The activity of Orthodox bloggers as the factor of the Orthodox religious organizations modernization
Research Article
How to Cite
Bogatova O.A., Golovanov S.V. The activity of Orthodox bloggers as the factor of the Orthodox religious organizations modernization. Science. Culture. Society. 2023. Vol. 29. No. 2. P. 91-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2023.29.2.8 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article, based on online observation data, analyzes the activities of Orthodox bloggers in modern Russian society in the conceptual framework of the theories of secularization, post-secular society and the mediatization of religion. The authors identify the main areas of activity of Orthodox bloggers, specify the forms of their interaction with official confessional mass media, assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the information policy of the Russian Orthodox Church. After the COVID-19 pandemic, information policy is being liberalized and restrictions are being lifted from the online activities of proactive Orthodox clergy looking for new approaches to the external and internal mission of Orthodoxy. There are two main directions of Orthodox blogging: catechetical and educational; the formation of public opinion in the circles of the Orthodox clergy and the affirmation of the value of social solidarity. In the first case, the modernization of the social practices of the clergy is expressed in introducing the audience of “new media” to religion and educational influence on it, in addition to the usual examples of bilateral interaction, in the second — in increasing the authority of the clergy-bloggers as media personalities and the opportunity to use near-church sites for informal public control over the activities of the church leadership. As a result of the activity of active blogger priests, a network environment of assistants, volunteers and consultants (IT specialists, psychologists, lawyers, etc.) arises around parishes, hierarchical organizations in their essence.
Keywords:
post-secularism, mediatization of religions, modernization, Orthodox media practices, network journalism, social networks, digital Orthodoxy
References
1. Taylor Ch. A secular age. Moscow: BBI; 2017. 967 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-89647-307-7.
2. Habermas Jü. Die Zukunft der menschlichen Natur. Moscow: Ves’ Mir; 2002. 144 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-7777-0171-Х.
3. Andreeva L. A., Andreeva L. K. Secular or post-secular world: verifying conceptions. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya=Sociological Studies. 2015;(3):82–88. (In Russ.).
4. Calhoun C., Juergensmeyer M., van Antwerpen J., eds. Rethinking Secularism. New York: Oxford University Press; 2011. 311 p. ISBN 978-0-19-979667-0.
5. Possamai A. The i-zation of society, religion, and neoliberal post-secularism. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan; 2018. 244 p. ISBN 978-981-10-5942-1. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5942-1.
6. Hervieu-Leger D. In search of certainties: the paradoxes of religiosity in societies of high modernity. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2015;33(1):254–268. (In Russ.).
7. Ostrovskaya E. A. Is the mediatization of the Orthodoxy possible?. Monitoring obshhestvennogo mneniya: E`konomi-cheskie i social`ny`e peremeny`=Monitoring of public opinion: economic and social change. 2019;(5):300–319. (In Russ.). DOI 10.14515/monitoring.2019.5.14.
8. Golovnev A. V., Belorussova S. Yu., Kisser T. S. Virtual ethnicity and cyber-ethnography. Moscow: MAE RAN; 2021. 280 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-88431-391-0.
9. Isetti G., Innerhofer E., Pechlaner H. [et al.], eds. Religion in the Age of Digitalization. From New Media to Spiritual Machines. London: Routledge; 2021. 196 p. ISBN 978-0-367-80922-5. DOI 10.4324/9780367809225.
10. Campbell H., Bellar W. Digital Religion. The basics. London: Routledge; 2023. 178 p. ISBN 978-1003058465. DOI 10.4324/9781003058465.
11. Hjarvard S. (2020) Three Forms of Mediatized Religion: Changing the Public Face of Religion. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2020;38(2):41–75. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2020-38-2-4i-75.
12. Stähle H. Russian Church in the Digital Era. Mediatization of Orthodoxy. London: Routledge; 2022. 224 p. ISBN 978-0-367-81438-0. DOI 10.4324/9780367814380.
13. Bogdanova O. A. Mediatization of Pastoral Care in the Russian Orthodox Church: Reasons Behind ‘Ask the Priest’ Websites. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2020;38(2):207–234. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2020-38-2-207-234.
