Synopses & Reviews
This timely collection of 13 essays addresses a variety of aspects of political-religious interaction in the former Eastern Bloc. The studies reported here draw upon both quantitative and qualitative research methods in examining politics and religion in the former Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and in Poland and Hungary. Contributors from North American and Western, Central, and Eastern Europe bring a fascinating variety of perspectives and styles of analysis to bear permitting a dual comparative overview--not only of the different countries but of different approaches to the topic.
Review
The essays in this colume provide a useful introduction to the varying ways in which historically embedded interconnections between religion and national identity in several entral and Eastern European countries ocntributed to and shaped the collapse of Soviet Communism in 1989. Especially welcome is the inclusion in its purview of countries that have received little analytical attention from sociologists and political scientists...all the essays in this volume serve as reminders that religion continues to provide institutions and social movements with a rich resource and an anchor for culturally contested symbols and meanings...This book is a valuable contribution not just to students interested in eastern Europe or religion but to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the multifaceted ways in which culture both drives and constrains social and political action.Social Forces
Synopsis
This timely collection of 13 essays addresses a variety of aspects of political-religious interaction in the former Eastern Bloc.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-222) and index.
About the Author
WILLIAM H. SWATOS, JR., is Editor of Sociology of Religion, the offical journal of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.
Table of Contents
Tables and Figures
Preface
Traditions and Transitions: Reflections on the Problems and Prospects for Religions in Eastern and Central Europe by Roberto Cipriani
Religio-Nationalist Subcultures in the Soviet Union: Comparisons and Conceptual Refinements by Hank Johnston
Religion in Post-Communist Countries: A Comparative Study of Religiousness in Byelorussia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, and Poland by Irena Borowik
The New Europe and the Value Orientations of Young People: East-West Comparisons by Luigi Tomasi
From Glasnost to Dukhovnost?: The Commonwealth's Alienation Crisis by Patricia Ann Wasely Lomire
Religious and National Identity of Russians by Natalia Dinello
Churches, Politics and Society in Post-Communist East-Central Europe by Ivan Varga
Religion, Communism, and Democracy in Central Europe: The Polish Case by Patrick Michel
The Crash of the Sacred Canopy in Polish Society: A Systems Theory Approach by Enzo Pace
The Church as Catalyst in East Germany's Freedom Movement by Karen C. Hartley
Germany's Reconstruction: The Role of the Eastern German Evangelical Church before and after Reunification by Robert E. Beckley, H. Paul Chalfant, and D. Paul Johnson
Social and Ethical Aspects of the Development of the Slovak Evangelical Church in the 20th Century by Vasil Gluchman
Medjugorje and the Crisis in Yugoslavia by Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
Bibliography
Index