The Global Political Economy, Welfare State Reforms, and the Governance of Religion




Martikainen, Tuomas

Nynäs, Peter; Lassander, Mika; Utriainen, Terhi

PublisherRoutledge

2012

Post-Secular Society

71

93

978-1-4128-4610-3

9781315127095

DOIhttps://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315127095

http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315127095



This chapter looks at changes and reforms in postwar western welfare states that—it will be asserted—have led to unintended consequences in other areas of life, including religion. These changes have their roots in the global political economy. The chapter then looks at the developments in three key areas: church–state relations, the mediatization and marketization of religion, and international mobility. It discusses the central aspect of the changes and what the social welfare might entail for novel forms of "religion" and its governance, and ask what is its relation to the "post-secular". The chapter then addresses developments that take place in the Nordic countries and Western Europe. It describes text – both theoretical and exploratory, and aims to create a common platform for describing and analyzing changes that are seen as separate from each other. The chapter concludes that religion is deeply rooted in globalized identity politics, to be a source of provocation and reconciliation in the coming decades.



Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:25