Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T20:05:16.310Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Religious Revival and Deprivatization in Post-Soviet Georgia: Reculturation of Orthodox Christianity and Deculturation of Islam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2018

Pınar Köksal ,
Ayşegül Aydıngün  and
Hazar Ege Gürsoy
Pınar Köksal
Affiliation:
Middle East Technical University
Ayşegül Aydıngün*
Affiliation:
Middle East Technical University
Hazar Ege Gürsoy
Affiliation:
Middle East Technical University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ayşegül Aydıngün, Middle East Technical University, Department of Sociology, 06800, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: aydingun@metu.edu.tr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The countries of the former Soviet Union witnessed a religious revivalism in the final years of the regime, although following the collapse, the revivals of the different faith communities have had different characteristics. This article discusses the nature of the desecularization and deprivatization processes of both the Orthodox Christian Georgians and the Muslim minorities in Georgia. Based on field researches and indepth interviews conducted with elites and experts, it is argued that the revival of Orthodox Christianity in Georgia differs from the revival of Islam. While the Islamic revival has taken the form of a deculturation, very much in line with global processes, the Orthodox Christian revival is taking the form of a reculturation.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 317 - 345
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abashidze, Zaza. 2006. “From Antiquity to the 18th Century”. In Witness Through Troubled Times: A History of the Orthodox Church of Georgia, 1811 to the Present, eds. Grdzelidze, Tamara, George, Martin and Vischer, Lukas. London: Bennet&Bloom, 17–49.Google Scholar
Agadjanian, Alexander. 2015. “Ethnicity, Nation and Religion: Current Debates and the South Caucasian Reality.” In Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus, eds. Agadjanian, Alexander, Jödicke, Ansgar and van der Zweerde, Evert. London, New York: Routledge, 22–37.Google Scholar
Alasania, Giuli. 2006. “Twenty Centuries of Christianity in Georgia.” Journal of International Black Sea University 1(1):117–129.Google Scholar
Asker, Ali. 2016. “Gürcistan'da Din-Devlet veya Kilise-Siyaset İlişkisinin Zorlukları.” In Doğudan Batıya Devletler Toplumlar Farklılıklar, eds. Vurucu, Ayça Günkut, Akça, Gürsoy and Vurucu, İkbal. İstanbul: Aygan Yayıncılık, 47–76.Google Scholar
Asker, Ali and Kahraman, Alter. 2016. “Gürcistan'da Devletleşme, Kimlik İnşası ve Müslüman Topluluklar.” In Gürcistan'daki Müslüman Topluluklar – Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik ve Siyaset, eds. Aydıngün, Ayşegül, Asker, Ali, and Şir, Aslan Yavuz. Ankara: AVİM, 23–48.Google Scholar
Aydıngün, Ayşegül. 2016. “Etnik Bir Demokraside Müslüman Azınlık Olmak: Yeni Başlangıçlar Mümkün Mü?” In Gürcistan'daki Müslüman Topluluklar – Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik ve Siyaset, eds. Aydıngün, Ayşegül, Asker, Ali and Şir, Aslan Yavuz. Ankara: AVİM, 405–422.Google Scholar
Aydıngün, Ayşegül, Asker, Ali, and Üner, Anıl. 2016. “Pankisi Vadisi'nde Kistler: Selefilik, Gelenekçilik ve Siyaset.” In Gürcistan'daki Müslüman Topluluklar – Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik ve Siyaset, eds. Aydıngün, Ayşegül, Asker, Ali and Şir, Aslan Yavuz. Ankara: AVİM, 347–370.Google Scholar
Balcı, Bayram and Motika, Raoul. 2007. “Islam in Post-Soviet Georgia.” Central Asian Survey 26(3):335–353.Google Scholar
Baramidze, Ruslan. 2010. The Georgian Muslims in the Context of Modernity. Batumi: Niko Berdzenishvili Institute.Google Scholar
Baramidze, Ruslan. 2015. “Islamic State and Georgia's Muslim Community”, June 17, https://ge.boell.org/en/2015/06/17/islamic-state-and-georgias-muslim-community (Accessed April 10, 2018).Google Scholar
Berger, Peter L. ed. 1999. The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Center.Google Scholar
Bubulashvili, Eldar. 2006. “The Georgian Exarchate, 1850–1900.” In Witness Through Troubled Times: A History of the Orthodox Church of Georgia, 1811 to the Present, eds. Grdzelidze, Tamara, George, Martin and Vischer, Lukas. London: Bennet & Bloom, 135–169.Google Scholar
Borowik, Irena. 2006. “Orthodoxy Confronting the Collapse of Communism in Post-Soviet Countries.” Social Compass 53(2):267–278.Google Scholar
