Michael Johan Brixtofte Petersen

Michael Johan Brixtofte Petersen is a Part-time Lecturer at Roskilde University's Department of Social Sciences and Business. He is a sociologist of religion specializing in Christianity's intersection with nationalism, migration, and politics, with a regional focus on Eastern Europe. Petersen is currently completing his Ph.D. on The Catholic Church in Denmark as a diasporic setting for Polish work migrants and participates in the research project 'The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Global Modernities' led by Bjørn Thomassen and Andreas Bandak.

His research examines:

• Transnational Catholic communities and diasporic identities
• Polish migrant experiences in secular Scandinavian contexts
• Ethical negotiations in multicultural religious settings
• Nationalism and religious expression in Eastern Europe

Petersen's publications consistently explore Polish Catholic migrant experiences in Denmark through ethnographic and qualitative lenses. His work demonstrates strong thematic focus on transnational identity formation, religious authority conflicts, and ethical adaptations in secular environments, primarily within sociology of religion and migration studies frameworks.

He maintains active media engagement, with 8 documented press contributions analyzing contemporary Catholicism, Polish-Danish migration dynamics, and Vatican politics. Petersen contributes to the CESGM research project (2021-2024) investigating global Catholicism in transnational contexts.