Anders Bäckström – författare

Tornedalingarna i Sverige blev år 2000 utpekad som en nationell minoritet av regeringen. Sedan dess finns olika berättelser om statens och kyrkans behandling av tornedalingarna under 1800­- och 1900­-talen. Tornedalssällskapet i Uppsala har allt sedan bildandet 2011 drivit en konsekvent linje där vi menar att den identitetspolitiska idén att Tornedalingarna ska betraktas som ett urfolk går för långt. Den idén tenderar dessutom att sakna ett grundläggande socialhistoriskt klassperspektiv vilket gör att den etniska aspekten förstoras. Denna antologi vill nyansera den historiska, religiösa och kulturella spelplanen genom analyser i sju teman. Detta sker i 20 kapitel med särskild expertis inom historia, kvinnohistoria, religionsvetenskap, sociologi, socialt arbete, kultur­ och språkstudier, naturvetenskap och lokalhistoria. Antologin förenar därmed vetenskapligt djup, lokal förankring med personlig erfarenhet vilket stärker trovärdigheten. Jan Johansson, professor emeritus i Arbetsvetenskap vid Luleå Tekniska universitet skriver om boken: Min bedömning är att antologin håller hög akademisk och intellektuell kvalitet, förenar forskning med levda erfarenheter och bör betraktas som ett centralt referensverk för alla som arbetar med minoritetspolitik, kulturarv, regional utveckling eller Tornedalsstudier . Antologins redaktörer är Anders Bäckström och Eva Hellman professorer emeriti vid Uppsala universitet.

Religionerna spelar idag en tydlig roll i offentligheten, i Sverige och internationellt. Det är inte längre självklart att religion försvinner i ett modernt samhälle, alternativt blir något vissa ägnar sig åt privat eller i krympande kyrkor. Utvecklingen tar sig många olika uttryck. Ett uttryck är att kyrkor i Sverige offentligt tar ställning för en generös flyktingpolitik eller mot försämringar i den svenska välfärden, ett annat är pressdebatter om religiösa inslag vid skolavslutningar, omskärelse av pojkar och Guds existens. Ytterligare ett uttryck är religiöst legitimerat våld och terror, ett annat är den centrala roll muslimska föreställningar om människans värdighet spelade för demokratiaktivister under den arabiska våren. Religionens offentlighet. Om religionens plats i samhället behandlar denna utveckling och de frågor den väcker ur samhällsvetenskapliga, historiska, filosofiska och religionsvetenskapliga perpektiv. Med förankring i svensk och internationell forskning beskrivs utvecklingen och diskuteras utifrån konkreta exempel. Konstruktiva förslag ges till hur religiösa organisationer och individer kan delta i offentliga samtal och samhälleligt liv.

Historically, European churches have played a large part in the provision of welfare. Responsibility, however, has gradually shifted to the state - a shift that forms an integral part of the process of secularization and one that has been readily accepted by European populations. But what happens when the state itself begins to recede - a process that is occurring in most, if not all, European societies for a wide variety of reasons? The implications for welfare are considerable, not least for the role of the churches which begin to resume the responsibilities previously shed but in new and different ways. This book looks at the connections between religion and welfare in Europe, exploring in detail eight European societies - Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Italy and Greece. The different theological traditions, different church-state relationships and different welfare regimes are all examined. The analysis is based on first hand empirical research which considers not only the changing situation on the ground, but attitudes towards this within a range of different constituencies - the churches, local government and the general public. Particular attention is paid to the significance of gender in both the process of change and in attitudes towards this. Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 1 represents comparative research at its best and highlights key policy implications for the future. A companion book, Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 2 explores thematically the changing nature of religion and welfare and the new relationships that are emerging between the religious and the secular, and between church and state in the 21st century.

Historically, European churches have played a large part in the provision of welfare. Responsibility, however, has gradually shifted to the state - a shift that forms an integral part of the process of secularization and one that has been readily accepted by European populations. But what happens when the state itself begins to recede - a process that is occurring in most, if not all, European societies for a wide variety of reasons? The implications for welfare are considerable, not least for the role of the churches which begin to resume the responsibilities previously shed but in new and different ways. This book looks at the connections between religion and welfare in Europe, exploring in detail eight European societies - Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Italy and Greece. The different theological traditions, different church-state relationships and different welfare regimes are all examined. The analysis is based on first hand empirical research which considers not only the changing situation on the ground, but attitudes towards this within a range of different constituencies - the churches, local government and the general public. Particular attention is paid to the significance of gender in both the process of change and in attitudes towards this. Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 1 represents comparative research at its best and highlights key policy implications for the future. A companion book, Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 2 explores thematically the changing nature of religion and welfare and the new relationships that are emerging between the religious and the secular, and between church and state in the 21st century.

