Sekulära Sverigedemokrater? : En kvalitativ undersökning av religion och identitet hos populistisk radikalhöger i Sverige.

Sammanfattning

The relationship between the populist radical right and religion has received an increasing amount of attention in the last decade. This thesis focuses on this relationship in one of the world’s most secular countries: Sweden. Against the backdrop of increased religious diversity and increased politicization of religion, this thesis analyses how religion is incorporated into the Sweden Democrats’ conception of national identity. Based on previous research, a theoretical framework is developed along four dimensions: Christianity as an identity marker, the relationship to established churches, religion in contrast to out-groups, and religion as the basis of “civilizational” identity. This framework is applied to the Sweden Democrats’ party program, election manifestos, policy programs, and parliamentary motions though qualitative content analysis. The study finds that the Sweden Democrats’ view the Swedish people as secular, but that religion is articulated in their conception of Swedish identity as an important cultural heritage that functions as a force for social cohesion, in line with a cultural understanding of Christianity. Simultaneously, religion functions as an identity marker through the association of “others” with Islam. The religiously coded differentiation between “us” and “them” is particularly evident in the Sweden Democrats’ emphasis on secularism and liberal values.