Berkley Center

In Secular and Sacred? Rosemarie van den Breemer, José Casanova, and Trygve Wyller compile a series of essays analyzing secularization in Scandinavian countries, focusing on Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The editors argue that Scandinavia presents a unique case study for secularization because of the impact of Lutheran traditions on society over the past five centuries. The book analyzes secularization from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, combining a contextual approach with scholarly approaches ranging from political science, sociology, and law to religious study and theology. It is intended to complement existing research on religion in Scandinavian countries with a more specific focus on secularity, teasing out international implications for theories on secularization. It also emphasizes explicit engagement between the social sciences and Protestant theology in comprehending part of the Scandinavian reality.