The dominant consensus among political scientists, and in the West more broadly, is that Orthodox Christianity is unfriendly towards democracy. In this critically important study, political scientist Marko Vekovi surprises readers with a far more dynamic and diverse reality. Through incisive analysis and thorough research, he demonstrates that Orthodox churches have acted both as leaders and resisters in the wave of democratization in Orthodox-majority countries that has taken place since the end of the Cold War. In doing so, he succeeds in filling a yawning gap in scholarship on religion and global politics and in producing a book that every student of this field would do well to read.
Daniel Philpott, University of Notre Dame, USA
The relations between Orthodox Christianity and democratisation have often been portrayed in a negative light, not the least in post-communist times. By comparing democratisation processes in three predominantly Orthodox countries (Greece, Serbia and Russia), this book offers rich and valuable insights and argues for a necessary nuanced approach to the specificities of each Orthodox milieu that will help avoiding generalisations and ideologisations.
Vasilios N. Makrides, University of Erfurt, Germany
The book will be useful not only for those who are professionally engaged in the religion issues, but also for people who are interested in the direction and course of political processes in the modern world. Considering religious traditions and political practices in countries of the Orthodox Christian Churches, the author shows that in a situation of postmodernism in the context of cultural ambiguity determination changes occur not only in the basis of identity, but also in relations between the Church, government and society that has affected the process of democratization in Greece, Serbia and Russia.
Nataliya Velikaya, Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia
This book is a valuable contribution of the Belgrades school of politology of religion towards better understanding of the political importance of Orthodox Christianity across Eastern Europe. Dr Marko Vekovi offers useful, original and comparative insights in the roles of the Orthodox Christian Churches in the political processes in Greece, Serbia and Russia, and shows that studying and analysing religion is of great importance for understanding politics in this part of the world.
Miroljub Jevti, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe
For a long time, Orthodox Christianity was regarded as a religious tradition that was incompatible with democracy. This book challenges this incompatibility thesis, offering an innovative and fresh theoretical framework for dealing with the issue of Orthodoxy and democracy.
This book focuses on the political behaviour of Orthodox Christian Churches in the democratization processes from a comparative perspective, and shows that different Orthodox Churches acted differently in the democratization processes in Greece, Serbia and Russia. The fundamental question that arises is why? By focusing on institutions, rather than on political theology, this book answers this question from a comparative perspective. By studying the historical, cultural, and political roles of the Orthodox Christian Church in these three countries, the author examines whether it is logical to presume that the Church played a significant role in the democratization process.
This book will be of great interest to academics and students globally who teach, study, and research in the emerging field of religion and democracy.
Marko Vekovi is Assistant Professor of Religion and Politics at University of Belgrade, Serbia. He has been appointed as a Visiting Scholar at Temple University (2014), Columbia University (2016), and as a post-doc scholar at University of Erfurt (2019). His work has been published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Journal of Church and State, and Democratization.
Routledge Studies in Religion and Politics
Edited by Jeffrey Haynes
London Metropolitan University, UK
This series aims to publish high-quality works on the topic of the resurgence of political forms of religion in both national and international contexts. This trend has been especially noticeable in the post-cold war era (that is, since the late 1980s). It has affected all the world religions (including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism) in various parts of the world (such as, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa).
The series welcomes books that use a variety of approaches to the subject, drawing upon scholarship from political science, international relations, security studies, and contemporary history.
Books in the series explore these religions, regions, and topics both within and beyond the conventional domain of churchstate relations to include the impact of religion on politics, conflict, and development, including the late Samuel Huntingtons controversial yet influential thesis about clashing civilisations.
In sum, the overall purpose of the book series is to provide a comprehensive survey of what is currently happening in relation to the interaction of religion and politics, both domestically and internationally, in relation to a variety of issues.
War and Religion in the Secular Age
Faith and Interstate Armed Conflict Onset
Davis Brown
Faith Based Organisations in Development Discourses and Practice
Edited by Andreas Heuser and Jens Khrsen
Religion, Conflict and Post-Secular Politics
Jeffrey Haynes
Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe
Comparing Greece, Serbia and Russia
Marko Vekovi
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Religion-and-Politics/book-series/RSRP
Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe
Comparing Greece, Serbia and Russia
Marko Vekovi
First published 2021
by Routledge
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2021 Marko Vekovi
The right of Marko Vekovi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-367-42083-3 (hbk)
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