Religion, subjectivity, and societal structure: politics and society according to religious leaders in Slovenia

ABSTRACT

The article summarizes major findings of a study on attitudes of 30 broadly ranked religious dignitaries in Slovenia (including four active bishops of the Roman-Catholic Church), exploring their preferred relationship between religion, politics, and society. The study employed ‘Q-methodology’, which allows for a systematic analysis of subjective viewpoints and groups respondents according to their attitudes. The first aim was explorative and enquired about attitudes to the field. The findings show seven significant types of positions, but also that these are not determined by respondents’ religious background, geographical location, or age. The second aim was to examine the integrative or conflictual potential of these types within the context of the modern, multi-religious society, with significant secular segments among the Slovenian population. Despite differences in their specific contents, most viewpoints reflect integrative tendencies. However, the potential for societal conflict can be located within small groups associated with large, traditional religious communities. This article addresses the general orientation of research on the role of religious leaders in domestic politics, which followed the influence of their political perspectives on the electorate and illustrated the links between denominational alignment and political orientation.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious leaders
• attitudes
• religion and state
• Slovenia
• mixed-method

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ Comprising seven Christian churches, the Jewish Community, and the Islamic Community. Six additional groups registered between 1976 and 1990.

² See the early formation of an active atheist organization (slov. Združenje ateistov Slovenije) with the major aim of reducing the influence of the RCC in Slovenia; the financial breakdown of the Maribor diocese of the RCC beginning in 2009; and further societal conflicts involving the Church, which are combined with significant erosion of popular trust in the RCC.

³ On average, during the ten years from 2008 to 2017, 8.6 new priests began their service every year and 17.2 retired.

⁴ Christian-Protestants represent a tiny minority of the population, but some of their leaders exert significant overall influence on formation of opinions beyond their community through their frequent media activity.

⁵ R – religion; RC – religious community; RF – religious freedom; RL – religious leader

6. All interviews were conducted in confidentiality, names of interviewees are withheld.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Grant number TO 889/1-1. The author was thankful for the valuable advice of the reviewers.

Notes on contributors

Jochen Töpfer

Jochen Töpfer is researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Eastern European Studies/Free University Berlin. He studied political science, sociology, and macroeconomics in Bamberg, Berlin, Budapest, Ljubljana, and Skopje, received his diploma in 2006, and his doctorate in 2010. In 2014/15, he was professor for sociology at the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, in 2016 guest researcher at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) (Berlin). He works in the areas of macrosociology, societal development, sociology of elites, and sociology of religion, is specialized in mixed-methods, and focusses his research on societies in South-Eastern Europe. He submitted his habilitation thesis at the University of Magdeburg in March 2021.