1st Edition
Nation, Race, Religion A Story of Sweden’s Spiritual Vikings
In this book, Tomas Poletti Lundström unveils how religion is tightly woven into the political fabric of radical nationalism. He offers the first comprehensive historical analysis of the Sweden Democrats while also providing an in-depth examination of the Nordic Resistance Movement, Swedish identitarian nationalists, and evangelical supremacists.
From Viking discourse and Lutheran nationalism to Pentecostal revivalism, Poletti Lundström explores how religious ideas lie at the heart of Swedish radical nationalism. Drawing on archival studies, digital ethnography, and corpus linguistics, he examines how radical nationalists construe and reinterpret the concept of religion. By tracing the history and global influence of key Swedish actors, Poletti Lundström reveals how their versions of radical nationalism resonate with authoritarian politics worldwide.
This interdisciplinary study is essential reading for scholars and general audiences interested in religious extremism, political nationalism, and the global dynamics of the far right.
1. Introduction
2. The Lutherans: Faith and Tradition
3. The National Socialists: Spirit and Biology
4. The Identitarians: Athens and Jerusalem
5. The Prophets: Homeland and Heaven
6. Blonde Swedish Vikings: Final Remarks on the Voyage from Banal to Radical Nationalism
Biography
Tomas Poletti Lundström holds a PhD in religious history and is a researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism at Uppsala University, Sweden.
“It is well known that religion enables radical nationalism but not how it does so. Poletti Lundström’s incisive study shows how religious concepts promoted a menacing radical nationalism in Sweden, and how spiritual warfare elsewhere is enlisted to support far-right aspirations for ethnically and racially homogeneous nations.”
Kathleen M. Blee, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh. Co-author of Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacism and How It Can Be Stopped.
“In Nation, Race, Religion, Tomas Poletti Lundström has triumphantly documented how far Swedish permutations forms of the fascist obsession with decadence and rebirth, far from being mimetic or imported, thrived in pre-, inter-, and postwar Sweden’s unique cultural climate by drawing on indigenous historical and mythic forces – veins more seductive, powerful, and primordial for many than the humanism and egalitarianism preached by liberal democracy and Christianity.”Roger Griffin, Emeritus Professor in History, Oxford Brookes University. Author of The Nature of Fascism and Fascisme: en introduksjon til komparative studier av fascisme.
“International observers recognize Sweden as an exceptional case study due to its distinct economic systems, social model, and secularism. And while scholars are coming to see that the country’s politics also merit additional attention, few are equipped to make sense of its complicated web of cultural contingencies. That is what makes Tomas Poletti Lundström and Nation, Race, Religion so valuable. An unprecedented, highly accessible, timely, and richly informed analysis of Swedish cultural life.”Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and International Affairs, University of Colorado. His works include the acclaimed War for Eternity: The Return of Traditionalism and the Rise of the Populist Right.
