religious communities

Considering the Religious-Social Shaping of Technology

The following text is a chapter from the book When Religion Meets New Media. The aim of the book is to develop a systematic exploration of how religious communities engage with a variety of new media technologies. This chapter provides a background to the guiding methodology of the book — the “religious social shaping of technology” approach.

Repressions, Economic Pressure and Survival Strategies of the Orthodox Clergy in Kazan Diocese in the 1930s

The article explores the conditions of life and activities of Orthodox clergy of the Kazan diocese, primarily in the city of Kazan and some Kazan suburbs, in the 1930s. Drawing upon published and archival sources, various forms of state pressure on the clergy are illustrated: «labor duties», identifying the lishentsy (disenfranchised citizens) by Komsomol «activists», raising tax pressure; and all other instruments with the main goal of eliminating the impact of Church institutions in society.

The «New» Mennonites of the Ural and Siberia: Genesis and Transformation of Ethnoconfessional Communities in the 1940s – 1960s

The article explores the genesis and transformation of Soviet ethno-confessional communities in the 1940s – 1960s, using the case of the so called «new» Mennonite communities in the Ural and Siberia. The development of these communities depended on the extreme conditions of a transition they went through, from the traditional rural life to the urban industrial setting. In these communities we see new mechanisms of solidarity, based on inter-communal and inter-religious communication.