Post-Soviet Russia

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-212
Author(s):  
Paul Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Political Authority ◽  
Western World ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Core ◽  
Russian Politics ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Conservative Turn

This chapter looks at conservatism in post-Soviet Russia, particularly during the 2010s when there arose a “conservative turn” in Russian politics and society. This was associated with a revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, centralization of political authority, growing Russian nationalism, increased tensions between Russia and the Western world, and socially conservative legislation. These phenomena have made Russian conservatism a matter of considerable contemporary importance. The chapter describes multiple types of conservatism and shows that what all these groups have in common is support for a strong centralized state and belief in the need for Russia to protect its sovereignty and develop in an organic fashion, befitting its national traditions. Despite all the differences, as in previous eras, Orthodoxy, a belief in a strong central authority, and variations of nationalism remain at the core of Russian conservatism.

scholarly journals The “End of Times” and the Antichrist’s Arrival: The Orthodox Dogmas and Prophecies in the National-Patriotic Media in Post-Soviet Russia

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Victor A. Shnirelman
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Politically Active

A return of the Orthodox religion and a renaissance of the Russian Orthodox Church gave a way for politically active movements of Orthodox fundamentalists and monarchists. They were obsessed with the idea of the “end of time” and argued that the Antichrist was at the door. The article focuses on several national-patriotic newspapers and their interest to Orthodox prophecies about the end of time, which can be traced from the turn of the 1990s. It is examined who exactly, in what way and for what goals developed and discussed eschatological ideas. The major themes, rhetorical means and key words are scrutinized, which helped consumers to disclose the “enemies of Russia” and to reveal their “perfidious plans” and “harmful actions” aimed at the destruction of Russia and its people. A relationship between this ideology and theological teaching of the end of time is analyzed.

scholarly journals Stained Glasses and Coloured Lenses: The Pussy Riot Case as a Critical Issue for Multidisciplinary Scholarly Investigations

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katya Tolstaya
Keyword(s):  
Critical Issue ◽  
The Other ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Pussy Riot ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
State Relations

The Pussy Riot performance and the ensuing case posed a challenge not only to power structures in Russia, but also to scholars studying post-traumatic post-Soviet Russia. The case exposed the complex of ideology, image- and myth-forming on all societal levels, not least regarding the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and church-state relations. This essay proposes a kaleidoscopic approach in order to ask how to get to the real persons beyond the images. At the same time it discusses epistemological limits of scholarly engagement with the ‘other’ by scrutinising the question of objectivity and normativity in the humanities and the deficit of approaches like the insider/outsider dichotomy and the linguistic and narrative turns. Given the heterogeneity of present-day Orthodoxy, there is no identifiable Orthodox ‘other’ or ‘insider’; and this leads to the question how to define ‘Orthodoxy’ itself. The essay thus identifies a paradox which is yet to be solved.

The Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Politics

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Papkova ◽  
Dmitry P. Gorenburg
Keyword(s):  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Politics

5. What Tolstoy believed

2019 ◽  
pp. 64-82
Author(s):  
Liza Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Religious Life ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Anna Karenina ◽  
The Core ◽  
Spiritual Crisis ◽  
Love Of God

As he approached the age of 50, Tolstoy experienced what is often described as a spiritual crisis. He struggled to finish Anna Karenina and then devoted the next several years to religious life. He returned to the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church, but soon doubted the Church’s doctrines, rituals, and practices. Tolstoy found faith on his own terms. Love of God and neighbour and non-violence were at the core. ‘What Tolstoy believed’ discusses the religious ideas that Tolstoy explored in his fiction and set forth more directly in works such as his Confession, Translation and Harmonization of the Gospels, The Gospel in Brief, What I Believe, and The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

scholarly journals Work with Youth in the Russian Orthodox Church in the Contemporary Period

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 499
Author(s):  
Elena Grunt ◽  
Ilya Levchenko
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Western World ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Traditional Church ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Young Family

