Jansson, Anton2024-04-152024-04-152013https://hdl.handle.net/2077/80746Since Karl Marx, studies of ideology have tended to treat religion as negatively ideological, as social cement hiding real conflicts. But throughout history religion has also been used as a resource for criticizing ideology. This paper investigates the latter function, combining a historical study of one religiously framed critique with a discussion of religion as ideology and critique. The focus is on the work of early Swedish communist Per Götrek, who was active during the mid-nineteenth century. I analyze four of his texts and summarize his Christian critique of society, going on to suggest that in a sociological definition of ideology, religion can function both critically as well as ideologically.engGötrekideologyreligion and politicshistory of communismMarxismText