Post-Christian or Post-Atheistic Society? Some Characteristics of the Russian Regime of Secularity
https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-245-266
EDN: QMZRPP
Abstract
The authors argue that the specificity of the Russian case of secularity is generally underestimated. This leads to two negative consequences. First, it leads researchers to considering the regimes of secularity in Eastern Europe as variations of the “Soviet model,” which is false. Second, it entails inaccuracies in the analysis of the regime of secularity that has developed in post-Soviet Russia that the authors propose to describe as “post-atheistic.” The special Russian case implied the destruction of the very mechanism of religious and cultural transmission during the period of communist rule. This is where other features of the post-atheistic society stem from: a relatively low relevance of religious symbols and narratives for the social fabric; the involvement of religious agency in the projects of nation-building and, therefore, a predominantly ideological, rather than religious, motivation of the subjects of such agency; a top-down, rather than bottom-up, dynamic of the post-Soviet return of religion to the public sphere; the lack of a broad public support of the state activities in this field; widespread polarization of views on the role of public religion in modern society - either linking religion to cultural backwardness, or the total rejection of modernity and secular culture.
About the Authors
Vladimir Malakhov
RANEPA
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Centre for Theoretical and Applied Political Science
Denis Letnyakov
RANEPA
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Centre for Theoretical and Applied Political Science
References
1. Agadjanian, A. (2006) "The Search for Privacy and the Return of a Grand Narrative: Religion in a Post Communist Society", Social Compass 53(2): 169-184.
2. Agadjanian, A. (2015) "Vulnerable Post-Soviet Secularities: Patterns and Dynamics in Russia and Beyond", in M. Burchardt, M. Wohlrab-Sahr, M. Middell (eds.) Multiple Secularities Beyond the West. Religion and Modernity in the Global Age, pp. 241260. Boston: de Gruyter.
3. Anderson, J. (1994) Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Asad, T. (2003) Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
5. Beliakova, T. (2013) "Konstruirovanie natsional'noi identichnosti v sotsialisticheskoi IUgoslavii i makedonskii tserkovnyi vopros" ["Constructing National Identity in the Socialist Yugoslavia and the Issue of Macedonian Church"], Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 4(32-62-85.
6. Berger, P.L. (1999) "The desecularization of the world: a global overview", in P.L. Berger (ed.) The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics, pp. 1-18. Washington-Michigan: Ethic and Public Policy Center.
7. Berger, P.L. et al. (2008) Religious America, Secular Europe? A Theme and Variations. Aldershot: Ashgate.
8. Berger, P. (2008) "Secularization falsified", First Things [http: https://www.firstthmgs.com/article/2008/02/secularization-falsified, accesses on 08.06.2020].
9. Berger, P. (2012) "Fal'sifitsirovannaia sekuliarizatsiia" ["Secularization Falsified"], Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 2(30): 8-20.
10. Belyakova, T. (2014) Konstruirovanie natsional'noi identichnosti v sotsialisticheskoi Yugoslavii i makedonskii tserkovnyi vopros [Constructing national identity in socialist Yugoslavia and the Macedonian church question]. Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom, 4(32), 62-85.
11. Bogatyrev, M.A., Shishova, M.I. (2015) Postsekuliarnaia gipoteza i osobennosti rossiiskoi postsekuliarnosti [Postsecular hypothesis and peculiarities of Russian post-secu-larity], Vestnik Russkoi khristianskoi gumanitarnoi akademii 3(16): 95-109.
12. Bogatyrev, M.A., Shishova, M.I. (2015) Postsekuliarnaia gipoteza i osobennosti rossiiskoi postsekuliarnosti [Postsecular hypothesis and features of Russian postsecularity]. Vestnik Russkoi khristianskoi gumanitarnoi akademii, 3(16), 95-109.
13. Buchenau, K. (2005) "What Went Wrong? Church-State Relations in Socialist Yugoslavia", Nationalities Papers 33(4): 547-567.
