Catholic as Identity among Young Immigrants to Sweden: Possibilities and Constraints
"The good life is life being lived in communion with other people". Research has shown that during an experience of migration religious community takes on a greater role in people's lives. However, Sweden is one of the most secularized countries in the world and religion in Sweden see...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
[2010]
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| In: |
Diaconia
Year: 2010, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 156-170 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | "The good life is life being lived in communion with other people". Research has shown that during an experience of migration religious community takes on a greater role in people's lives. However, Sweden is one of the most secularized countries in the world and religion in Sweden seems to play a lesser role than in other parts of the world. This article studies what Catholic religion means to a number of young, 1st and 2nd generation Catholic immigrants in Landskrona, Sweden, a town nationally known for being ethnically segregated. Using the concepts of strong evaluations and qualitative differences taken from social philosopher Charles Taylor, this article sets out so study the relationship between Catholic religion, identity, and integration. The results show that the informants use their Catholic identity to make evaluations that become important means of making sense of their own lives. Catholic as an identity marker underpins an array of evaluations to handle life; being a Catholic helps put a name on everyday experiences and formulate what is important. This in turn is a way of creating meaning in difficult social circumstances. Still this is not a straightforward story. At times it seems difficult to formulate qualitative distinctions and the informants seem compelled to stop at quantitative distinctions. Also, being a Catholic at times is as much a private matter as it is a communal one. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-9027 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Diaconia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.13109/diac.2010.1.2.156 |