Mid Sweden University

This article explores how 'funeral' was articulated in Swedish newspapers during the Covid-19 pandemic and how such articulations relate to power and ideology. Articles from the six most prominent Swedish newspapers, published over 2 years, have been analyzed using critical discourse analysis and intersectionality. The study reveals three funeral discourses dominating during different periods of the pandemic: 'Funeral as a risk,' 'Funeral as an essential ritual,' and 'Funeral as a profession.' Altogether, the three discourses expose an ideal of 'the responsible mourner.' This rational woman follows the funeral restrictions and arranges a church funeral shortly after the death of a relative. The 'good funeral' is portrayed as a church funeral with physically present mourners, performed according to the deceased's will and in honor of the dead. The 'bad funeral,' described as the opposite of the 'good funeral,' dominates the understanding of the pandemic funeral situation.

Purpose – This paper aims to overview current research on birth rites in Western societies and identify and discuss empirical, theoretical and methodological gaps in the research field. Design/methodology/approach – In the paper, we first give an overview of the main themes in previous research and then we discuss ways we find fruitful to improve research on birth rituals empirically, theoretically and methodologically. The literature review was conducted by combining a scoping review with the snowballing method to summarize the existing knowledge in the research field of birth rites in Western societies. Findings – Five themes are identified in previous research on birth rites (1) Birth rites within religious institutions, (2) Religious birth rites beyond religious institutions, (3) Women’s birth rites and baby girls’ naming rites, (4) Constructing identity in private pre-birth and birth rites and (5) Doing family in life-cycle rites. The review reveals that sociological research has been quantitative and primarily focused on baptism by same-religion and heterosexual core families in the Protestant churches. Originality/value – Little is known about the diverse families’ social and religious/worldview dynamics and how social stratifications affect ritualization. Moreover, qualitative studies and research on ritualization in minority religions and private birth rites are lacking. Studies on social relations in private birth rites are significantly absent. Furthermore, we observe that critical feminist approaches and a non-binary understanding of (non)religion are infrequently employed in studies on family rites and we advocate for these perspectives in research on birth rites. The application of feminist theories challenges entrenched notions of birth rites. It problematizes them by contributing to an understanding of how birth rites may reinforce and challenge norms, faiths and values and affect societal power relations. Private birth rites are often categorized as nonreligious in research. 

This oral presentation discusses a museum educational project at Hälsingland Museum in Hudiksvall that took place during the winter of 2024, when the altarpiece "The Holy Family" was displayed at the museum. The altarpiece, created in the 15th century, is an illustration of Jesus' family tree. Based on norm-critical pedagogy, I, along with one of the museum's educators, presented the altarpiece primarily to school classes in the region's high schools and gymnasiums. The students' active participation in the form of conversations was an important part of these viewings. The project asked questions about family, identity, relationships and belonging. In the presentation, I reflect on the challenges and opportunities that projects like these can bring.

The ritual landscape in the Nordic countries is altering. The most significantchange is that more and more people are opting out of the Nordic majoritychurch rites of baptism, marriage, and burial. These church rites have longbeen strongly dominant in the Nordic culture and, for many members of theethnic majority, were related to more than a millennium of Christian culture. Whether one was a strong or weak supporter of the Christian doctrinesor beliefs, the baptized in the majority Lutheran churches were, for the mostpart, following the tradition. Today, the practice of life-cycle rites continues,but now it takes place more and more within other religious communities and,above all, in the private sphere, outside the orders of the religious communities. Another major change is the pursuit for authenticity in ritualisation. Thecollective, formalized rituals performed in the main Lutheran churches arechallenged by an experienced need for rituals being ‘personal’ and authentic.Many scholars say ritual practice changes indicate religious transformation insociety (e.g., deGroot 2017,Woodhead 2016, Beaman and Lefebvre 2014). In thispaper, we reflect on the patterns of ritual change that can be discerned in twoNordic countries, namely Norway and Sweden, regarding people’s practicesof weddings, baptisms, and burials. The aim is to examine what we call the‘ritual shift’ in relation to the main Lutheran churches’ life cycle ceremoniesand their public alternatives on the one hand and private rites on the other.Available studies and data, qualitative and quantitative, of ritual practices onindividual and organizational levelswill be utilized to identify the society-widetransformation and highlight the socially embedded factors that account forthe ritual shift. We argue that studies of life cycle ritual practices are centralto understanding religious complexity in society. Significant for studying theritual shift and amply for the religious complexity, we provide a structural andrelational perspective of the ritual practice and discuss how the market ofavailable options affects ritualisation.

This study examines the discursive construction of religion in Swedish newspaper articles on funerals during the covid-19 pandemic. Thirty articles from the six most prominent newspapers were analyzed using Multimodal cda and intersectionality. Most articles deal with religion as an institution, followed by religion as a group and individual religiosity. Religion is constructed in intersection with ethnicity and gender. The CoS is privileged, portraying Lutheran Christians as professionals. Minority religions are positioned as ‘the other’, something ‘problematic’ or ‘different’ from ‘Swedish (secular) values’ and ways of living. Migrant men and women are portrayed stereotypically. However, alternative narratives are told by well-educated and influential representatives of different minority religions, giving these religions a ‘voice’. I argue that increased religious literacy is needed among media workers if the reporting should be based on equality within and between the power categories of gender, ethnicity, and religion.

In Sweden, private life-circle rites, such as name-giving ceremonies and civil funerals, outside religious or nonreligious congregations are increasing. This paper aims to expolore how people who prepare and participate in private life-cycle rites position themselves in relation to what they perceive as ‘religion’ or ‘non-religion’ in their ritual narratives. I use positioning theory to analyse the ritual narratives of the 12 interviewees. The study reveals that private rites are moments for making distance to organized ‘religion’ and ‘religious’ organisations by focusing on the individual, the main character of the ceremony, instead of God or a religious community. Other ways to show distance are by giving old traditions and materials new meaning or exploring existential dimensions, perceived as non-religious, in the ritualisation. Private rites can also connect to ‘religious’ organisations and organized ‘religion’ by copying practices from religious rites to a civil context, using ‘religious rooms’ and exploring ‘religious’ fusion in a ‘neutral’ place.

This article aims to show how critical -feminist studies can improve research on funerals by contributing to a more complex understanding of ritualization and how it can be explored. The article discusses central issues within critical-feminist theory in relation to previous studies of funerals in Sweden and presents theoretical approaches that may improve the field of funeral studies.Intersectionality, queer phenomenology and ritual practice theory are introduced as ex amples of approaches that might help the researcher deal with questions of representation in research, rejection of othering and application of non-essentialism - central issues in critical -feminist theory. Critical-feminist studies may, for example, uncover intersections of power relations in the ritual field, reveal experiences of inclusion/exclusion and contribute to a relational and dynamic understanding of ritual practice. Thereby, they provide complex knowledge of funerals, essential for understanding their functions for individuals and societies in times of ritual change.