14. Buchenau, K. (2015) "Socialist Secularities: The Diversity of Universalist Model", in M. Burchardt, M. Wohlrab-Sahr, M. Middell (eds.) Multiple Secularities Beyond the West. Religion and Modernity in the Global Age, pp. 261-282. Boston: de Gruyter.
15. Burgess, J.P. (1990) "Church-State Relations in East Germany: The Church as a ‘Religious' and ‘Political' Force", Journal of Church and State 32(1): 18-19.
16. Casanova, J. (2008) "Public Religions Revisited", in H. de Vries (ed.) Religion. Beyond a Concept, pp. 101-119. NY: Fordham University Press.
17. Chaves, M. (1994) "Secularization as declining religious authority", Social Forces 72(3): 749-774.
18. Dragadze, T. (1993) "The Domestication of Religion under Soviet Communism", in C.M. Hann (ed.) Socialism: Ideals, Ideologies, and Local Practice, pp. 141-151. London: Routledge.
19. Filatov, S. (2012) "Patriarkh Kirill - dva goda planov, mechtanii i neudobnoi real'nosti" ["Patriarch Kirill - two years of plans, dreams and uncomfortable reality"], in A. Malashenko, S. Filatov (eds.) Pravoslavnaia TSerkov' pri novom patriarkhe [Orthodox Church under the New Patriarch], pp. 9-68. Moscow: ROSSPÊN Publ.
20. Freeze, G.L. (2015) "From Dechristianization to Laicization: State, Church, and Believers in Russia", Canadian Slavonic Papers 57(1-2): 6-34.
21. Freston, P. (2009) "Christianity: protestantism", in J. Haynes (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, pp. 26-47. L.; NY: Routlege.
22. Gryz, R. (2016) "Rimsko-katolicheskaia tserkov' v Pol'skoi Narodnoi Respublike (1944/45-1989): formy sosushchestvovaniia s rezhimom i rol' ideinoi oppozitsii" ["Catholic Church in the People's Republic of Poland (1944/45- 1989): Forms of Co-Existence with the Regime and the Role of Ideological Opposition"], Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 3(34): 11-43.
23. Gryz, R. (2016) Rimsko-katolicheskaia tserkov' v Pol'skoi Narodnoi Respublike (1944/45-1989): formy sosushchestvovaniia s rezhimom i rol' ideinoi oppozitsii [The Roman Catholic Church in the Polish People's Republic (1944/45-1989): forms of coexistence with the regime and the role of ideological opposition]. Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom, 3(34), 11-43.
24. Habermas, J. et Mendieta, E. (2002) Religion and Rationality: Essays on Reason, God, and Modernity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
25. Habermas, J. (2006) "Religion in the public sphere", European Journal of Philosophy 14(1): 1-25.
26. Hadden, J.K. (1987) "Toward desacralizing secularization theory", Social Forces 65(3): 587611.
27. Haynes, J. (ed.) (2009) Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics. L.; NY: Routlege.
28. Ignatenko, A. (2003) Raskolotaia umma v ozhidanii Sudnogo dnia (Novyi vzgliad so starykh pozitsii) [The divided ummah awaiting the Day of Judgment (A new look from old positions)]. Otechestvennye zapiski, 5. https://strana-oz.ru/2003/5/raskolotaya-umma-v-ozhidanii-sudnogo-dnya
29. Karpov V. 2013. "The social dynamics of Russia's desecularisation", Religion, State and Society 43 (1): 254-283.
30. Keller, Sh. (2001) To Moscow, not Mecca. The Soviet Campaign against Islam in Central Asia, 1917-1941. Westpoint; London: Praeger.
