Religion and the cultural public sphere: The case of the Finnish liberal intelligentsia during the turmoil of the early twentieth century

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Abstract

The political public sphere is at one and the same time both public, and private and religion operates in both the public and the private spheres in the modern way of life. This article approaches the dynamics between the cultural and the political public sphere from the point of view of religion; how the cultural intelligentsia developed its worldview fuelled with attitudes towards religion in times of political turmoil. The case study, based on the empirical analysis of cultural periodicals and societies around them, concerns the Finnish liberal intelligentsia in the early twentieth century. The first decade of the 1900s was a particularly important period of formation for the Finnish public sphere; the societal turmoil highlighted the importance of cultural periodicals in defining what was important for the national public sphere. The case of religion is an illustrative example of it, particularly from the point of view of the liberal intelligentsia of the era.

Original languageEnglish
JournalHistory of European Ideas
Volume44
Issue number1
Pages (from-to) 98-112
Number of pages15
ISSN0191-6599
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 5201 Political History
  • The cultural public sphere
  • religion
  • secularization
  • liberal intelligentsia
  • cultural periodicals
  • Finland
  • INTELLECTUALS

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