“Material religion” as a research program is a relatively new development in the study of religio... more “Material religion” as a research program is a relatively new development in the study of religion in the social sciences and humanities. Though this approach has its own forerunners and predecessors, one can argue that it took shape in the wake of an epistemological critique of social and cultural anthropology which treated religion as embedded in the cognitive and psychological experiences of a human being. Accordingly, the material manifestation of religion used to be treated as secondary, optional, and even superfluous. Criticism of this understanding of the nature of religion and of the methods of its studying focuses on the cultural and historical specificity of this approach originating from the use of Protestantism as a model for any religion. The material turn, in contrast, argues that spiritual experience is or at least can be studied as a derivation of bodily practices and experiences caused by the communication of a human with things, substances, images, sounds, fragrances, and flavours. Taken as integral parts of religious infrastructure, they constitute both the mundane and devotional life of an individual believer and of a religious community. This trend in social research remains unnoticed in Russian social science and humanities. The forum aims to assess the state of art in the field of material religion and discuss perspectives of its development. Participants in the discussion highlight the role of the materiality of things and substances, bodies, and mechanisms in their own research and what heuristic perspectives this material turn opens for them. A separate line of discussion concerns the prospects of grafting material religion to the classic models of social research, such as Marxist sociology.
This article explores the emerging convergences between Orthodox and neoliberal discourses on mor... more This article explores the emerging convergences between Orthodox and neoliberal discourses on morality in contemporary Russia. It follows the case of Saint-Petersburg-based Union of Orthodox Entrepreneurs (UOE) that was established in 2012 with the goal of promoting a culture of entrepreneurship based on Orthodox values. Drawing on fieldwork with the UOE, I explore how Orthodox understandings of spirituality and moral selftransformation through virtuous practices become entangled with neoliberal discourses of self-development in shaping contemporary Orthodox entrepreneurs' understanding of business ethics and their practices of ethical self-fashioning. Despite the UOE's ambition of creating a shared "ethical" culture of entrepreneurship, most of its members still hold highly idiosyncratic views on the morality of commonplace legal and illegal business practices and resist the idea of subscribing to a unified code of ethical behavior. I argue that the Union's failure to produce a unified ethical model is associated both with the constraints of the market practices that limit entrepreneurs' ability to act on their proclaimed values and with the distinct model of ethical formation inherent to Orthodox tradition, which resists reduction to a narrow ethical code and offers believers multiple individualized ways of pursuing spirituality. Thus, a peculiar characteristic of the emerging alignment between Orthodoxy and market ideology is that religiosity in the contemporary Russian context does not translate into any specific pattern of economic behavior or model of handling business.
This paper explores the developing cult of a new martyr – the
Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, k... more This paper explores the developing cult of a new martyr – the Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, killed in 1996 in Chechen captivity, allegedly for his refusal to convert to Islam. I examine how the notion of moral personhood – a capacity to have convictions and values and to stand by them – emerges as a central object of ethical problematization across the disparate narratives of the soldier’s death. I argue that the appeal of the radical model of morality personified by the soldier’s figure reflects a pervasive trend of longing for spirituality in contemporary Russia, which developed in response to the perceived moral collapse that followed the democratic transition. Through investigating how Evgenii’s image is being employed as a public symbol of patriotism and as a private moral exemplar for militaristically oriented young men, this article contributes to the understanding of the entangled relationship among religion, nationalism and conservative morality in contemporary Russia.
“Material religion” as a research program is a relatively new development in the study of religio... more “Material religion” as a research program is a relatively new development in the study of religion in the social sciences and humanities. Though this approach has its own forerunners and predecessors, one can argue that it took shape in the wake of an epistemological critique of social and cultural anthropology which treated religion as embedded in the cognitive and psychological experiences of a human being. Accordingly, the material manifestation of religion used to be treated as secondary, optional, and even superfluous. Criticism of this understanding of the nature of religion and of the methods of its studying focuses on the cultural and historical specificity of this approach originating from the use of Protestantism as a model for any religion. The material turn, in contrast, argues that spiritual experience is or at least can be studied as a derivation of bodily practices and experiences caused by the communication of a human with things, substances, images, sounds, fragrances, and flavours. Taken as integral parts of religious infrastructure, they constitute both the mundane and devotional life of an individual believer and of a religious community. This trend in social research remains unnoticed in Russian social science and humanities. The forum aims to assess the state of art in the field of material religion and discuss perspectives of its development. Participants in the discussion highlight the role of the materiality of things and substances, bodies, and mechanisms in their own research and what heuristic perspectives this material turn opens for them. A separate line of discussion concerns the prospects of grafting material religion to the classic models of social research, such as Marxist sociology.
