Anthropologies of Orthodox Christianity
Theology, Politics, Ethics
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Anthropologically explores the entanglement of theology and politics among contemporary Orthodox Christians.
Much of the anthropological literature on Christianity tends to concentrate on Protestants and Catholics in the Global South. The contemporary scholarly interest in such communities descends from histories of missionization and colonization of these regions, as well as a sense of their theological kinship with the secularized visions of Western political and social life. Orthodox Christianity, however, has largely been rendered marginal in mainstream anthropological engagement because of its theological and social alterity from such Western anthropological traditions of knowledge production. Because of this, Orthodox Christian lifeworlds in and beyond the academy are created, contested, and transformed in relation to various “others,” whether they be religious, political, secular, or historical, with an eye toward a discursive opposition between modernity and Orthodoxy.
Each of the essays in Anthropologies of Orthodox Christianity texture a new trajectory in the study of this religious tradition that take seriously the theopolitical aspects of Orthodox life through anthropological inquiry. The volume engages and moves beyond the tension between populist and institutional framings of religion, and critically addresses the ontological gap in both anthropology and theology as social, cultural, and geopolitical interest in Orthodox Christianity continues to expand and grow.
Anthropologies of Orthodox Christianity stands out for its concern with the integration of theological ideas with the practice of lived religion, which makes it a major intervention in the fast growing conversation about theology within anthropology (and about anthropology within theology). The contributions are uniformly excellent and the collection as a whole is a benchmark contribution to the study of Orthodox life.—Joel Robbins, author of Theology and the Anthropology of Christian Life
Offering a rich and layered analysis of diverse Orthodox Christian communities—their histories, theologies, and politics —this ambitious volume shows how Orthodox life worlds are created, contested, and transformed, particularly through encounters with various ‘others.’ It underscores the importance of engaging deeply with theology, ecclesiology, and liturgy for producing nuanced, context-sensitive scholarship and furthers the critical conversations that shape the study of global Christianity and religion more broadly.—Vlad Naumescu, Professor, Central European University
Candace Lukasik is Assistant Professor of Religion and Faculty Affiliate in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses on the transnational politics of migration, violence, and indigeneity in the Middle East, specifically Egypt and Iraq, and its US diasporas. She is the author of Martyrs and Migrants: Coptic Christians and the Persecution Politics of US Empire.
Sarah Riccardi-Swartz (Edited By)
Sarah Riccardi-Swartz is Assistant Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Northeastern University, where she is also an affiliate faculty member in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. Her research focuses on politics, race, media gender and sexuality, and Orthodox Christianity. She is the author of Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Authority in Appalachia.
