A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Consuming a Cathedral: Commodification of Religious Places in Late Modernity
Authors: Martikainen, Tuomas
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Publication year: 2008
Journal: Fieldwork in Religion
Journal name in source: Fieldwork in Religion
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
First page : 127
Last page: 145
ISSN: 1743-0615
eISSN: 1743-0623
DOI: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1558/fiel2008v2i2.127
Web address : http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/fiel2008v2i2.127
The article is a case study of activities taking place in the most important church of Finland, the Cathedral of Turku. The article seeks possibilities to understand contemporary religious change by using theoretical ideas developed in the sociology of consumption. This is done through analysing four cases of how the cathedral has been commodified in different situations. The cases are a celebrity wedding, a dance performance, a marketing brand and a city festival. The results show that even traditional Christian communities have adapted to consumer society and that the ideas developed in the sociology of consumption are useful in understanding current religious change.