MACMILLAN Orthodox Churches and Politics in Southeastern Europe: Nationalism, Conservativism, and Intolerance (Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy)

Orthodox Churches, like most religious bodies, are inherently political: they seek to defend their core values and must engage in politics to do so, whether by promoting certain legislation or seeking to block other legislation. This volume examines the politics of Orthodox Churches in Southeastern Europe, emphasizing three key modes of resistance to the influence of (Western) liberal values: Nationalism (presenting themselves as protectors of the national being), Conservatism (defending traditional values such as the “traditional family”), and Intolerance (of both non-Orthodox faiths and sexual minorities). The chapters in this volume present case studies of all the Orthodox Churches of the region. Review “Filling a large gap in literature on religion and politics, Orthodox Churches and Politics in Southeastern Europe provides timely, insightful case studies. It provides unique and extensive coverage of the politics of church and state in this region.” (Paul Rowe, Professor and Coordinator of Political and International Studies, Trinity Western University, Canada) “Sabrina Ramet has assembled an impressive list of world-class authors, whose work has informed the scholarly understanding of Orthodox communities in diverse contemporary settings. Here, with striking revelations, they move the discussion from the familiar terrain of ethnoreligious politics of identity into an in-depth consideration of the uncharted, problematic exclusion of the ethnic and sexual other.” (Andrii Krawchuk, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Sudbury, Canada) From the Back Cover Orthodox Churches, like most religious bodies, are inherently political: they seek to defend their core values and must engage in politics to do so, whether by promoting certain legislation or seeking to block other legislation. This volume examines the politics of Orthodox Churches in Southeastern Europe, emphasizing three key modes of resistance to the influence of (Western) liberal values: Nationalism (presenting themselves as protectors of the national being), Conservatism (defending traditional values such as the “traditional family”), and Intolerance (of both non-Orthodox faiths and sexual minorities). The chapters in this volume present case studies of all the Orthodox Churches of the region. About the Author Sabrina P. Ramet is Professor Emerita of Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), in Trondheim, Norway. Born in London, Great Britain, she earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at UCLA in 1981 and moved to Norway in 2001. She is the author of 14 books, including, most recently, Alternatives to Democracy in Twentieth-Century Europe: Collectivist visions of modernity (Central European University Press, 2019).