საერთაშორისო სადოქტორო სკოლა

ილიას სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი

Role of Religion in Political Transformation Process in Orthodox Europe

დოქტორანტის სახელი და გვარი: ქრისტინე მარგველაშვილი
ფაკულტეტი: მეცნიერებათა და ხელოვნების ფაკულტეტი
ხელმძღვანელი ილიაუნი: გია ნოდია
ხელმძღვანელი გოტინგენი: ალექსანდერ ტილე

Political transformation process is traversed with myriads of structural and ideological difficulties, however stateness remains in the very core it. Nation’s ability to control the territory and form political institutions, also level of legitimization of nation- state in its society, is an existential necessity for stateness. Nevertheless, degree of secularization and influence of religious institutions on political processes can hinder and even alter the course of democratic nature of transformation. Orthodox Symphonic tradition and socialist historical experience affected formation of a certain political path, we are seeking into those distinctions and comparing two post-soviet states Ukraine and Georgia with Greece, which was the only Orthodox country outside of socialist bloc and has state religion.

Religion is part of nationalism in Orthodox Christianity, religious and national boundaries coincide, and religion produces myths and symbols which are central to nationalistic discourses. Ethno-religious nationalism in Orthodox Europe can hinder political transformation process, by affecting stateness and state institutions. Main point of inquiry is whether political or clerical elite by initiating certain kind of church-state relations are shaping political transformation process in each country. Therefore, qualitative part of this study will gather more than hundred in-depth interviews with political and clerical elites in Georgia, Ukraine and Greece. Moreover, secondary quantitative data from World Value Survey Wave 6 will be analyzed in order to explore correlations between religiosity and political participation in each country and entirely on an Orthodox European level.

სამეცნიერო სტატიები:

  • Kristine Margvelashvili, “Role of the Orthodox Church in Georgia’s European Integration process”, Caucasus Social Science Review (CSSR), Vol 4 (2018)

სამეცნიერო კონფერენციები:

  • “Voters and Political Parties in Post-Communist Europe: New challenges and Opportunities
    Stockholm, Sweden   2018 September
  • Religion and Politics in a Secular Age: Patterns, Dynamics and Consequences
    Wroclaw, Poland  2019 September