Tobias Köllner: Religion and Politics in Contemporary Russia. Beyond the Binary of Power and Authority

the social sciences: 'religion and politics' , based upon observations on contemporary Russia.Among the many titles, Köllner's monograph is characterized by a careful balance between theoretical innovation and empirical credibility, brought together with ethnographic methods well-established in anthropology.The author prioritises the local perspective in his study, taking a realistic view vis-à-vis central state policies.The book draws on solid fieldwork in central Russian regions.Its factual credibility is enhanced by the inclusion of twenty photographs in the text.The fieldwork was carried out in the period 2013 -2016 in Vladimir and St. Petersburg (latter as a corrective).This is the author's second field study, after the first (2006 -2008), the results of which were presented in his debut book (Köllner, 2012).In other words, the author has considerable research experience in the anthropology of Orthodox Christianity in Russia.The theoretical point of departure in the study is Max Weber's dichotomy of power vs authority (Weber, 1990: 122-176), which Köllner relativizes based on his empirical findings.In the context of contemporary Russian Orthodoxy, the author shows the problematic nature of Weber's understanding of authority as a legitimation of political power.Instead, Köllner shows the ambivalent nature of the interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) (the whole of clergy and laity) and contemporary Russian politics and proposes the term 'entangled authorities' .The next distinction is between personal, ideological and institutional entanglement.From a local perspective, the relationship between political power and Orthodoxy as the main social actors in today's Russia is characterized by mutually beneficial cooperation, but also by competition for access to resources and even open conflict.Overall, the monograph's introductory chapter can serve as a competent guide to the study of religion by contemporary social scientists.The seven chapters of the study are devoted to: the introduction of religious instruction (2012) in state schools -Foundations of Orthodox Culture (chapter three); the restitution of church property (chapter four); the introduction (2008) of the feast of Family, Love and Faithfulness Day (chapter five); religious conservatism in the context of nationalism and militarism in Russian society (chapter six).The first and last chapters contain, respectively, the introduction and conclusion of the book.The second chapter contains an historical overview of the relationship between Orthodoxy and Russian politics, from the conversion of Kievan Rus to the present day.