Historically, European churches have played a large part in the provision of welfare. Responsibility, however, has gradually shifted to the state - a shift that forms an integral part of the process of secularization and one that has been readily accepted by European populations. But what happens when the state itself begins to recede - a process that is occurring in most, if not all, European societies for a wide variety of reasons? The implications for welfare are considerable, not least for the role of the churches which begin to resume the responsibilities previously shed but in new and different ways. This book looks at the connections between religion and welfare in Europe, exploring in detail eight European societies - Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Italy and Greece. The different theological traditions, different church-state relationships and different welfare regimes are all examined. The analysis is based on first hand empirical research which considers not only the changing situation on the ground, but attitudes towards this within a range of different constituencies - the churches, local government and the general public. Particular attention is paid to the significance of gender in both the process of change and in attitudes towards this. Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 1 represents comparative research at its best and highlights key policy implications for the future. A companion book, Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 2 explores thematically the changing nature of religion and welfare and the new relationships that are emerging between the religious and the secular, and between church and state in the 21st century.

Historically, European churches have played a large part in the provision of welfare. Responsibility, however, has gradually shifted to the state - a shift that forms an integral part of the process of secularization and one that has been readily accepted by European populations. But what happens when the state itself begins to recede - a process that is occurring in most, if not all, European societies for a wide variety of reasons? The implications for welfare are considerable, not least for the role of the churches which begin to resume the responsibilities previously shed but in new and different ways. This book looks at the connections between religion and welfare in Europe, exploring in detail eight European societies - Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Italy and Greece. The different theological traditions, different church-state relationships and different welfare regimes are all examined. The analysis is based on first hand empirical research which considers not only the changing situation on the ground, but attitudes towards this within a range of different constituencies - the churches, local government and the general public. Particular attention is paid to the significance of gender in both the process of change and in attitudes towards this. Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 1 represents comparative research at its best and highlights key policy implications for the future. A companion book, Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe: Volume 2 explores thematically the changing nature of religion and welfare and the new relationships that are emerging between the religious and the secular, and between church and state in the 21st century.

Religionssociologin i Sverige har sina rötter i efterkrigstidens växande sociologiska och kyrkohistoriska forskning som Berndt Gustafsson (1920 1975) representerade. Denna forskning resulterade i etableringen av Religionssociologiska Institutet (RSI) 1962. Ämnet utvecklades därefter genom Göran Gustafssons (1936 2018) studier i sociologi och som professor i religionssociologi i Lund (1978 2001). Till sist har ämnet breddats genom en professur vid Uppsala universitet med Thorleif Pettersson (1940 2010) som innehavare (1988 2007). Denna bok skildrar ämnets framväxt och konsolidering genom att följa pionjärernas forskningsutveckling från 1950­ till 2010-­tal. Genom att fokusera på personernas bakgrund, visioner och forskningsresultat synliggörs forskningens innehåll och metodologiska strategier under mer än femtio år. Det blir då tydligt att ämnet successivt har blivit en del av universitetens expansion mot mångvetenskapliga forskningsmiljöer. Linnéstödet The Impact of Religion vid Uppsala universitet (2008 2018), med Centrum för mångvetenskaplig forskning om religion och samhälle (CRS), illustrerar detta. Religionssociologin har därmed blivit ett fakultetsövergripande ämne som fungerar internationellt sammanhållande. Författaren har genom samarbete med alla pionjärerna sedan 1960­talets slut kommit att bli en del av denna utveckling.

Denna antologi bygger på resultat från en befolkningsundersökning om attityder till Svenska kyrkan (och religiösa organisationer) som alternativa välfärdsutförare. Antologin innebär en väsentlig breddning och fördjupning kring en av Sveriges mest komplexa framtidsfrågor som rör relationen mellan välfärdens organisering och den ökade religiösa synligheten i det sekulära Sverige.