Religion between Politics and Media: Conflicting Attitudes towards Islam in Scandinavia

Knut Lundby, Stig Hjarvard, Mia Lövheim, Haakon Haugevik Jernsletten

11 Citations (Scopus)
100 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Based on a comparative project on media and religion across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, this article analyzes relationships between religiosity and political attitudes in Scandinavia and how these connect with attitudes regarding the representation of Islam in various media. Data comes from population-wide surveys conducted in the three countries in April 2015. Most Scandinavians relate 'religion' with conflict, and half of the population perceives Islam as a threat to their national culture. Scandinavians thus perceive religion in terms of political tensions and predominantly feel that news media should serve a critical function towards Islam and religious conflicts. Finally, the results of the empirical analysis are discussed in view of the intertwined processes of politicization of Islam and mediatization of religion.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Religion in Europe
Volume10
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)437-456
Number of pages20
ISSN1874-8910
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Dec 2017

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • religion
  • Islam
  • mediatization
  • Scandinavia
  • media
  • conflict

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