Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus

296 Pages·2015·2.4 MB·English

by  Alexander Agadjanian, Ansgar Jödicke, Evert van der Zweerde

Religion, Nation and Democracy
in the South Caucasus
This book explores in detail current developments in the three major societies of
the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – focusing especially on
religion, historical traditions, national consciousness and political culture, and on
how these factors interact. It outlines how, despite close geographical interlace-
ment, common historical memories including subjection to Russian and Soviet
empires, and common inherited structures, the three countries manifest deep dif-
ferences; and it discusses how development in all three nations has partly or even
significantly diverged from post-Soviet elites’ declared commitments to demo-
cratic norms and European values. The book demonstrates that these differences,
and the failures of political ambitions, stem from the countries’ different religious
backgrounds, political traditions and emerging economic models, which have cre-
ated very different dynamics over the last two decades. The book also considers
how external factors and international relations continue to have a huge impact
on the three countries.
Alexander Agadjanian is Professor at the Center for the Study of Religion at the
Russian State University for the Humanities.
Ansgar Jödicke is Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Social Sciences
at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Evert van der Zweerde is Professor of Political Philosophy at Radboud Univer-
sity of Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series
1 Liberal Nationalism in Central 8 The Development of Capitalism
Europe in Russia
Stefan Auer Simon Clarke
2 Civil-Military Relations in Russia 9 Russian Television Today
and Eastern Europe Primetime drama and comedy
David J. Betz David MacFadyen
3 The Extreme Nationalist Threat 10 The Rebuilding of Greater Russia
in Russia Putin’s foreign policy towards the
The growing influence of Western CIS countries
Rightist ideas Bertil Nygren
Thomas Parland
11 A Russian Factory Enters the
4 Economic Development in Market Economy
Tatarstan Claudio Morrison
Global markets and a Russian region
Leo McCann 12 Democracy Building and Civil
Society in Post-Soviet Armenia
5 Adapting to Russia’s New Labour Armine Ishkanian
Market
Gender and employment strategy 13 NATO-Russia Relations in the
Edited by Sarah Ashwin Twenty-First Century
Aurel Braun
6 Building Democracy and Civil
Society East of the Elbe 14 Russian Military Reform
Essays in honour of Edmund A failed exercise in defence decision
Mokrzycki making
Edited by Sven Eliaeson Carolina Vendil Pallin
7 The Telengits of Southern Siberia 15 The Multilateral Dimension in
Landscape, religion and Russian Foreign Policy
knowledge in motion Edited by Elana Wilson Rowe and
Agnieszka Halemba Stina Torjesen
16 Russian Nationalism and the 25 The Heritage of Soviet Oriental
National Reassertion of Russia Studies
Edited by Marlène Laruelle Edited by Michael Kemper and
Stephan Conermann
17 The Caucasus – An Introduction
Frederik Coene 26 Religion and Language in
Post-Soviet Russia
18 Radical Islam in the Former Brian P. Bennett
Soviet Union
Edited by Galina M. Yemelianova 2 7 Jewish Women Writers in the
Soviet Union
19 Russia’s European Agenda and Rina Lapidus
the Baltic States
Janina Šleivytė 28 Chinese Migrants in Russia,
Central Asia and Eastern Europe
20 Regional Development in Edited by Felix B. Chang and
Central and Eastern Europe Sunnie T. Rucker-Chang
Development processes and policy
challenges 29 Poland’s EU Accession
Edited by Grzegorz Gorzelak, John Sergiusz Trzeciak
Bachtler and Maciej Smętkowski
30 The Russian Armed Forces in
21 Russia and Europe Transition
Reaching agreements, digging Economic, geopolitical and
trenches institutional uncertainties
Kjell Engelbrekt and Bertil Nygren Edited by Roger N. McDermott,
Bertil Nygren and Carolina Vendil
22 Russia’s Skinheads Pallin
Exploring and rethinking
subcultural lives 31 The Religious Factor in Russia’s
Hilary Pilkington, Elena Foreign Policy
Omel’chenko and Al’bina Alicja Curanović
Garifzianova
32 Postcommunist Film – Russia,
23 The Colour Revolutions in the Eastern Europe and World
Former Soviet Republics Culture
Successes and failures Moving images of
Edited by Donnacha Ó Beacháin postcommunism
and Abel Polese Edited by Lars Kristensen
24 Russian Mass Media and 33 Russian Multinationals
Changing Values From regional supremacy to
Edited by Arja Rosenholm, Kaarle global lead
Nordenstreng and Elena Trubina Andrei Panibratov
3 4 Russian Anthropology After the 44 The Fall of the Iron Curtain and
Collapse of Communism the Culture of Europe
