2007/11/20 by Maija Turunen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Religion and Society Interactions
paper · doi:10.1080/09637490701621695
openalex publication_date 2007/11/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The Orthodox Church has become a visible institution in postsoviet Russia. The relationship between the church and state has been of current interest among researchers studying postcommunist religious and societal transformations. Many peculiarities of the relationship between church and state can be traced to both the prerevolutionary and the Soviet traditions. This article examines Orthodox monarchism in Russia today. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews and on observations in a few Orthodox parishes in St Petersburg in 2005 and 2006, and the article thus gives voice to the views of the ‘unofficial’ church, represented by local believers, on the state system. I analyse Orthodox monarchism in the frame of reference of the deprivatisation of religion and discuss how religion matters in the present-day construction of solidarity and national identity under Russian societal transformation.