31. Knorre, B.A. (2014) "Rossiiskoe pravoslavie. Postsekuliarnaia institutsionalizatsiia v pros-transtve vlasti, politiki i prava" ["Russian Orthodoxy. Post-Secular Institutionalization in the Realm of Power, Politics, and the Law"], in A. Malashenko, S. Filatov (eds.) Montazh i demontazh sekuliarnogo mira: sbornik statei [Constructing and Deconstructing the Secular World], pp. 42-102. Moscow: ROSSPÊN Publ.
32. Knorre, B.A. (2014) Rossiiskoe pravoslavie. Postsekuliarnaia institutsionalizatsiia v prostranstve vlasti, politiki i prava [Russian Orthodoxy. Post-secular institutionalization in the space of power, politics and law]. In A. Malashenko, S. Filatov (Eds.), Montazh i demontazh sekulyarnogo mira: sbornik statei (pp. 42-102). M.: ROSSPEN.
33. Kormina, Zh., Shtyrkov, S. (2015) "‘Eto nashe iskonno russkoe, i nikuda nam ot étogo ne det'sia': predystoriia postsovestkoi desekuliarizatsii" ["‘This Is Something That Is Ours and Primordially Russian, and There Is No Way Escaping It': The Prehistory of Post-Soviet Desecularization"], in Zh. Kormina, A. Panchenko, S. Shtyrkov (eds) Izobretenie religii: desekuliarizatsiia v postsovetskom kontekste [Invention of Religious: Desecularization in post-Soviet contex], pp. 7-45. European University at S.-Petersburg Publ.
34. Kormina, Zh., Shtyrkov, S. (2015) "Eto nashe iskonno russkoe, i nikuda nam ot etogo ne det'sya": predystoriia postsovetskoi desekulyarizatsii ["This is our primordial Russian thing, and we can't get away from it": Prehistory of post-Soviet desecularization]. In Zh. Kormina, A. Panchenko, S. Shtyrkov (Eds.), Izobretenie religii: desekulyarizatsiya v postsovetskom kontekste (pp. 7-45). SPb.
35. Kunicki, M.S. (2012) Between the Brown and the Red. Nationalism, Catholicism, and Communism in Twentieth-Century Poland - The Politics of Boleslaw Piasecki. Athens: Ohio University Press.
36. Luckmann, Th. (1980) "Säkularisierung - ein moderner Mythos"., in Th. Luckmann (ed.) Lebenswelt und Gesellschaft. Grundstrukturen und geschichtliche Wandlungeny, pp. 161-172. Paderborn u.a.: Schöningh.
37. Madeley, J. (2009) "Religion and the state", in J. Haynes (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, pp. 174-191. L.; NY: Routlege.
38. Meshcheriakov, D.Iu. (2014) "Katolicheskaia tserkov' kak politicheskii aktor v postkommunisticheskoi Pol'she: vliianie na partiinuiu politiku" [The Catholic Church as a Political Actor in Post-Communism Poland: Influence on Party Politics], Politicheskaia nauka 3: 249-259.
39. Meshcheryakov, D.Yu. (2014) Katolicheskaya tserkov' kak politicheskii aktor v postkommunisticheskoi Pol'she: vliyanie na partiinuyu politiku [The Catholic Church as a political actor in post-communist Poland: influence on party politics]. Politicheskaya nauka, 3, 249-259.
40. Murashko, G.P. (2014) "'Prazhskaia vesna' 1968 g.: vlast' i katolicheskaia tserkov' na puti k dialogu" [‘Prague Spring' 1968: authorities and the Catholic Church on the path to dialogue], in G.P. Murashko, A.I. Filimonova (eds) Gosudarstvo i tserkov' v SSSR i stranakh Vostochnoi Evropy v period politicheskikh krizisov vtoroi poloviny XX veka, pp. 319-346. Moscow: Institute of Slavic Studies Publ.