This article explores the emerging convergences between Orthodox and neoliberal discourses on mor... more This article explores the emerging convergences between Orthodox and neoliberal discourses on morality in contemporary Russia. It follows the case of Saint-Petersburg-based Union of Orthodox Entrepreneurs (UOE) that was established in 2012 with the goal of promoting a culture of entrepreneurship based on Orthodox values. Drawing on fieldwork with the UOE, I explore how Orthodox understandings of spirituality and moral selftransformation through virtuous practices become entangled with neoliberal discourses of self-development in shaping contemporary Orthodox entrepreneurs' understanding of business ethics and their practices of ethical self-fashioning. Despite the UOE's ambition of creating a shared "ethical" culture of entrepreneurship, most of its members still hold highly idiosyncratic views on the morality of commonplace legal and illegal business practices and resist the idea of subscribing to a unified code of ethical behavior. I argue that the Union's failure to produce a unified ethical model is associated both with the constraints of the market practices that limit entrepreneurs' ability to act on their proclaimed values and with the distinct model of ethical formation inherent to Orthodox tradition, which resists reduction to a narrow ethical code and offers believers multiple individualized ways of pursuing spirituality. Thus, a peculiar characteristic of the emerging alignment between Orthodoxy and market ideology is that religiosity in the contemporary Russian context does not translate into any specific pattern of economic behavior or model of handling business.
This paper explores the developing cult of a new martyr – the
Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, k... more This paper explores the developing cult of a new martyr – the Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, killed in 1996 in Chechen captivity, allegedly for his refusal to convert to Islam. I examine how the notion of moral personhood – a capacity to have convictions and values and to stand by them – emerges as a central object of ethical problematization across the disparate narratives of the soldier’s death. I argue that the appeal of the radical model of morality personified by the soldier’s figure reflects a pervasive trend of longing for spirituality in contemporary Russia, which developed in response to the perceived moral collapse that followed the democratic transition. Through investigating how Evgenii’s image is being employed as a public symbol of patriotism and as a private moral exemplar for militaristically oriented young men, this article contributes to the understanding of the entangled relationship among religion, nationalism and conservative morality in contemporary Russia.
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Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, killed in 1996 in Chechen
captivity, allegedly for his refusal to convert to Islam. I examine
how the notion of moral personhood – a capacity to have
convictions and values and to stand by them – emerges as a
central object of ethical problematization across the disparate
narratives of the soldier’s death. I argue that the appeal of the
radical model of morality personified by the soldier’s figure
reflects a pervasive trend of longing for spirituality in
contemporary Russia, which developed in response to the
perceived moral collapse that followed the democratic transition.
Through investigating how Evgenii’s image is being employed as
a public symbol of patriotism and as a private moral exemplar for
militaristically oriented young men, this article contributes to the
understanding of the entangled relationship among religion,
nationalism and conservative morality in contemporary Russia.
Russian soldier Evgenii Rodionov, killed in 1996 in Chechen
captivity, allegedly for his refusal to convert to Islam. I examine
how the notion of moral personhood – a capacity to have
convictions and values and to stand by them – emerges as a
central object of ethical problematization across the disparate
narratives of the soldier’s death. I argue that the appeal of the
radical model of morality personified by the soldier’s figure
reflects a pervasive trend of longing for spirituality in
contemporary Russia, which developed in response to the
perceived moral collapse that followed the democratic transition.
Through investigating how Evgenii’s image is being employed as
a public symbol of patriotism and as a private moral exemplar for
militaristically oriented young men, this article contributes to the
understanding of the entangled relationship among religion,
nationalism and conservative morality in contemporary Russia.