Modern Russia is undergoing changes, including religion. In the Soviet Union, in contrast to the Western world, there was not only an active and rapid social secularization, but also a violent atheization of the population. As for the youth, due to the notorious atheism, there was a lack of youth’s religiosity. After the collapse of the USSR, it became necessary to implement effective measures so that Orthodoxy could adequately respond to the “challenge of the time”. Under these conditions, the organization of work with youth in the ROC began to revive. The major research objective was to study the Russian Orthodox Church’s main forms of work with youth in the post-Soviet period. Our research was conducted in the Ural region, one of the largest regions of the Russian Federation. The research methodology used a qualitative approach (in-depth interviews). Our research, based on informants’ opinions, has identified three forms of groups who work with the Russian youth through the Russian Orthodox Church. They are: traditional church forms (organizing groups for the study of the Holy Scriptures, doctrinal (catechism) classes, missionary activities, etc.), traditional secular forms (children’s and youth’s camps, young family clubs, sports and military-patriotic clubs, addiction prevention and social projects, etc.) and innovative forms (Internet projects, Internet communities, Orthodox forums, Orthodox cafes, bars, etc.). Our study has revealed that religious phenomena and manifestations of religiosity are observed in totally different areas, such as cultural, economic, educational, leisure, etc. The study has elucidated that the work of the Russian Orthodox Church fits into the framework of this paradigm, thus confirming T. Luckmann’s theory.

scholarly journals Changes in the organisation of parish administration in the Russian Orthodox Church in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia

2019 ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
Dmitriy I. Sazonov ◽  
Aleksey A. Fedotov
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Policy ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
State Legislative

The article reveals the changes that took place in the parish administration of the Russian Orthodox Church after the revolutionary events of 1917. It is shown how during the last hundred years within the framework of changes in the state religious policy, the opportunities for the clergy to participate in the management of parishes have changed. State legislative acts regulating the religious sphere and documents adopted by local and bishops' Councils are analysed. The article assesses the attempts to use the experience of Congregationalism in the management of the Orthodox Church in Russia, including at the present historical stage.

scholarly journals THE SOCIO-POLITICAL BASES OF CONFESSIONALY FOCUSED PRACTICES OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN RUSSIAN EDUCATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Sergey D. Lebedev
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Educational Innovation ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Russian Education

The article is devoted to the theoretical analysis of the socio-political bases of development of confessionaly focused education practice in post-Soviet Russia. The specifics of the corresponding educational innovation in its comparison with secular theological and confessional education are revealed. The author proves the consistency of prior development of confessionaly (orthodox) focused approach to an educational reflection on religion with a positional correlation of three main strategic subjects of Russian education: states, Russian Orthodox Church and public.

scholarly journals Features of sociological analysis of religion of Russia during the imperial period of its history

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
S. O. Elishev
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Imperial Ideology ◽  
Soviet Russia

The article deals with the features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history. The national sociological tradition of study of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon and a social institution, which was developed during this period, had its own unique and peculiar appearance and was just begun to revive again in post-Soviet Russia, is sharply different from the tradition that took place in the West. In this context, the appeal to the works of classics of Russian religious, socio-political thought, unfortunately undeservedly forgotten, is a very promising area of modern sociological research. When studying this issue, the author emphasizes the peculiarities of the historical development of Russian society and the state and the events that had a significant impact on the formation and development of scientific understanding of religion in Russia: reforms of Peter I, the elimination of patriarchy, the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church, its transformation into part of the bureaucratic state system created by Peter I, the beginning of a large-scale process of secularization of Russian society, the emergence of Westernism (the direction of the Russian social thought and political ideology focused on values of the Western European culture, which is negative to the idea of originality, an originality, uniqueness of ways of development of the Russian culture, combined with the aspiration of representatives of this trend to impose to the Russian nation of a form of the western culture, social practice and political system, rejecting the system of values and traditional foundations of activity of the Russian society), the imperial nature of the Russian statehood and official imperial ideology. The author analyzes the content of the Uvarov’s triad formula, which underlies the official imperial ideology, as well as the discussions that took place between representatives of Slavophilism and Westernism about understanding the historical path and fate of Russia, the historical role of Orthodoxy, the Russian Orthodox Church in the fate of the Russian people, Russian society and the state, as well as the whole world. In his opinion, this problem has remained relevant to the present, including in the framework of a sociological analysis of religion in post-Soviet Russia.

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