Enkvist/Pentecostal Migration in Secular Sweden, 7.International Pentecostals in Metropolitan Stockholm – Rethinking Relations between Voluntary and State Religion in Urban Sweden

The view that religion is disappearing in cities and persisting in rural areas endured until the end of the 20th century. Due to growing migration this view is now challenged in metropolitan areas such as Stockholm. Here, international Pentecostals from different parts of the world offer examples of a global market in religion, containing new forms of spirituality largely detached from institutions. By applying theoretical models from the sociology of religion to the material, the author indicates that religions have, once again, become an area of interest to the state, whilst remaining themselves voluntary networks. Today metropolitan areas increasingly accommodate diasporic people, displacing the native population. In these areas, religion is shaping identities that are located between the state and global society networks – a fact that can explain its growing vitality.