp. 119–141; Smith 2008). In the midst of competing discourses on secularisation and religious belonging and beliefs since the end of the Second World War, European nations have deepened their cultural complexity and become more ‘multicultural’ than ever before. This is not the least obvious in the Nordic countries, where migration, pluralisation and multicultural issues are intensively researched and discussed (Brochmann and Hagelund 2012; Dahlstedt and Neergaard 2013; Eastmond 2011; Kivisto and Wahlbeck 2013;Olwig 2011; Petersson and Johansson 2013;Skeie1995).This obviously has far-reaching implications for education, where discussion on multicultural and intercultural issues has been prominent for quite some time (see for example, Banks 2015; Coulby 2006; Coulby et al. 1997). 1 http://www.iffs.se/en/news/sweden-the-extreme-country/ [Online 160608]. The secularisation theses account for the decline in church affiliation and attendance in Europe. But, 77% of Europeans stated that they believe in God, and in some Catholic countries this figure is around 90%. In Sweden,\55% of people think of themselves as religious [Halman et al. (2011) The European Values Study, p. 56]. 123 Some ethnic Swedish students’ discourses on religion… With this description of today’s complex societal background, the intention of this paper is to highlight and discuss a specific discourse on religion; namely, a secularist discourse articulated by young students from the Swedish majority population. Thus, the aim of this work is to make such discourses known in order to understand what part religion plays in some young peoples’ lives, as well as to discuss implications and challenges for religious education within a classroom that will be ultimately dominated by a secularist discourse. 2 Prior research on religion and youth In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the role of religion in the lives of young people in Europe.2 The research field is quite diffuse, with a wide variation of theoretical perspectives and vantage points (Giordan 2010, p. X; Hemming and Madge 2011, p. 38). One area of research is the study of religion and youth from a sociological perspective, predominantly using quantitative research methods. These studies show that European youth do not generally participate in religious activities, nor do they possess much religious knowledge (Valk et al. 2009;Klingenberg2014; Niemela¨ 2010;Lo¨vheim and Bromander 2012; Madge et al. 2014; Mason et al. 2010;Pickel2010; Astley et al. 2012; Sjo¨borg 2012, 2013; Vincett and Collins-Mayo 2010;Voas2006; Weisse 2011;Ziebertz et al. 2009). Not surprisingly, there are significant differences between the attitudes to religion of young people who have connections to organised religion and those who do not. For the latter group, at least in the Swedish research, school stands out as the main arena for discussion and learning about religion (see Lo¨vheim and Bromander 2012; Sjo¨borg 2012, p. 37). However, qualitative research within the field of sociology also shows that youth do not view religion as being especially ‘cool’ (Knauth 2008, pp. 207–245). As Abby Day (2009, p. 263) very tellingly puts it: ‘‘The question for them [the young people] is not so much ‘does God exist?’ but, ‘why would it matter?’’’ In Day’s studies, belief, authority and transcendence are oriented towards social relation- ships, that is, family, friends and close trusting relationships (Day 2009,p.276).Reli- gion, especially in the traditional organised form, is questioned and talked about as inflexible and dictatorial (Day 2009, 2011). Another research tradition, using mostly qualitative methods, is interested in issues of socialisation and the transmission of religion to youth, especially within ‘multicultural’ and ‘multi-ethnic’ societies, specifically focusing on youth with ethnic backgrounds different from the majority population of the society in which they live. These studies show the complex religious negotiations and interpretations of youth from minorities, their inter- section with ethnicity/race and gender, and how they often challenge the religious understanding of the older generations (Bigelow 2008; Herrera and Bayat 2010; Jacobson 1998; Østberg 2003; Risenfors 2012; Ryan 2014). Naturally, this affects religious edu- cation, which is another closely linked research area. Studies in the educational area again show that education is very country-specific, and often linked to both national and European societal discourses regarding secularisation and ‘Othering’ (Anker 2011; Buchardt 2010; Hakimali Merchant 2016; Kittelmann Flensner 2015; Knauth 2008; von 2 One sign of this is the UK-funded research programme Religion and Society Programme. http://www.
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