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Europeanisation, Multiple Modernities and Religion – The Reconstruction of Collective Identities in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe

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Transformations of Religiosity

Abstract

A conspicuous characteristic of the post-communist transformations in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989 has been the concurrent – though considerably differing – revival of nationalism and religion (Spohn 1998, 2002a, 2002b, 2008, 2009). There are several general reasons for this. The breakdown of communism was not only triggered by the pursuit of democracy and market capitalism but also by the quest for national sovereignty from communist imperial rule. The concomitant nationalism was often shaped by organic ethno-national rather than democratic-pluralist identities. The organic ethno-nationalism was frequently combined with a revitalisation of religion as a counter-move against the previous state-imposed secularism and repression of religion. Consequently, ethno-national and inter-religious tensions and conflicts often intensified.

This article was written as part of the research project ”Europeanization, multiple modernities and collective identities – religion, nation and ethnicity in an enlarging Europe“ (EUROMM), directed by Wolfgang Knöbl, Matthias Koenig and myself and thankfully funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, 2008-11.

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  1. Willfried Spohn
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  1. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Gert Pickel  & Kornelia Sammet  & 

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Spohn, W. (2012). Europeanisation, Multiple Modernities and Religion – The Reconstruction of Collective Identities in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. In: Pickel, G., Sammet, K. (eds) Transformations of Religiosity. Veröffentlichungen der Sektion Religionssoziologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93326-9_3

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