Research subject Gender and Religion

The research area gender and religion explores how gender creates and is created by religious notions and practices. The dynamics between lived, popular religion and religious institutions are central for the gender perspective in ethnographic as well as historical studies.

The feminist tradition directs attention to the oppressive effects of religion, but also to the ways in whch religion generates cultural resistance and agency, for women as well as for other repressed groups, in historic and contemporary settings. Current issues of global concern are anti-gender movements and disputes over the Muslim veil, in which gender, religion and sexuality are key components. Other central themes are the revitalization of religion in Europe and the feminization of religion in historic and contemporary perspectives.