First things: who are we and why are we here?

This weblog is the home of a research project focusing on the political dimension of laestadianism, a lutheran revival movement based on the heritage of a Sami botanist and preacher Lars Levi Laestadius -- click the picture on top of the right column to learn more. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland's board of culture and society for 2010-2, with the University of Lapland's Faculty of Social Sciences as its home institution. In our research we combine current theoretical literatures on political theology and civil religion with an empirically oriented approach to the movement in Finnish society.

This weblog will be updated with current information on project events and public relations, commentary and analysis on issues touching the laestadian movement in Finland and elsewhere, as well as debates on political theology and civil religion in general. For more up-to-date updates do follow me on Twitter!

Mika