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This book thematizes the tension between education, politics, and religion in Norway after the Second World War, with an emphasis on the years between 1945 and 1970, and throws a new light on Norwegian school and education in the post-war period. The Norwegian educational landscape in the years after the Second World War must be seen against the development of the welfare state, and it appears as a part of the social democracy project typical for Norway at that time. The Labour Party, which held a prominent position in the educational landscape in the post-war decades, is normally regarded to have been an important driving force behind secularization of schools in Norway, not least because the total number of weekly lessons in religious education gradually was reduced. This book problematizes this thesis and enlightens how important politicians and policymakers within the Labour Party defended religious education. A central point is that this defense must be seen within the frames of a liberally oriented protestant theology. Thus, the study highlights the diversity of ideas in Norwegian politics in the post-war period and demonstrates how important impulses in Norwegian politics can be viewed against a wider international background.
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"There is a huge amount of detail densely packed in this work, yet it is articulated in a very accessible manner, all of which leads to a very significant contribution. [...] there is a significant contribution here in relation to understanding the role of Protestantism (...) in the political context of post-war reconstruction. This gives the book an appeal to a wide range of audiences; those in training to teach KRLE in Norway for example would benefit significantly, but more widely, historians, theologians, those interested in secular movements of public opinion, those interested in detailed life histories, and cultural historians, as well as those interested in methodological matters." - Jonathan Doney, Nordic Journal of Educational History, Vol. 12, no. 1 (2025).
