Disputation i religionssociologi - Linnea Jensdotter

Avhandlingen finns i fulltext på DiVA. 

Opponent är Marie Demker, professor i statsvetenskap vid Göteborgs universitet.
I betygsnämnden ingår Jakob Svensson, professor i medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap vid Malmö universitet, Karin Borevi, docent i statsvetenskap vid Södertörns högskola och Per-Erik Nilsson, docent i religionssociologi vid Uppsala universitet. 

Disputationen sker på Zoom, via följande länk: https://uu-se.zoom.us/s/68303823472
För deltagande behövs lösenord som fås av Cristoffer Tidelius genom att maila till cristoffer.tidelius@teol.uu.se.
Disputationen sker på svenska. 

Abstract
This dissertation analyses the relationship between religion and politics, situated in hybrid media spaces in Sweden. This phenomenon is actualized by contestations over the visibility of religion in public spheres, in combination with changes in the Swedish political debate where conflicts related to the left/right scale increasingly come to focus more on value-based issues. Moreover, the effect of digitalization and new media forums, such as Facebook, have affected public conversation. The empirical material analyzed consists of approximately 20 000 Facebook comments, posted as reactions to articles published by five of the largest Swedish news media actors. The material concerns three specific media debates, regarding three Swedish political parties. They are chosen as examples of ways in the politicization of religion is expressed with regard to current changes regarding religion and politics in Sweden: The Green Party and the so-called handshaking controversy in spring 2016 including two Muslim politicians, the continuous media reports about The Christian Democrats and issues related to lgbtqi and abortion during 2015-2016, and The Sweden Democrats and the internal Church election for The Church of Sweden in 2017. The analysis is conducted through critical discourse analysis, combining methods for distant and close reading, such as co-occurrence analysis, topic modelling, the rhetorical triangle and modality. The result is analyzed through a theoretical framework, which includes the theory of politicization of religion, focusing on religion as object and subject in political debate, and as a resource or source of conflict in border disputes. In addition, the concept of civilizationism is used to analyze how religion is actively used in the construction of national identity. The theory of mediatization of religion is operationalized through the dynamics of mediatized conflicts, together with a focus on emotions as a form of subactivism. The result contributes to previous research on religion and politics in the Nordic countries by demonstrating how politicization of religion is taking place in various but interrelated ways in three hybrid media discussions. A significant aspect uncovered by the analysis is how the hybrid media milieu contributes to structuring the form as well as the content of the analyzed discussions.