Die Wechselwirkungen zwischen orthodoxer Religion und der Politik im zeitgenössischen Russland

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Tobias Köllner
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2013 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 232301589

Since the 1980s a diminishing legitimacy of socialist institutions became obvious which led to a loss of power of the state and reached its climax with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Many Russians and external experts characterized the last years of the Soviet Union and the Russian state under the presidency of Boris Yeltsin as weak. This changed when President Vladimir Putin came to power in 1999. From then on an empowerment of the federal state and the presidential administration became visible that was accompanied by the establishment of new institutions of power. However, this changed rapidly in the aftermath of the elections in late 2011 when massive protest became visible and accusations of fraud and deceit against the presidential party “United Russia” were raised.In this project I examine the processes of transformation between loose structures of power (Machtstrukturen) and authority (Herrschaft) in contemporary Russia. Of special interest in this context is the interrelation between orthodox religion and politics. Thus I was interested where and how the spheres of religion and politics influence, reinforce, contradict or complement each other in multiple ways. During the research, the local level will not be analyzed separately but put into the regional, national and global context. Initial questions for the research are: What is the role of Orthodoxy when socialist institutions lost their legitimacy in the 1980s? Which influence was exerted by orthodox religion during the process of empowerment of Vladimir Putin? Is it possible to distinguish between different periods of interrelation between politics and religion? Which conditions could be found in order to explain transformations of power? What kinds of interpretations do exist among various groups and how do they justify their claims? Is there any opposition against the state among religious people visible? Which groups could be named and what kind of exemplars could be given? In order to answer these questions an anthropological fieldwork is planned in order to collect empirical data. This includes, on the one hand, participant observation and, on the other, semi-structured interviews and talks. This methodology allows me show the processual character of the transformation of power and to incorporate a micro-historical perspective from the remembrance of my interlocutors.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants