About me, Sara
My research interests include issues related to youth, digitalisation, professionalisation and idealism. Other areas examined in my research include changing forms of engagement in relation to the church, church practice and traditions, and the role of the Church of Sweden as an actor in civil society.
Previous research focuses a great deal on politicians’ roots in civil society, with a focus on voluntary work versus increased professionalisation in both politics and civil society.
Keywords
Idealism, Attitudes, Values, Young people, Digitalisation, Survey
My CV
Researcher at the Unit of Research and Analysis at the Church of Sweden (2020–)
Researcher at the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (2018–2020)
Ph.D. in Political Science, Linnaeus University (2018)
My current research
Professionalisation and idealism – social capital in the Church of Sweden
This project aims to investigate what impact the increasing professionalisation of civil society is having on social capital, using the Church of Sweden as a case study. Work on idealism in the Church of Sweden may be seen from the viewpoints of competing logics, where both organisational and theological arguments are attributable to attitudes in the parishes and work with volunteers.
This project analyses how relationships are created, maintained and changed between employees, elected representatives and volunteers in the parish, but also with potential volunteers in the local community based on the theoretical concepts of bridging and bonding. The theoretical and methodological approach of the project is based on social network theory, which makes it possible to examine differences in parish structures and ways of working in different parishes when it comes to idealism.
Responsibilities of faith communities in times of crisis and disaster
The project aims to examine, from different viewpoints, the responsibilities and behaviour of both majority and minority communities in local or national disasters. Policymakers have long recognised the important role of the local community in times of crisis or disaster. This is based on dialogue and compassion for fellow human beings, but also on expectations, for example as regards maintaining premises and getting public service information out to the members of the population who are otherwise beyond the reach of national, regional and local authorities.
The project explores how congregations themselves think about their own expectations and those of decision-makers, how expectations are translated into actual practice when disasters or crises occur, and how the differences between congregational will and congregational practice can be understood.
Confirmation, faith and socialisation – a comparative study in Europe of work with confirmation candidates in the 2020s
Funder: Self-funded
Senior Researcher: Sara Fransson
Objective: The study aims to determine young people’s motives for confirmation, how their religious values and understanding of the Christian faith change and deepen during the confirmation period, but also how the didactics of confirmation education change over time in the Church of Sweden and other Lutheran churches in Europe.
Questions addressed:
Which young people choose to be confirmed in the Church of Sweden today and how has this changed between 2007 and 2022?
How do the attitudes of confirmation candidates to faith and Christianity change during the confirmation period?
In which ways has the work of parishes changed in confirmation education between 2007 and 2022?
Read more about the project here: http://konfirmandenarbeit.eu/en/home-page/
Selection of my publications
Lundgren, Linnea and Fransson, Sara (2023). The Differences Between Actions and Desires: The Role of Religious Congregations in Crises. Journal of Contingencies and Crises Management. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12450
Fransson, Sara, Gelfgren, Stefan and Jonsson, Pernilla (2023). Sweden in times of Corona. In Schlag, Thomas & Nord, Ilona (Ed.) Kirchen Online in Zeiten von Corona. New York: Springer Publications