University of Gothenburg
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5. Gender and new forms of Leadership in Religious Communities

During the latest decades the diversity of religions and life views have increased in the Nordic countries. This diversity has also implied the emergence of new organizational forms for religious and life view communities.

Such new organizational forms are, in turn, shaped by new structures for the state’s governance of religion in secular societies, as former models based on the Lutheran majority state church become obsolete or contested.

These processes have all been well researched in previous Nordic research. This session focuses on how these changes have affected forms of leadership within religious communities, with an emphasis on gender.

The format is a session with paper presentations. Research questions focused are if and how, these processes have changed the roles and practices of leadership for women and for men in religious communities. What leadership roles do men and women perform, and what challenged for religious communities in contemporary society do these roles and practices address?

Session chairperson

Mia Lövheim & Maria Klingenberg

Contact

Mia Lövheim
mia.lovheim@teol.uu.se