Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine

by Catherine Wanner

Overview

Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine reveals how and why religion has become a pivotal political force in a society struggling to overcome the legacy of its entangled past with Russia and chart a new future. If Ukraine is "ground zero" in the tensions between Russia and the West, religion is an arena where the consequences of conflicts between Russia and Ukraine keenly play out.

Vibrant forms of everyday religiosity pave the way for religion to be weaponized and securitized to advance political agendas in Ukraine and beyond. These practices, Catherine Wanner argues, enable religiosity to be increasingly present in public spaces, public institutions, and wartime politics in a pluralist society that claims to be secular.

Based on ethnographic data and interviews conducted since before the Revolution of Dignity and the outbreak of armed combat in 2014, Wanner investigates the conditions that catapulted religiosity, religious institutions, and religious leaders to the forefront of politics and geopolitics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501764981
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Catherine Wanner is Professor of History, Anthropology, and Religious Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She is the author or editor of six books on Ukraine, including Ukrainians and Global Evangelism and Burden of Dreams.

What People are Saying About This

Lucian N. Leustean

This excellent, engaging book adds new insights into our understanding of not only tumultuous church-state relations in Ukraine but of the role played by religion in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is a must-read.

Bruce Grant

Ukraine offers us no shortage of example over what is at stake in gathering around the divine, the mortal, and in the case of conflict, the morbid. In this beautifully written ethnography, Catherine Wanner walks us through how powers of persuasion both cosmic and cosmopolitan play out across rapidly changing economic, political, and religious landscapes.

Tornike Metreveli

Written in an exemplary style, this book eloquently explores the religious field in Ukraine by unpacking, problematizing, and rethinking some of the most complex categories of practice studied in the field of humanities and social sciences.

Paul D'Anieri

Religion has long been an important focus of Russia's efforts to control Ukraine. The establishment of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was a major blow to those efforts, and helps explain Russia's decision to invade Ukraine. Religion constitutes an important front in a brutal war as well as a refuge for those affected. Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine is essential to understanding the religious dimension of conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Editorial Reviews

Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine is an insightful look at religious life in post-Soviet Ukrainian society. Moreover, it allows us to delve into the nation-building process in Ukraine at its turning point during the Revolution of Dignity and after the outbreak of the armed conflict in Donbas. Wanner helps to better understand the interdependence between the religious sphere and the processes taking place in Ukrainian social and political life.

Anthropos

Wanner shines a light on the entanglement of religion and politics both during and after the revolution.

Choice

Wanner shines a light on the entanglement of religion and politics both during and after the revolution.

-- "Choice"

From the Publisher