Table Of ContentCollectivistic Religions
Religion, Choice, and Identity
in Late Modernity
Slavica Jakelić
ColleCtivistiC Religions
Majci Kati, ocu Anti,
i sestri Suzani
Collectivistic Religions
Religion, Choice, and identity in late Modernity
slaviCa JakeliĆ
The University of Virginia, USA
© Slavica Jakelić 2010
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Slavica Jakelić has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to
be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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Union Road 101 Cherry Street
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Jakelić, Slavica.
Collective religions : religion, choice, and identity in
late modernity.
1. Religion and sociology--Europe. 2. Catholic Church--
Bosnia and Hercegovina. 3. Catholic Church--Croatia.
4. Catholic Church--Slovenia. 5. Identification (Religion)
6. Europe--Religion--21st century.
i. title
306.6'094-dc22
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jakelić, Slavica.
Collectivistic religions : religion, choice, and identity in late modernity / by Slavica Jakelić.
p. cm.
includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7883-0 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-7546-9750-3 (ebook)
1. Christian sociology--Europe. 2. Nationalism--Religious aspects--Christianity. 3. Christian so-
ciology--Catholic Church. 4. Nationalism--Religious aspects--Catholic Church. 5. Identification
(Religion) I. Title.
BR735.J25 2010
306.6'74--dc22
2010008671
ISBN 9780754678830 (hbk)
ISBN 9780754697503 (ebk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
introduction: When Religion is not a Choice 1
1 Religion and Identity: Theoretical Considerations 15
2 Bosnian, Croatian, and Slovenian Catholicisms
in Contemporary europe
47
3 Bosnian, Croatian, and slovenian Catholicisms: narratives,
Legacies, and Collective Identities 79
4 Collectivistic Christianities in the European Context 139
Conclusion 183
Index 205
This page has been left blank intentionally
acknowledgements
this book has been a long time coming, and many people and institutions have
made it possible:
Vesna Pusić, who believed in me and who opened the door of the American
academy to me;
adam seligman, my teacher, a model of scholarly excellence and intellectual
integrity, who saw this project from its inception to its completion with a
commitment i can never repay;
Peter Berger, who invited me to join his institute at Boston University and
supported my earliest academic pursuits;
Jennifer geddes, Charles Mathewes, and Joshua Yates, whom i was so fortunate
to have to read my work charitably, critically, and constructively over the past five
years;
Emmanouela Grypeou, Claire Mitchell, and Dariusz Tolczyk, who read and
commented on different sections of this book, and who were indispensable for
my understanding of religions in societies i had learned about primarily through
books;
The late Katja Margetić, Kate Sabolić, Inga Tomić Koludrović, Ozren Žunec,
Sabine MacCormack, Wesley Wildman, Paula Fredriksen, and the late John
Clayton, scholars and teachers, who showed me that the path to loving the world
of ideas is not one but many;
the institute for advanced studies in Culture, especially its director James
Hunter, who generously provided the resources and intellectual context for my
work from 2005 to 2009; Jenny Gladding, Emily Gum, Samantha Jordan, Susan
Witzel, Marilyn Roselius, and Christy Robinson, the Institute’s current and former
staff members, who listened to me talk about my work and never complained;
Shannon Anderson, David Franz, Murray Milner, Johann Neem, Christopher
Nichols, Kevin Schultz, and Andrew Witmer, the Institute’s former and current
fellows, with whom i shared the wonderful experiences of reading and discussing
some of the most important works ever written;
katya Makarova, krishan kumar, and Jeff olick, who graciously commented
on my work and with whom i enjoyed the best kinds of conversations—those that
happen with good food and fine wine;
The 2001-2002 fellows and staff of the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom
Menschen in Vienna, who provided the audience for the first ideas about this
project, particularly Professor Maria Todorova, whose uncompromising critique
of the project only encouraged me to think deeper about its purpose;
viii Collectivistic Religions
Florian ehrensperger, Bernd goebel, Ruth groenhout, Brian lockey, lara
Mancuso, Elod Nemerkenyi, Sabine MacCormack, Dianne Phillips, Vincent
Rougeau, and James Turner, the 2002-2003 fellows and colleagues at the Erasmus
