The Orthodox Church, Neosecularisation, and the Rise of Anti-Gender Politics in Bulgaria

Bibliographic Data

ID3593150
AuthorsIna Merdjanova (Trinity College Dublin, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume13
Issue4
Pages359
Publication date2022-04-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel13040359
OpenAlexW4223957460
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited11

In a recent publication, I introduced the theoretical framework of neosecularisation with regard to the Orthodox Church and society in Bulgaria. I argued that neosecularisation, as a complex process of decline of religion's importance and the hold of religious authority over the social system, while genealogically different from communist secularisation, explicates patterns of continuity with the communist past. Important aspects of this continuity include the persistent grassroots feminisation of the Church and the co-optation of the Church by the state. Drawing on those theoretical insights, in this paper, I seek to understand the rise of anti-gender politics in Bulgaria since 2018 in relation to the condition of neosecularisation and its impact on the Church. I argue that (neo)secularisation remains a much feared "threat" for the Church and plays a role in ecclesiastical anti-gender mobilisation. However, the Church is not a major factor in anti-gender politics in Bulgaria; the roles of far-right nationalists and certain transnationally connected evangelical actors are to be seriously considered. Furthermore, anti-genderism cannot be understood merely as a religious or cultural backlash. It needs to be discussed as a larger protest movement against liberal democracy's failure to live up to its promises and against the pathologies of neoliberal globalisation, a movement in which the Orthodox Church is only tangentially involved

Communism · Democracy · Grassroots · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Secularization · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Turkey's Politics and Society

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