41. Murashko, G.P. (2014) "Prazhskaya vesna" 1968 g.: vlast' i katolicheskaya tserkov' na puti k dialogu ["Prague Spring" 1968: power and the Catholic Church on the way to dialogue]. In G.P. Murashko, A.I. Filimonova (Eds.), Gosudarstvo i tserkov' v SSSR i stranakh Vostochnoi Evropy v period politicheskikh krizisov vtoroi poloviny XX veka (pp. 319-346). M.: Institut slavyanovedeniya RAN; SPb: Nestor-Istoriya.
42. Navaro-Yashin, Y. (2002) Faces of the State: Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
43. Nikolov, T. (2013) "Bolgariia: nevidimaia tserkov'" ["Bulgaria: Invisible Church"], Pro et Contra 5: 40-51.
44. Nikolov, T. (2013) Bolgariya: nevidimaya tserkov' [Bulgaria: Invisible Church]. Pro et Contra, 5, 40-51.
45. Norris, P. et Inglehart, R. (2004) Sacred and Secular. Religion and Politics Worldwide. NY: Cambridge University Press.
46. Pain, E.A. (2016) Islamizm: sotsial'no-politicheskaya sushchnost' i novye ugrozy dlya Rossii [Islamism: socio-political essence and new threats for Russia]. Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost', 5. http://ecsocman.hse.ru/data/2018/11/18/1251871200/115-127%20%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BD.pdf
47. Pospielovsky, D. (1988) A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice, and the Believer. In 3 vol. Cambridge: Palgrave Macmillan.
48. Robertson, R. et Chirico, J. (1985) ‘‘Humanity, Globalization and Worldwide Religious Resurgence: A Theoretical Exploration'', Sociological Analysis 46(3): 219-242.
49. Roy, O. (2017) Novye dzhikhadisty - kto oni? [New jihadists - who are they?]. The Guardian, 13.04.2017. https://inosmi.ru/politic/20170424/239193852.html
50. Roy, O. (2018) Globalizirovannyi islam: v poiskakh novoi ummy [Globalized Islam: in search of a new ummah]. M.: Fond Marjani.
51. Sergeev, V.M. et Sarukhanian, S.N. (2012) "Modernizatsiia i politicheskii islam v Turtsii" ["Modernization and Political Islam in Turkey"], Politiia 4(67): 134-151.
52. Sergeev, V.M., Sarukhanian, S.N. (2012) Modernizatsiya i politicheskii islam v Turtsii [Modernization and political Islam in Turkey]. Politiya, 4(67), 134-151.
53. Shishkov, A. (2012) "Nekotorye aspekty desekuliarizatsii v postsovetskoi Rossii" ["Some Aspects of Desecularization in post-Soviet Russia"], Gosudarstvo, Religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 2(30): 165-177.
54. Shishkov, A. (2012) Nekotorye aspekty desekulyarizatsii v postsovetskoi Rossii [Some aspects of desecularization in post-Soviet Russia]. Gosudarstvo, Religiya, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom, 2(30), 165-177.
55. Shkarovskii, M.V. (2011) "Pravoslavnaia TSerkov' Rumynii v 1918-1950-kh godakh" ["Orthodox Church in Romania in 1918-50"], Vestnik tserkovnoi istorii 3-4: 173-222.
56. Shkarovskii, M.V. (2011) Pravoslavnaya tserkov' Rumynii v 1918-1950-kh godakh [The Orthodox Church of Romania in 1918-1950s]. Vestnik tserkovnoi istorii, 3-4, 173-222.
57. Shkarovskii, M.V. (2010) Russkaia pravoslavnaia tserkov' v XX veke [Russian Orthodox Church in XX century]. Moscow: Veche Publ.
58. Shkarovsky, M.V. (2010) Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov' v XX veke [Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century].
Review
For citations:
Malakhov V., Letnyakov D. Post-Christian or Post-Atheistic Society? Some Characteristics of the Russian Regime of Secularity. State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2021;39(1):245-266. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-245-266. EDN: QMZRPP
Views:
1
Email this article 