Radical political opposition, appealing to workers and craftsmen, rose in importance in Sweden in the decades after the revolutionary year of 1848. In traditional historiography this movement has been labelled a "liberal" workers' movement, but this is hardly a satisfactory characterization. Ideologically it was much more complex, containing early socialist ...
(Show more)Radical political opposition, appealing to workers and craftsmen, rose in importance in Sweden in the decades after the revolutionary year of 1848. In traditional historiography this movement has been labelled a "liberal" workers' movement, but this is hardly a satisfactory characterization. Ideologically it was much more complex, containing early socialist ideas, but also many ideas that link to European republicanism. This paper investigates the role of anti-clericalism within this radical tradition. Republicanism and anti-clericalism in Europe were closely related, but little is known about this relation in Sweden. Several possible attitudes to religion can be discerned within the movement. Scepticism against revivalist popular movements was common. In this case revivalist religion was seen as a dupe of ignorant people that ought to be protected against such preachings. This could lead to a defence of the the protestant state church and of the restrictions on religious liberty in Sweden at the time. Another important - and similar - direction was anti-catholicism. Catholocism was then interpreted as the enemy of enlightment and democracy. This attitude was strongly related to a growing nationalism tying Swedishness to protestantism. A third possibility, which is of greatest interest to this paper, is a direct criticism of the Swedish state church which could be seen as the ideological support of a conservative state in need of democratic reforms. Swedish republican and anti-clerical ideas will be interpreted against a European background.
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