CFP: The Varieties of Russian Modernity II: Religion, State and Approaches to Pluralism in Russian Contexts

[Chris Stroop]

*** Please forward widely ***

*Call For Papers*

*The Varieties of Russian Modernity II: Religion, State and Approaches to
Pluralism in Russian Contexts*

*Conference Dates: *May 14-16, 2014

*Conference Location: *Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and
Public Administration (RANEPA), Prospekt Vernadskogo 82, Moscow

*Deadline for Proposal Submissions: *December 10, 2013 (all who submit
proposals will be informed of the status of their proposals in early
January 2014).

*Deadline for Submission of Completed Papers: *March 28, 2014

*Important Details: *

Pending final budgetary approval, invited participants from outside Moscow
will receive the following: visa support as applicable (although they must
pay consular fees themselves); transportation to and from a Moscow airport
as applicable; accommodation in RANEPA’s hotel from May 13 – May 16, 2014;
one economy class round-trip air or train ticket (which must be booked by
RANEPA in accordance with participant preferences – no reimbursements for
travel booked by participants will be possible).

*Conference Description:*

Following up on the success of the first Varieties of Russian Modernity
Conference held at RANEPA June 7-9, 2013 (
http://www.ranepa.ru/eng/news/item/329-the-conference-the-varieties-of-russian-modernity-took-place-at-ranepa.html),
we are pleased to announce that RANEPA’s Center for Russian Studies will be
hosting a second international conference in the same vein on May 14-16,
2014. We hereby invite paper proposals of approximately 750-1000 words
related to the theme of religion, state, and approaches to pluralism in
Russian contexts. While the primary focus will be on topics related to
Russian history and contemporary Russian (rossiiskie) realities,
comparative and transnational approaches are encouraged. The term “Russian
contexts” should be construed broadly. The organizers would welcome
proposals from representatives of religious studies, history, sociology,
philosophy, anthropology, political science, psychology, social psychology,
literary studies, education, journalism, and other relevant fields.

We live in a time in which issues related to religion and secularism have
come to the fore of both policy and academic discussions. Within these
discussions, some of the most important questions have to do with how to
achieve fairness and equality among the representatives of various
confessions and those with no religious affiliation vis-à-vis the secular
state. The Rawlsian liberal model has been increasingly called into
question, prominently by Charles Taylor and even Jürgen Habermas, to whom
we owe our current debates about the meaning of the “post-secular.” The
increasing visibility of religious concerns has, in conjunction with
processes of globalization, served to highlight and reinforce the
prevailing understanding of pluralism as a condition fundamental to
modernity. At the same time, however, the Soviet multi-national model has
fallen away, along with its extreme version of Enlightenment *laïcité*, and
prominent voices have cast doubt on the prospects for twentieth-century
American and European models of multiculturalism.

The Varieties of Russian Modernity II: Religion, State and Approaches to
Pluralism in Russian Contexts seeks to contribute to our ongoing
discussions of these important global issues by examining the case of
Russia, which has been a multi-national, multi-confessional state since
before the development of modern conceptions of toleration and
co-existence. Post-Soviet Russia has experienced revivals to varying
degrees among Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians, Buddhists, Jews, and
Muslims. In Russia today, peaceful coexistence is the most common
experience on the “bytovoi” level of the streets and marketplace, but it
takes place within an atmosphere of some tension. The construction of
mosques in European Russia is frequently opposed by Russian Christians,
contributing to feelings of marginalization among Russian Muslims.
Meanwhile, the recent Russian legislative initiative to protect the
feelings of religious believers has incited worries about potential
discrimination against atheists. With significant jail time potentially in
store for offenders, there is also the worry that the law may be applied
unevenly and that its mere existence may have a stifling impact on
inter-religious dialogue.

Taking these and related issues into account, RANEPA’s upcoming conference
will seek to address the following broad questions. What approaches can we
use to understand the present Russian situation? How might Russia best
foster peaceful coexistence between members of its diverse confessions?
What might Russian historical and contemporary experience have to
contribute to the development of more broadly applicable empirical and
normative models and approaches?

More specific areas of inquiry that proposals may address include (but are
not limited to) the following:

-       What role does Russia’s imperial (and/or Soviet) past play in
shaping the contemporary realities of Russian pluralism? Where are the
continuities and breaks, both in terms of state and regional policies and
“actually existing pluralism” on the ground?

-       Does contemporary Russia have a coherent policy approach to
church-state relations and the adjudication of claims among representatives
of various confessions? How does its approach compare with that of other
modern secular states?

-       How does the experience of Russian pluralism vary from one region
to another? What about with respect to social class? Generation?
Confessional affiliation?

-       Case studies dealing with particular confessions, communities, or
incidents, with a historical or recent focus, the implications of which are
broader than the individual cases.

-       Russian (russkie ili rossiiskie) historical or contemporary
experiences of pluralism outside Russia.

-       The historical or recent contributions of Russian philosophers,
theologians, literary writers, and/or other intellectuals (including émigré
intellectuals) to normative discussions of issues related to pluralism,
toleration, and/or coexistence. Such contributions need not be well known;
it may be even more desirable to recover less well known Russian voices
with something to say to contemporary problems.

-       Representations of pluralism in Russian literature and art, along
with an analysis of their broader significance.

*Conference Model:*

Interested parties should submit their proposals to all three organizers,
Christopher Stroop (cstroop at gmail.com), Dmitry Uzlaner (uzlanerda at gmail.com)
and Alexander Agadjanian (Alex.Agadjanian at asu.edu) no later than December
10, 2013. The organizers will inform applicants of their status in early
January. Proposals should consist of a 750-1000 word description of the
project along with a curriculum vitae.

The conference format will be intimate and intensive, with a total of
approximately 30-40 participants whose presentations will be organized into
panels by the conference organizers. The working languages of the
conference will be both English and Russian, meaning that participants are
expected to have at least passive knowledge of both languages. In order to
lend the conference a greater level of cohesion, conference organizers will
select and distribute some common readings that participants will be
expected to read before the conference. In addition, selected participants
will be asked to submit reasonably polished drafts of their conference
papers by March 28, 2014, so that all participants will have time to read
each other’s papers in advance of the conference. This allows for shorter
presentations at the conference itself as opposed to reading the papers out
loud, and leaves more time for discussion. For those participants seeking
to revise their papers for publication, the organizers will seek to
facilitate this. Publication will most likely be made available in a
conference volume published through RANEPA’s Delo Publishing House, in a
special issue of RANEPA’s religious studies quarterly *State, Religion and
Church in Russia and Worldwide*, or both.  Any questions may be addressed
to the organizers.


Christopher Stroop
PhD, History and Humanities, Stanford University
Senior Lecturer, RANEPA, Moscow
Editor, *State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide*
www.sacramentalities.org <http://www.SacraMentalities.org>

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