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The Political Sociology of Religion: The Impact of Religion on Political Attitudes and Behaviors in Secularizing European Societies
Stockholms universitet, Samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten, Sociologiska institutionen.ORCID-id: 0000-0002-6301-216X
2021 (Engelska)Doktorsavhandling, sammanläggning (Övrigt vetenskapligt)
Abstract [en]

European societies have experienced extensive secularization. However, the impact of religion in governing people’s political attitudes and behaviors persists, which has been enhanced by several recent developments, including the growing salience of religious and conservative values for the remaining committed religious people, the rise of radical right parties that use Christianity in their anti-immigrant and nationalist rhetoric, and the increasing number of immigrants from outside Europe that contribute to the diversification of religion in European societies. This dissertation investigates the continuing impact of religion on political attitudes and political behaviors in European societies under a secularizing age as embodied in those developments. I will inquire using aspects of political cleavage, political institution, and political articulation related to religion.

Study I examines how national contexts related to religion (secularization and party polarization on morality issues) moderate the impact of same-sex marriage and partnership legislation on public attitudes towards homosexuality. Using eight rounds of European Social Survey (ESS) data, the study shows that, first, in more secular countries and after partnership legislation has passed, there are more divergences in attitudes towards homosexuality between core religious members and the more secular others, with the former showing more negative attitudes. Second, in countries where political parties are more polarized on morality issues, the impact of partnership legislation is more negative in the general population across religiosity and partisanship; however, this effect is not repeated for marriage legislation. The study uncovers distinct effects of different normative institutions in moderating the relationship between legislation and attitudes through the articulation process.

Study II focuses on the mechanism underlying the relationship between Christian religiosity and voting for populist radical right parties in Europe, using ESS Round 8 data. Mediation analysis shows that the factors suggested by previous theories, including tolerance towards immigrants, pro-social values and social capital, hardly explain the underrepresentation of Christians in radical right voters. On the contrary, Christians and radical right voters across Europe have high ideological compatibility in authoritarian and moral conservative values, highlighting ample political space for radical right parties to articulate within for attracting Christian support that has yet to be successfully capitalized. This finding is against Christianity itself being an antidote to the radical right. It suggests that the enduring religious cleavage linked to mainstream right parties may still explain why Christians avoid voting for radical parties.

Study III investigates the role of religion in mobilizing immigrant political participation in the context of Sweden, using the 2010 Level of Living Survey for the Foreign Born and Their Children (LNU-UFB) data. Contrasting the theoretical expectations, this study finds little evidence that religion mobilizes immigrants to participate in politics; actually, religious attendance is found to be negatively related to political participation. The demobilization effect of religion is stronger for women, first-generation migrants. Those who have experienced religion-based societal discrimination, especially Muslims, are less active in political participation. However, second-generation Muslim immigrants are more active in participating in demonstration than the first generation, possibly due to higher perceived discrimination. The results do not support the theory on religious organizations promoting immigrant political participation in Sweden, nor is there suggestive evidence for the emergence of immigrant or Muslim political cleavage in the Swedish context.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Stockholm: Department of Sociology, Stockholm University , 2021. , s. 60
Nyckelord [en]
secularization, politics and religion, religious cleavage, political institution, political articulation, political attitudes, voting behaviors, contextual effects, party polarization, radical right parties, immigrant religions, political participation
Nationell ämneskategori
Sociologi
Forskningsämne
sociologi
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-196554ISBN: 978-91-7911-602-6 (tryckt)ISBN: 978-91-7911-603-3 (digital)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-196554DiVA, id: diva2:1592000
Disputation
2021-10-22, Nordenskiöldssalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 12, Stockholm, 10:00 (Engelska)
Opponent
Handledare
Tillgänglig från: 2021-09-29 Skapad: 2021-09-07 Senast uppdaterad: 2022-02-25Bibliografiskt granskad
Delarbeten
1. Secularization and Party Polarization on Morality Issues: How Religion-Related National Contexts Shape Same-Sex Union Legislations’ Impact on Attitudes toward Homosexuality in Europe
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>Secularization and Party Polarization on Morality Issues: How Religion-Related National Contexts Shape Same-Sex Union Legislations’ Impact on Attitudes toward Homosexuality in Europe
(Engelska)Manuskript (preprint) (Övrigt vetenskapligt)
Abstract [en]

This study examines how two aspects of religion-related national contexts overlooked by previous comparative studies—secularity and party polarization on morality issues—shape the impact of same-sex marriage and partnership legislations on public attitudes toward homosexuality. Using 2002–2016 European Social Survey and Comparative Manifesto Project data on 24 countries, I demonstrate that secularity does not generally influence the legislative impact. However, partnership legislation has a more diverging impact in more secular countries, with core church members developing stronger homonegativity compared to others. Higher political party polarization on morality issues induces more negative impact for partnership legislation, regardless of individual religiosity or partisanship. The study’s analysis of how national contexts influence the impact of permissive legislations on attitudes sheds light on the influence of secularization and party polarization enhancing “moral polarization” in Western societies. However, the resulting backlash mostly occurs among strongly religious people, while others become increasingly liberal.

