Research project Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments
Gender equality as a condition for sustainable socio-economic development and welfare is widely acknowledged. However, as a concept, gender equality has been shaped through processes of social construction involving various policy actors, and is dependent upon a significant background that contributes. Its meaning is fluid, undergoing shifts in emphasis and scope, and it remains a constantly contested issue.
Religion is central to the meaning and implementation of gender equality. All religions provide some reflection on gender and embody gender ideologies in their teachings and practices.
To understand the influence that religious communities have on gender regimes in specific national contexts, the project focuses on four countries – Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They share many common features, such as having Christianity as their majority religion and formally supporting the ideal of gender equality, but there are also significant differences that provide opportunities to gain insights into the interaction between religion and gender equality.
The „Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments“ benefits from a 734375 € grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants. The aim of the project is to investigate the role of religion on the implementation of gender equality and to disclose the intra-religious and interreligious developments for sustaining or resisting gender equality in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
Project contract with the Research Council of Lithuania No is S-BMT-21-4 (LT08-2LMT-K-01-036).
Aim and Focus of the Project
The aim of the project is to investigate the role of religion on the implementation of gender equality and to reveal intra-religious and interreligious developments for sustaining or resisting gender equality in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Norway.
Our Working Hypothesis
The differences between Baltic and Nordic countries in the implementation of gender equality and the development of religious gender ideologies lie in their different patterns of modernization, and the lack/absence of a second-wave feminist movement in the Baltic states.
Religious groups within religious organizations support different gender ideologies; the influence of the groups depends on power relations in the organizations and the access the groups have to the public space.
Funding
This research has received funding from the EEA Grants / Norway Grants 2014-2021
The „Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments“ benefits from a 734375 € grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants. The aim of the project is to investigate the role of religion on the implementation of gender equality and to disclose the intra-religious and interreligious developments for sustaining or resisting gender equality in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
Project contract with the Research Council of Lithuania No is S-BMT-21-4 (LT08-2LMT-K-01-036).
The project will contribute to the aim of the Baltic Research Programme to increase social inclusion by fighting gender inequality in various spheres of everyday life, particularly in relation to religion and culture.
The project will offer insights into the impact that sociocultural factors have on the implementation of gender equality and relevant discursive. As a result, policymakers will be provided with the knowledge necessary for ensuring sustainable development, adaptation and implementation of gender policies in the Baltic countries and Norway, as well as for the preparation of specific measures suitable for specific national and regional contexts.
