Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram
In this article, we analyse implicit connections between gender equality and particular forms of religion in Sweden, as expressed in political discourse and social media debates. Instagram posts responding to the Christian Democrats [Kristdemokraterna] political party's proposal to ban the wear...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Nordic Journal of Media Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2024-0003 |
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| author | Lövheim Mia Jensdotter Linnea |
| author_facet | Lövheim Mia Jensdotter Linnea |
| author_sort | Lövheim Mia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article, we analyse implicit connections between gender equality and particular forms of religion in Sweden, as expressed in political discourse and social media debates. Instagram posts responding to the Christian Democrats [Kristdemokraterna] political party's proposal to ban the wearing of veils in Swedish primary schools in 2021 were analysed through methods of co-occurrence analysis and feminist critical discourse analysis. By applying the concept of banal religion from mediatisation of religion theory, the results reveal how implicit connections between veiling as opposed to gender equality in the proposal turn into explicit debates on Instagram regarding what kind of religious practice is compatible with Swedish identity and values. This reveals the ambiguous nature of Instagram as a digital platform that may enhance hegemonic ideas of gender, ethnic, and religious identities, but that may also enable Muslim women to challenge understandings of Islam and gender equality in the public debate. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-668eb4057a2142379dc38c80005d1a9c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2003-184X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordic Journal of Media Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-668eb4057a2142379dc38c80005d1a9c2025-02-02T15:48:44ZengSciendoNordic Journal of Media Studies2003-184X2024-09-0161365610.2478/njms-2024-0003Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on InstagramLövheim Mia0Jensdotter Linnea1Center for Multidisciplinary Research of Religion and Society, Department of Theology, Uppsala University, SwedenCenter for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, SwedenIn this article, we analyse implicit connections between gender equality and particular forms of religion in Sweden, as expressed in political discourse and social media debates. Instagram posts responding to the Christian Democrats [Kristdemokraterna] political party's proposal to ban the wearing of veils in Swedish primary schools in 2021 were analysed through methods of co-occurrence analysis and feminist critical discourse analysis. By applying the concept of banal religion from mediatisation of religion theory, the results reveal how implicit connections between veiling as opposed to gender equality in the proposal turn into explicit debates on Instagram regarding what kind of religious practice is compatible with Swedish identity and values. This reveals the ambiguous nature of Instagram as a digital platform that may enhance hegemonic ideas of gender, ethnic, and religious identities, but that may also enable Muslim women to challenge understandings of Islam and gender equality in the public debate.https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2024-0003banal religionveil bansinstagramchristian democratssweden |
| spellingShingle | Lövheim Mia Jensdotter Linnea Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram Nordic Journal of Media Studies banal religion veil bans christian democrats sweden |
| title | Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram |
| title_full | Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram |
| title_fullStr | Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram |
| title_full_unstemmed | Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram |
| title_short | Veiling as free choice or coercion: Banal religion, gender equality, and Swedish identity on Instagram |
| title_sort | veiling as free choice or coercion banal religion gender equality and swedish identity on instagram |
| topic | banal religion veil bans christian democrats sweden |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2024-0003 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lovheimmia veilingasfreechoiceorcoercionbanalreligiongenderequalityandswedishidentityoninstagram AT jensdotterlinnea veilingasfreechoiceorcoercionbanalreligiongenderequalityandswedishidentityoninstagram |