Institute at the University of Notre Dame, whose comments and insights greatly
contributed to the progress of my work;
the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago and particularly its
director William Schweiker, who gave me the opportunity to finish this book at
one of the best universities in the world;
the many representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and colleagues in
Bosnia, Croatia, and slovenia, who knew they might not approve of everything i
would write but nevertheless answered all of the questions I asked;
neil Jordan, my editor at ashgate, whose support and encouragement made the
whole publication process seem easy;
emily gravett, whose patience in editing this book was saintly and whose
editorial skills are the only reason the book is readable in english;
Frenki, Goran, Pero, Vesna, Jelena, Jenni, Lucie, Zdravko, Vera and Marko,
kristine and Rich, Jenny and Chuck, Molly and Josh, Marijana and vinko,
who cheered me, fed me, helped me move (several times, across and between
continents), and remained my friends through it all;
My late grandmothers Pera Samardžić and Kata Jakelić, Sisters Suzana and
Anastazija Samardžić, Dušan and Anđa Samardžić, and Theresa and Jim Varsoke,
my family who were there when i needed them most;
Petra, Ellen, Isabelle, Ben, Nina, Ryan, Beckett, Meredith, Bella Rose, and
Henry, who make me think about the world as it could be tomorrow;
My dearest Petra, Nina, and Damir, because of whom visiting Split will always
feel like coming home.
This book is dedicated to my parents, Kata and Ante, and my sister Suzi. It would
have never been written without my husband Jason varsoke. the four of them are
proof that both the family we are born into and the family we choose constitute so
much of who we are.
introduction
When Religion is not a Choice
This is a book about religion and belonging. It tackles the question of religion as a
source of people’s identity by looking at what I call collectivistic religions. these
religions are public in manifestation and have an institutional authority structure.
They are culturally specific, historically embedded, and defined in part by the
presence of some religious other. they shape identities that distinguish their
members from other religious groups, identities that members are often willing
to die for. one does not choose to belong to these religious traditions; one is born
into them.
This last point is central for appreciating the unique feature of collectivistic
religions, since we live in age when language about religion is the language of
choice. even religious fundamentalisms, a term that here refers to contemporary
religious groups that claim to be returning to an orthodox or pure interpretation
of religious traditions, are founded in choice. They are, to use Olivier Roy’s
words, built “from the perspective of [the] rediscovery of religion.”1 as such,
contemporary religious fundamentalisms are profoundly modern in character and
have features of the “born again” religious experience. While enthusiastic in public
manifestations, they are individualistic in the locus of experience and absolute in
personal commitment. not surprisingly, scholars of religion are in agreement that
modern homo religiosus, whether “belonging without believing” or “believing
without belonging,”2 chooses her religious identity.
The analytic perspective that focuses on choice correctly recognizes one large
part of contemporary religiosity, but omits its other major component: the millions
of people around the globe who were “born into” some religious group rather
than religiously “born again.” they experience their religion as ascribed to them
rather than chosen by them, as fixed rather than changeable, despite and because
of the fact that their religious identities are profoundly shaped by the historical
and cultural particularities of their social location. examples of such collectivistic
1 On the “born again” character of contemporary Muslims, political and radical Islam
included, see olivier Roy, “islamic evangelicalism,” IWM Newsletter, Fall 2004, No. 4,
25-26. On the relationship between fundamentalism and modernity, see Adam Seligman,
“ethics, faith and politics of tolerance and tradition,” Forum Bosnae, No. 11/01, 2001;
<http://www.ifbosna.org.ba:91/publikacije/bosnae/11-01/11.htm>.
2 See Danièle Hervieu-Léger, “The Role of Religion in establishing social
cohesion,”<http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/michalski_210503_
contribution01_en.pdf>; see Grace Davie, Religion in Modern Europe: A Memory Mutates,
Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