Campell, Elena I. 2005. “The Autocracy and the Muslim Clergy in the Russian Empire (1850s‗1917).” Russian Studies in History 44(2):8–29.Google Scholar
Casanova, José. 1994. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Chitanava, Eka. 2015. “The Georgian Orthodox Church: National Identity and Political Influence.” In Traditional Religion and Political Power: Examining the Role of the Church in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova, ed. Hug, Adam. London: Foreign Policy Center, 40–52.Google Scholar
Chitanava, Eka. 2016. “Georgia's Politics of Piety.” Opendemocracy.net, September 30, https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/eka-chitanava/georgia-s-politics-of-piety (Accessed December 12, 2017).Google Scholar
Clifford, Bennet. 2017. “Drivers of Violent Religious Extremism in the Caucasus as a Result of the Conflicts in Syria and Iraq: North Caucasus, Georgia, and Azerbaijan” February 20, http://regional-dialogue.com/en/drivers-of-violent-religious-extremism-in-the-caucasus-as-a-result-of-the-conflicts-in-syria-and-iraq-north-caucasus-georgia-and-azerbaijan/ (Accessed April 3, 2018).Google Scholar
Corso, Molly. 2013. “Georgia: Could the Orthodox Church Become a Font of Intolerance?” Georgia EurasiaNet's Weekly Digest, June 25. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67173 (Accessed December 10, 2017).Google Scholar
Crego, Paul. 1994. “Religion and Nationalism in Georgia.” Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe 14(3):1–9.Google Scholar
Forbcaucasus. 2014. “Constitutional Agreement Between State of Georgia and Georgian Apostolic Autocephaly Orthodox Church” (unofficial translation). http://www.forbcaucausus.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/concordat.pdf (Accessed April 16, 2017).Google Scholar
Geffert, Bryn and Stavrou, Theofanis G.. 2016. Eastern Orthodox Christianity: The Essential Texts. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
GeoStat.ge. 2016a. 2014 General Population Census- Main Results, General Information http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf (Accessed April 1, 2018).Google Scholar
GeoStat.ge. 2016b. Population by Regions and Religion, http://census.ge/en/results/census1/demo (Accessed April 1, 2018).Google Scholar
Goyushov, Altay. 2012. “Islam in Azerbaijan (Historical Background).” Caucasus Analytical Digest 44:2–4.Google Scholar
Grdzelidze, Tamara. 2010. “The Orthodox Church of Georgia: Challenges Under Democracy and Freedom (1990–2009).” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church 10(2–3):160–175.Google Scholar
Gurchiani, Ketevan. 2017a. “Georgia In-Between: Religion in Public Schools.” Nationalities Papers. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1305346 (Accessed November 25, 2017).Google Scholar
Gurchiani, Ketevan. 2017b. “How Soviet is the Religious Revival in Georgia: Tactics in Everyday Religiosity.” Europe-Asia Studies, 69(3): 508–531.Google Scholar
Huseynov, Rashad. 2014. “History and Evolution of Islamic Institutions in Azerbaijan (XIX-XXI Centuries)” The Caucasus Globalization, Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies 8(1–2):1–11.Google Scholar
Ikekovic, Ivan. 1997. “The Political Use and Abuse of Religion in Transcaucasia and Yugoslavia.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 1(17):26–31.Google Scholar
Janelidze, Barbare. 2015. “Secularization and Desecularization in Georgia: State and Church Under the Saakashvili Government (2003–2012).” In Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus, eds. Agadjanian, Alexander, Jödicke, Ansgar and van der Zweerde, Evert. London, New York: Routledge, 63–80.Google Scholar
Jones, Stephen F. 1989. “Soviet Religious Policy and the Georgian Orthodox Apostolic Church: From Khrushchev to Gorbachev.” Religion, State and Society: The Keston Journal 17(4):292–312.Google Scholar
Jones, Stephen F. 2013. Georgia: A Political History Since Independence. New York: I. B. Tauris.Google Scholar
Kakachia, Kornely. 2014. “Is Georgia's Orthodox Church an Obstacle to European Values?” Ponars Eurasia Policy Memos (322):1–6.Google Scholar
Karpov, Vyacheslav. 2010. “Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Church and State 52(2):232–270.Google Scholar
Kekelia, Tatia. 2015. “Building Georgian National Identity.” In Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus, eds. Agadjanian, Alexander, Jödicke, Ansgar and van der Zweerde, Evert. London, New York: Routledge, 120–134.Google Scholar
Keskin, Serhat. 2017. “Church-State Relations in Post-Soviet Georgia: ‘Deprivatization’ of Georgian Orthodoxy.” Master's Thesis. Middle East Technical University.Google Scholar
