Swedish, Christian and Equal! The use of Christianity in authoritarian populist and nationalist discourses about Swedishness and gender equality

This project aims to study how Christianity is used in populist and nationalist constructions of so-called Swedish values, such as gender equality. In focus are public and political discussions about religion, with a particular interest in the two Swedish parties The Christian Democrats and The Swedish Democrats. The study will be based on material collected from Swedish media (including both traditional media and social media) and political material (such as protocol and motions, party programmes and ideological scriptures), together with a smaller interview study with political and/or religious actors. The material will be analysed through critical discourse analysis combining a mix of methods for close and distant readings, using theories such as civilizationism and mediatization of religion and politics.

The project aims to examine how Christianity and Gender Equality are used in constructions of so-called Swedish values. The context is the increased politicization of religion in public and political debate i Sweden, where religion is part of defining groups such as "us" and "the Other".