Nyckelord
LGBT rights, public opinions, morality politics, secularization, party polarization
Nationell ämneskategori
Sociologi
Forskningsämne
sociologi
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-196552 (URN)
Anmärkning

The research has received conference travel grant from Stiftelsen Karl Staaffs fond in 2019 (8,350 SEK)

Tillgänglig från: 2021-09-07 Skapad: 2021-09-07 Senast uppdaterad: 2022-02-25Bibliografiskt granskad
2. Mediators explaining radical right voting patterns of Christians in Europe: Attitudes toward immigrants, values, or social capital?
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>Mediators explaining radical right voting patterns of Christians in Europe: Attitudes toward immigrants, values, or social capital?
2021 (Engelska)Ingår i: Social Science Research, ISSN 0049-089X, E-ISSN 1096-0317, Vol. 97, artikel-id 102575Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]

Previous studies show that radical right parties in Europe receive relatively low levels of supports from Christian voters, despite that Christian value is highlighted in the European radical right agenda. However, the mechanism remains largely untested. The study investigates the factors underlying Christians voting or not voting for populist radical right parties across Europe, using Round 8 European Social Survey data. It is shown that there is no general relationship between Christian religiosity and radical right voting across European countries. In most countries, Christians are neither more nor less likely to vote for the radical right parties compared to the non-religious. When Christians are underrepresented in radical right supporters, it can hardly be explained by tolerance towards immigrants, pro-social values or social capital presumed to be fostered by Christian religion and church engagement. In some other cases, where Christians are more likely to vote for radical right parties, it is likely to be driven by anti-immigrant attitudes, authoritarian values and moral conservative values. In addition, Christians could have been more mobilizable for radical right parties due to their authoritarian and moral conservative values, which have not been fully capitalized. The study suggests that Christian religiosity does not serve as an “antidote” to the radical right. Tolerance towards immigrants, pro-social values or social capital are rarely the mechanisms driving European Christians away from supporting radical right parties.

Nyckelord
European radical right parties, religious voting, anti-Immigrant attitudes, pro-sociality, social capital
Nationell ämneskategori
Sociologi
Forskningsämne
sociologi
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-195128 (URN)10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102575 (DOI)000654242300005 ()
Tillgänglig från: 2021-08-06 Skapad: 2021-08-06 Senast uppdaterad: 2022-02-25Bibliografiskt granskad
3. The role of religious engagement in mobilizing immigrant political participation in Sweden
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>The role of religious engagement in mobilizing immigrant political participation in Sweden
(Engelska)Manuskript (preprint) (Övrigt vetenskapligt)
Abstract [en]

Many scholars have proposed that religion has the potential to mobilize the political participation of immigrants, especially for the disadvantaged Muslim groups in Europe, by providing resources and networks and building democratic norms and transnational solidarity. Using representative data from the Swedish Level of Living Survey for the Foreign Born and Their Children (LNU-UFB), this study examines the relationship between immigrants’ religious engagement and political participation in Sweden, and compare denominational, gender and migration generation groups. Contrary to many previous findings, immigrants’ religious engagement is generally negatively associated with political participation. In addition, religion’s impacts on the political participation are more negative for female and first-generation immigrants. Immigrants who have experienced religion-based societal discrimination are also less politically active, especially Muslims. Overall, religion has a mostly negative impact on the political participation of immigrants in Sweden. More policy efforts should be made to improve the contribution of religious organizations to immigrants’ political integration in Sweden.

Nyckelord
Immigrant political participation, civic engagement, religious discrimination, Muslims, immigration and gender, immigrant generations
Nationell ämneskategori
Sociologi
Forskningsämne
sociologi
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-196553 (URN)
Tillgänglig från: 2021-09-07 Skapad: 2021-09-07 Senast uppdaterad: 2022-02-25Bibliografiskt granskad

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