Reckoning with the Ghosts of Nationalism : Exploring the contributions and culpability of the Church of Sweden in its historical relationship with nationalism

Abstract: Previous research that tends to digress into accusations against or advocacy for the Church of Sweden ultimately misses the mark in assessing the overall culpability of the Church for its historical relationship with nationalism. At the core of this study is the pursuit of an investigation that addresses this concern by asking the following questions: how has the Church of Sweden historically lent itself to nationalism and to what extent is the Church culpable for nationalism in Sweden? What follows is a status quaestionis, which creates a comparative analysis that functions as a means to gauge the Church’s historical and thematic contributions to Swedish nationalism and the formation of Swedish identity. Fundamental to this endeavor is a concept of broad culpability, which is consequently applied to the construction of the Church’s sacred Swedish community. This status quaestionis culminates with a discussion that connects a potential adjudication with four possible outcomes, which are based on Rogers Brubaker’s four approaches for analyzing religion and nationalism. Finally, an outcome is presented, which ultimately concludes that a formal adjudication regarding the Church’s culpability is immature without the completion of further empirical research that delves into the precise nature and spirit of nationalism in the Church as contrasted with other forms and sources of Swedish nationalism.