Secular Humanism in Sweden

Dr. Susanne Kind

doi:10.5771/9783987402524

Summary

Anyone who wants to understand how non-religious people organize themselves in secularized societies will find well-founded answers in this study. Using the organization Humanisterna as an example, it shows how secular humanists in Sweden negotiate identity, values, and activism – driven by their life stance, criticism of religion, and human rights work. The ethnographically based analysis provides deep insights into the dynamic tension between religion and secularity and offers new perspectives on the diversity of non-religion. A valuable resource for anyone interested in the sociology of religion, secularity, or social movements.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2025
ISBN-Print: 978-3-98740-251-7
ISBN-Online: 978-3-98740-252-4
Publisher: Ergon, Baden-Baden
Series: Religion in der Gesellschaft
Volume: 52
Language: English
Pages: 462
Product type: Book Titles

1. Acknowledgements No access
2. List of Abbreviations No access
Introduction No access Pages 19 - 26
1. 1.1 Non-Religion, Irreligion, and “Varieties of Unbelief” – Earlier Research in the 1960s and 1970s No access
2. 1. 1.2.1 Defining Non-Religion No access
  2. 1.2.2 The Manifoldness of the “non” in “Non-Religion” No access
3. 1. 1. 1.3.1.1 Themes and Values No access
    2. 1.3.1.2 Objectives No access
  2. 1. 1.3.2.1 Conflict No access
    2. 1.3.2.2 Competition No access
    3. 1.3.2.3 Cooperation No access
    4. 1.3.2.4 Dialogue No access
    5. 1.3.2.5 Implications of Different Kinds of Relations No access
  3. 1.3.3 Field-theoretical Considerations No access
  4. 1.3.4 Moving Away from Religion-Likeness and Religion-Relatedness No access
4. 1.4 Organized Non-Religion No access
5. 1.5 The Concept of Collective Identity No access
6. 1. 1.6.1 Humanism No access
  2. 1.6.2 Worldview concept No access
  3. 1.6.3 Livsaskådning—Life Stance No access
7. 1. 1.7.1 Grounded Theory Methodology No access
  2. 1.7.2 Access to the Field and Participating Observation No access
  3. 1.7.3 Interviews No access
8. 1.8 Summary and Concluding Remarks No access
1. 1. 2.1.1 The Church of Sweden – Its “Semi-official” Role and Liberal Positioning No access
  2. 2.1.2 The Church and its Members – The Dissolution of a Lifelong Relationship No access
  3. 2.1.3 Increasing Religious Diversity No access
2. 1. 2.2.1 A Short Portrait of Humanisterna No access
  2. 2.2.2 Humanist Influences from Past Centuries and the Pioneers of Criticism of Religion in 19th and 20th Century Sweden No access
  3. 1. 2.2.3.1 Glancing back – More than Four Decades of HS No access
    2. 2.2.3.2 A Versatile Organizational Network No access
    3. 2.2.3.3 “New Atheism” – Its influence and perception among Swedish Humanists No access
3. 1. 2.3.1 Secular Humanists as Promoters of Atheism No access
  2. 2.3.2 About Addressing and Claiming a Humanist Majority in a Widely Religiously Indifferent Population No access
  3. 2.3.3 “Seemingly Secular” Sweden and the Promotion of a Secular State No access
  4. 2.3.4 Advocating for a Secular Society No access
  5. 2.3.5 Exceptional Sweden and Religion-Related Problems in Other Parts of the World No access
4. 1. 1. 2.4.1.1 Secularity for the Sake of Social Integration and National Unity No access
  2. 2.4.2 The Debate about End-of-School-Year Celebrations No access
  3. 2.4.3 The Debate about the Ritual Circumcision of Boys No access
  4. 2.4.4 The Omnipresence of (Conflicting) Human Rights References No access
  5. 1. 2.4.5.1 Latent Religio-Normativity as an Obstacle to Moral Development No access
    2. 2.4.5.2 Secular Normativity and the Othering of Religion No access
  6. 2.4.6 Religious Critics and their Critics in Times of Rising Right-Wing Populism No access
5. 2.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks No access
1. 1. 3.1.1 “We Live in an Image Society” No access
  2. 3.1.2 Humanism as a Holistic Life Stance No access
  3. 3.1.3 Humanism as an Opinion-Making Force No access
  4. 3.1.4 Responding to Internal Criticism No access
2. 1. 3.2.1 Towards a Future Expansion of Ceremonial Work? No access
  2. 3.2.2 Outsourcing Ceremonial Work from HS Activities? No access
  3. 3.2.3 Developments in Connection with the Debate about Humanist Ceremonies No access
3. 1. 3.3.1 Social Changes No access
  2. 3.3.2 Organizational Changes No access
4. 3.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks No access
1. 4.1 The Debate on State Funding No access
2. 1. 4.2.1 Institutionalization as a Life-Stance Organization No access
  2. 4.2.2 Institutionalization as a Human Rights Organization against Religious Oppression No access
3. 4.3 Membership: Conditions, Interests, and Mobilization No access
4. 4.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks No access
1. 5.1 HS members’ Understanding of Science No access
2. 1. 5.2.1 Religion and Science: Secular Humanists as Propagators of the Conflict Narrative No access
  2. 5.2.2 Science and its Wannabes: Secular Humanists’ efforts to Limit the Influence of “Pseudo-science” No access
  3. 5.2.3 Postmodernism as a Pivotal Antagonist No access
3. 5.3 Non-Religious Collective Identities and their Impact on Science References No access
4. 5.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks No access
1. 1. 6.1.1 Humanists International No access
  2. 6.1.2 Humanist Association of Germany No access
  3. 6.1.3 Norwegian Humanist Association No access
  4. 1. 6.1.4.1 Alain de Botton No access
    2. 6.1.4.2 Sunday Assembly No access
2. 1. 6.2.1 Shared and Disputed – Kinds of Relations, Goals, Foci, and Orientations No access
  2. 6.2.2 Frame Diffusion within the Humanist Movement No access
  3. 6.2.3 About Abolitionists and Negative Identities No access
3. 1. 6.3.1 The “Sacredness of the Person” No access
  2. 6.3.2 The Sacralization of the Person in the Context of LSH Activism No access
  3. 6.3.3 Human Rights Violations and the Sacralization of the Person in the Context of OMH Activism No access
4. 6.4 A Shared Conflict Line and Different Ways of Framing Secular Morality – Summary and Conluding Remarks No access
Concluding Remarks No access Pages 401 - 410
Bibliography No access Pages 411 - 460
Appendix 1 No access Pages 461 - 462