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This special issue addresses the religion of the Finno-Ugric peoples, with a specific focus on animist religiosity and its contemporary expression in Finno-Ugric societies.*This is a subject that has recently featured prominently in significant forums, and this collection of papers is particularly influenced by discussions at two major conferences: the Congress of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) in Cork in June 2022, and the Finno-Ugric Congress (CIFU XIII) in Vienna in August 2022.The contributions are based on reports presented at these events, in panels organised by the editors.Why did we feel the need to encourage scholarly discussion on animisms and monotheism in the Finno-Ugric world?One key reason is that the field of religious studies in this part of the world contains notable gaps.Anthropological research on religion in Russia has often focused on shamanism, scholarship that while exciting and diverse, often overlooks regions where Christianity had long been the prevalent religion.This oversight is particularly evident in areas of Central Russia inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples, whose original religious practices, prior to Russian conquest, were neither Orthodox nor Muslim.These practices, which straddle the line between vernacular Christianity and animism, represent a significant gap in this research field.Evidence of the limited activity in this field can be seen at the recent EASR congresses, held in Pisa in 2021 and in Cork in 2022.We organised one panel in Pisa and another in Cork yet found no other presentations that engaged with this area and topic of interest.The Finno-Ugric Congress in Vienna in 2022, which was primarily aimed at gathering scholars interested in Finno-Ugric topics, had two panels addressing religion.
Toulouze et al. (Sat,) studied this question.