Edited by Albert Baiburin, Peter I. Barta
Catriona Kelly and Nikolai Vakhtin
45 Russia After 2012
35 The Post-Soviet Russian From Putin to Medvedev to Putin –
Orthodox Church continuity, change, or revolution?
Politics, culture and Greater Russia Edited by J.L. Black and
Katja Richters Michael Johns
36 Lenin’s Terror 46 Business in Post-Communist
The ideological origins of early Russia
Soviet State violence Privatisation and the limits of
James Ryan transformation
Mikhail Glazunov
37 Life in Post-Communist Eastern
Europe after EU Membership 47 Rural Inequality in Divided
Edited by Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Russia
Vera Sheridan and Sabina Stan Stephen K. Wegren
38 EU – Border Security 48 Business Leaders and New
Challenges, (mis)perceptions, and Varieties of Capitalism in
responses Post-Communist Europe
Serghei Golunov Edited by Katharina Bluhm, Bernd
Martens and Vera Trappmann
39 Power and Legitimacy –
Challenges from Russia 49 Russian Energy and Security up
Edited by Per-Arne Bodin, to 2030
Stefan Hedlund and Elena Namli Edited by Susanne Oxenstierna
and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen
40 Managing Ethnic Diversity in
Russia 50 The Informal Post-Socialist
Edited by Oleh Protsyk and Economy
Benedikt Harzl Embedded practices and livelihoods
Edited by Jeremy Morris and
41 Believing in Russia – Religious Abel Polese
Policy After Communism
Geraldine Fagan 51 Russia and East Asia
Informal and gradual integration
42 The Changing Russian University Edited by Tsuneo Akaha and
From state to market Anna Vassilieva
Tatiana Maximova-Mentzoni
52 The Making of Modern Georgia,
43 The Transition to National Armies 1918–2012
in the Former Soviet Republics, The first Georgian Republic and
1988–2005 its successors
Jesse Paul Lehrke Edited by Stephen F. Jones
53 Digital Russia 57 The Russian Presidency of
The language, culture and politics Dmitry Medvedev, 2008-2012
of new media communication The next step forward or merely a
Edited by Michael S. Gorham, time out?
Ingunn Lunde and Martin Paulsen J. L. Black
54 Eastern Christianity and Politics 58 Fashion and the Consumer
in the Twenty-First Century Revolution in Contemporary
Edited by Lucian N. Leustean Russia
Olga Gurova
55 Punk in Russia
Cultural mutation from the 59 Religion, Nation and Democracy
“useless” to the “moronic” in the South Caucasus
Ivan Gololobov, Hilary Pilkington Edited by Alexander Agadjanian,
and Yngvar B. Steinholt Ansgar Jödicke and Evert van der
Zweerde
56 Chechnya at War and Beyond
Edited by Anne Le Huérou,
Aude Merlin, Amandine Regamey
and Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski
This page intentionally left blank
Religion, Nation and
Democracy in the South
Caucasus
Edited by Alexander Agadjanian,
Ansgar Jödicke and Evert van
der Zweerde
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2015 selection and editorial material, Alexander Agadjanian, Ansgar
Jödicke and Evert van der Zweerde; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Alexander Agadjanian, Ansgar Jödicke and Evert van der
Zweerde to be identified as authors of the editorial material, and of the
individual authors as authors of their contributions, has been asserted by
them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Religion, nation and democracy in the South Caucasus / edited by
Alexander Agadjanian, Ansgar Jödicke and Evert van der Zweerde.
pages cm. — (Routledge contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe
series ; 59)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Religion and politics—Caucasus, South. 2. Religion and state—
Caucasus, South. 3. Nationalism—Caucasus, South—Religious aspects.
4. Caucasus, South—Foreign relations. I. Agadjanian, Alexander,
editor. II. Jödicke, Ansgar, editor. III. Zweerde, Evert van der, editor.
IV. Series: Routledge contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe series ; 59.
BL2350.C38R45 2015
322′.109475—dc23
2014017017
ISBN: 978-1-138-02290-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77680-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of figures xii
List of tables xiii
Notes on contributors xiv
Editors’ introduction 1
PART I
Conceptual frames 5
1 General trends in the interaction of religion and politics as
applied to the South Caucasus 7
ANSGAR JÖDICKE
2 Ethnicity, nation and religion: current debates and
the South Caucasian reality 22
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN
3 Democratic repertoires: the South Caucasus case(s) 38
EVERT VAN DER ZWEERDE
PART II
Religion and politics 57
Introduction 59
KETEVAN KHUTSISHVILI
4 Secularization and desecularization in Georgia: state and
church under the Saakashvili government (2003–2012) 63
BARBARE JANELIDZE