Table Of ContentReligion, Politics and nation-Building in
Post-communist countRies
Post-soviet Politics
series editor: neil Robinson, university of limerick, ireland
the last decade has seen rapid and fundamental change in the countries of the
former soviet union. although there has been considerable academic comment
on these changes over the years, detailed empirical and theoretical research on the
transformation of the post-soviet space is only just beginning to appear as new
paradigms are developed to explain change.
Post-Soviet Politics is a series focusing on the politics of change in the states
of the former ussR. the series publishes original work that blends theoretical
development with empirical research on post-soviet politics. the series includes
work that progresses comparative analysis of post-soviet politics, as well as case
study research on political change in individual post-soviet states. the series
features original research monographs, thematically strong edited collections and
specialized texts.
uniquely, this series brings together the complete spectrum of work on post-soviet
politics, providing a voice for academics world wide.
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Religion, Politics and
nation-Building in
Post-communist countries
Edited by
gReg simons
Uppsala University, Sweden
david WesteRlund
Södertörn University, Sweden
© greg simons and david Westerlund 2015
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.
greg simons and david Westerlund have asserted their right under the copyright, designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing company
Wey court east 110 cherry street
union Road suite 3-1
Farnham Burlington, vt 05401-3818
surrey, gu9 7Pt usa
england
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Religion, politics and nation-building in post-communist countries / edited by greg simons
and david Westerlund.
pages cm. -- (Post-soviet politics)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4724-4969-6 (hardback) -- isBn 978-1-4724-4970-2 (ebook) -- isBn 978-1-
4724-4971-9 (epub) 1. Religion and politics--Russia (Federation) 2. Religion and politics-
-Former soviet republics. 3. church and state--Russia (Federation) 4. church and state-
-Former soviet republics. 5. orthodox eastern church--Russia (Federation) 6. orthodox
eastern church--Former soviet republics. 7. Post-communism--Russia (Federation) 8.
Post-communism--Former soviet republics. 9. nationalism--Russia (Federation)--Reli-
gious aspects. 10. nationalism--Former soviet republics--Religious aspects. i. simons,
greg, editor of compilation. ii. Westerlund, david, editor of compilation.
Bl65.P7R432757 2015
201'.720947--dc23
2014030190
isBn 9781472449696 (hbk)
isBn 9781472449702 (ebk – PdF)
isBn 9781472449719 (ebk – ePuB)
V
Printed in the united Kingdom by Henry ling limited,
at the dorset Press, dorchester, dt1 1Hd
Contents
List of Figures vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Greg Simons and David Westerlund
1 Religious Diplomacy in International and
Inter-Orthodox Relations 21
Greg Simons
2 Religious, Cultural and Political Dimensions of
Winter-Bathing in Russia 45
Per-Arne Bodin
3 ‘Orthodoxy or Death!’: Political Orthodoxy in Russia 65
Maria Engström
4 Shamanism, Politics and Ethnos-Building in Russia 75
Olle Sundström
5 The Approved and the Disapproved Islam in Russia 99
Kaarina Aitamurto
6 Islamic Opposition in Azerbaijan:
Discursive Conflicts and Beyond 117
Sofie Bedford
7 Religion and Nation-Building in Estonia:
Some Perspectives on Secular Society 143
Ringo Ringvee
8 Church and State Relations in Poland, with Special Focus on the
Radio Station Mary 163
Konrad Pędziwiatr
vi Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries
9 Majority, Minorities and Religious Pluralism in Romania 179
Catalin Ionete
Comparative Conclusions and Wider Implications 199
Greg Simons and David Westerlund
Index 213
List of Figures
2.1 The blessing of water outside the town Tyumen 47
2.2 The icon of the Baptism of Christ 52
2.3 Boris Kustodiev, Winter: Blessing of the Water on Epiphany 56
2.4 Ivan Volkov, The Blessing of the Water on the Irtysh River,
6 January, 1918 57
2.5 Anton Chirkov, Jordan, 1943 58
2.6 Engraving by Johan George Korb 59
3.1 Igor Miroshnichenko wearing the T-shirt ‘Orthodoxy or death’ 66
8.1 Dominicantes and Communicantes in Poland 1980–2011 165
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Notes on Contributors
Dr Kaarina Aitamurto received her doctoral degree from the University of
Helsinki. Her dissertation analysed contemporary Russian Paganism in the
context of Russian nationalism. In her post-doctoral study, she focuses on Muslim
minorities in ethnically Russian areas and, in particular, the changes in the Muslim
communities in big cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhnii Novgorod.
Aitamurto holds a position of a post-doctoral researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute
at the University of Helsinki and is a scholar in its centre of excellence, ‘Choices of
Russian Modernisation’, funded by the Academy of Finland. She is also a member
of the editorial board of the Journal of Religion and Violence.
E-mail address: [email protected]
Dr Sofie Bedford has a PhD in Political Science from Stockholm University and
an MA in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University. The title of her
doctoral thesis is Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan: Repression and Mobilization
in a Post-Soviet Context (Stockholm: Dept. of Political Science 2009). On the
premise that Islamic activism may be interpreted as a ‘social movement’ the study
focused on internal, contextual and interactional aspects of the mobilization of two
mosque communities in Baku. Bedford is currently a post-doctoral researcher at
the Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, where
her new research project focuses on democracy activism and the revival of civil
society in Azerbaijan. Besides her academic experiences, she has been involved
in community development work with the United Nations Development Program
and the International Rescue Committee in Azerbaijan.
E-mail address: [email protected]
Professor Per-Arne Bodin is Professor of Slavic Languages at the Department
of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Stockholm University. He has written on
the relationship between Russian culture and Russian Orthodox tradition and
is working for the moment on a project studying the role of symbols from the
Russian past in post-Soviet Russian culture. His most recent book is Language,
Canonization and Holy Foolishness: Studies in Post-Soviet Russian Culture and
the Orthodox Tradition (2009).
E-mail address: [email protected]
Dr Maria Engström studied Russian philology at the Moscow State University
from 1988–91 and gained a PhD in Slavic languages at Stockholm University
in 2004. In 2005–07 she held a research fellowship from the Swedish Research