Koustas, Simeon P. 1995. “The Spiritual Father: Spiritual Paternity in the Light of Orthodox Tradition.” http://oode.info/english/psyxotherap/Spiritual_Paternity.htm (Accessed February 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Künkler, Mirjam and Leininger, Julia. 2009. “The Multi-Faceted Role of Religious Actors in Democratization Processes: Empirical Evidence from Five Young Democracies.” Democratization 16(6):1058–1092.Google Scholar
Ladaria, Konstantine. 2012. “Georgian Orthodox Church and Political Project of Modernization.” Identity Studies (4):107–117.Google Scholar
Liles, Thomas. 2012. “Islam and Religious Transformation in Adjara.” ECMI Working Paper 57. http://www.ecmi.de/uploads/tx_lfpubdb/Working_Paper_57_En.pdfGoogle Scholar
Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2002. “Religion, Nation and State in Georgia: Christian Expansion in Muslim Ajaria.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 22(2):249–273.Google Scholar
Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2006. Defending the Border: Identity, Religion, and Modernity in the Republic of Georgia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Radu, Michael. 1998. “The Burden of Eastern Orthodoxy.” Orbis 42(2):283–300Google Scholar
Rcheulishvili, Ketevan. 2015. “A New Public Role of Religion? Recent Issues of Religion and Politics in Georgia.” Caucasus Analytical Digest (72):6–9.Google Scholar
Roy, Olivier. 2010. Holy Ignorance. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Sabanadze, Natalie. 2010. Globalization and Nationalism: The Cases of Georgia and the Basque Country. Budapest: Central European University Press.Google Scholar
Saitidze, Gocha. 2006. “Between the two Revolutions, 1901 to 1917.” Witness Through Troubled Times: A History of the Orthodox Church of Georgia, 1811 to the Present, eds. Grdzelidze, Tamara, George, Martin and Vischer, Lukas. London: Bennet & Bloom, 170–192.Google Scholar
Sanikidze, George. 2007. “Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: ‘Global’ and ‘Local’ Islam in the Pankisi Gorge.” In Regional and Transregional Dynamism in Central Eurasia: Empires, Islam and Politics ed. Tomohiko, Uyama. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, 263–282.Google Scholar
Sanikidze, George and Walker, Edward W.. 2004. “Islam and Islamic Practices in Georgia.” In Berkeley Program in Eurasian and East European Studies. UC Berkeley: Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. http://iseees.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/u4/bps_/publications_/2004_04-sani.pdfGoogle Scholar
Serrano, Silvia. 2014. “The Georgian Church: Embodiment of National Unity or Opposition Force?”. Russian Politics & Law 52(4):74–92.Google Scholar
Siprashvili, Nino. 2014. “Islamic Revival in Georgian-Chechen Border Area.” Master's thesis. The University of Bergen.Google Scholar
State Agency for Religious Issues News. 2016. “Report 2016 of the Administration of Muslims of All Georgia” November 30, http://religion.geo.gov.ge/eng/news/report-2016-of-the-administration-of-muslims-of (Accessed December 19, 2017).Google Scholar
Sulkhanishvili, Irina. 2012. “Struggle for Power: Religion and Politics in Georgia from the 90s to the Present.” Identity Studies (4):138–152.Google Scholar
Suny, Ronald G. 1994. The Making of the Georgian Nation. 2nd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI). 2014. Study of Religious Discrimination and Constitutional Secularism in Georgia. Tbilisi: TDI.Google Scholar
Toumanoff, Cyril. 1954. “Christian Caucasia Between Byzantium and Iran: New Light from Old Sources.” Traditio (10):109–189.Google Scholar
Tsulaia, Ia. 2011. “To Be Kist: Between Georgian and Chechen”. In Changing Identities: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, eds. Viktor Voronkov, Sophia Kuthsishvili and John Horan. Tbilisi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung South Caucasus, 126–147.Google Scholar
United States Department of State. 2015. “2014 Report on International Religious Freedom Georgia”, October 14, http://www.refworld.org/docid/562105a3e.html (Accessed May 4, 2017).Google Scholar
Watson, Ivan. 2010. “Patriarch Ilia II: 'Most trusted man in Georgia.” CNN, April 26, http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/23/georgia.powerful.patriarch.ilia/index.html (Accessed November 19, 2017).Google Scholar
Zedania, Giga. 2012. “The Rise of Religious Nationalism in Georgia.” Identity Studies (3):120–128.Google Scholar