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Acta Sociologica, Vol. 51, No. 2, 91-102 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699308090037

To Study or Not to Study Religion and Society

The Institutionalization, Fragmentation and Marginalization of Sociology of Religion in Finland

Titus Hjelm

School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UK, t.hjelm{at}ssees.ucl.ac.uk

In the work of many of the classics of sociology, religion plays a major role. In post-World War II sociology, however, the study of religion gradually ended up in a marginal position. This article discusses the status of the sociological study of religion in Finland from the post-war period to the present. The focus in the article is on the institutional evolution of the field and the influence of that evolution on the role of the sociology of religion within Finnish sociology. Finnish sociology of religion is divided into three categories: studies carried out in sociology departments, sociological studies carried out within religious studies and church and social studies. The article examines the development and characteristics of each of these disciplines as well as the consequences of institutional scattering for the sociology of religion. The aversion of religion within sociology, the focus on folklore in religious studies and the public identification of church sociology with theology are identified as the reasons for the marginal position of the sociology of religion in Finland. The article closes with a review of recent studies in the sociology of religion and the `new rise' of the field due to the rise in the societal significance of religion.

Key Words: church and social studies • comparative religion • Finland • history of sociology • religious studies • sociology of religion


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