2014/01/01 by Kenneth Morrison, Nebojša Čagorović · 5 citations
Social Sciences · #Balkans: History, Politics, Society #Religion and Society Interactions #Montenegro #Nationalism #Politics #Orthodoxy #Political science #Serbian #State (computer science) #Ideology #National identity #Communism #Political economy #Law #History #Sociology #Ancient history #Philosophy #Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1057/9781137477866_7
openalex publication_date 2014/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Orthodox churches in central, eastern, and Southeastern Europe have been intimately connected with the region’s dominant post-communist ideology (nationalism), and have actively engaged in national politics. 1 The key to this politicoreligious character is the structural organization of Orthodox churches, which render it possible that a “national” church with specific national characteristics can develop with relative autonomy. With no centralized structure within Orthodoxy, churches become a symbol of the national being, and, thereby, rather politicized. In the Balkans, or Southeast Europe, Orthodox churches have, in some instances, supported the politics of intolerance and hate on occasion, explicitly aligned themselves to nationalist political parties or governments that have sought to create ethnically homogenous states. 2 However, Orthodox churches have often been burdened by internal splits and competition from “breakaway” factions. Perhaps, one of the most striking examples is the case of the Orthodox Church conflict in Montenegro. There, the Serbian Orthodox Church ( Srpska pravoslavna crkva —SPC) 3 have been one of the key instruments used to maintain the Serb identity of the Montenegrins, firmly supporting the narrative that Montenegro is the “second Serb state” and the “Serbian Sparta.” These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.