MF CASR is thrilled to welcome Mia Lövheim as the 2023 Global Fellow.

Professor Lövheim is Professor in Sociology of Religion at Uppsala University, and leader for the theme Democracy, Communication and Media at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society (CRS). Her research focuses on representations of religion in Swedish and Nordic daily press, public service media and social media in the context of social and political change. She is the editor of Media, Religion and Gender: Key Issues and New Challenges (2013) and A Constructive Critique of Religion: Encounters between Christianity, Islam, and Non-religion in Secular Societies (2020).

During her fellowship, she will focus on a project on constructive journalism on religion in Nordic media. Nordic societies have during the latest decades experienced rapid transformations regarding social and cultural diversity. Religion has, in this process, become a matter of intensified public concern. Previous research shows a dominant negative portrayal of religion, in particular Islam, in Europe as well as the Nordic countries. However, this might not be the whole picture. Drawing on recent developments of theories of mediatization of religion and constructive journalism this project explores if an enhanced focus on religion in post-secular societies also can contribute to more constructively oriented depictions of religion in the media. The project analyzes news and opinion media and interviews with Nordic journalists.