14. Grishaeva E. I., Shumkova V. A. Traditionalist Orthodox Christian media: discourse structure and peculiarities of the functioning. Monitoring obshhestvennogo mneniya: E`konomi-cheskie i social`ny`e peremeny`=Monitoring of public opinion: economic and social change. 2018;(2):291–308. (In Russ.). DOI 10.14515/monitoring.2018.2.17.
15. Grishaeva E. I., Busygin A. G. The Internet in the Orthodox parish: peculiarities of interaction between Orthodox users and Internet technologies. Research Result. Sociology and management. 2020;6(1):3–15. (In Russ.). DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-1-0-1.
16. Luchenko X. V. The Digitalization of Worship Practices during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Context of the Mediatization of Orthodoxy. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2021;39(1):39–57. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-39-57.
17. Ostrovskaya E. A. Internet mediatization of confession in the Orthodox social networking sight vk.com. Logos et Рraxis. 2018;17(3):45–58. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2018.3.6.
18. Ostrovskaya E. A. Mission Possible: Russian Orthodox Priest Blogs. Koncept: filosofiâ, religiâ, kulʹtura=Concept: philosophy, religion, culture. 2021;5(1):44–59. (In Russ.). DOI 10.24833/2541-8831-2021-1-17-44-59.
19. Stähle H. In Search of a New Language: Patriarch Kirill's Media Strategy. (In Russ.). Available at: https://carnegiemoscow.org/2017/05/16/ru-pub-69951 (accessed: 15.05.2023).
20. Smirnov M. Yu. New religion formats in the modern Russian society public space. Technologos. 2020;(1):124–132. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15593/perm.kipf/2020.1.11.
21. Fedorov V. A. Bellyustin. In: Orthodox Encyclopedia. Moscow; Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya; 2002. Vol. 4. P. 530–532. (In Russ.).
2. Habermas Jü. Die Zukunft der menschlichen Natur. Moscow: Ves’ Mir; 2002. 144 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 5-7777-0171-Х.
3. Andreeva L. A., Andreeva L. K. Secular or post-secular world: verifying conceptions. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya=Sociological Studies. 2015;(3):82–88. (In Russ.).
4. Calhoun C., Juergensmeyer M., van Antwerpen J., eds. Rethinking Secularism. New York: Oxford University Press; 2011. 311 p. ISBN 978-0-19-979667-0.
5. Possamai A. The i-zation of society, religion, and neoliberal post-secularism. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan; 2018. 244 p. ISBN 978-981-10-5942-1. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5942-1.
6. Hervieu-Leger D. In search of certainties: the paradoxes of religiosity in societies of high modernity. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2015;33(1):254–268. (In Russ.).
7. Ostrovskaya E. A. Is the mediatization of the Orthodoxy possible?. Monitoring obshhestvennogo mneniya: E`konomi-cheskie i social`ny`e peremeny`=Monitoring of public opinion: economic and social change. 2019;(5):300–319. (In Russ.). DOI 10.14515/monitoring.2019.5.14.
8. Golovnev A. V., Belorussova S. Yu., Kisser T. S. Virtual ethnicity and cyber-ethnography. Moscow: MAE RAN; 2021. 280 p. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-88431-391-0.
9. Isetti G., Innerhofer E., Pechlaner H. [et al.], eds. Religion in the Age of Digitalization. From New Media to Spiritual Machines. London: Routledge; 2021. 196 p. ISBN 978-0-367-80922-5. DOI 10.4324/9780367809225.
10. Campbell H., Bellar W. Digital Religion. The basics. London: Routledge; 2023. 178 p. ISBN 978-1003058465. DOI 10.4324/9781003058465.
11. Hjarvard S. (2020) Three Forms of Mediatized Religion: Changing the Public Face of Religion. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2020;38(2):41–75. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2020-38-2-4i-75.
12. Stähle H. Russian Church in the Digital Era. Mediatization of Orthodoxy. London: Routledge; 2022. 224 p. ISBN 978-0-367-81438-0. DOI 10.4324/9780367814380.
13. Bogdanova O. A. Mediatization of Pastoral Care in the Russian Orthodox Church: Reasons Behind ‘Ask the Priest’ Websites. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2020;38(2):207–234. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2020-38-2-207-234.
14. Grishaeva E. I., Shumkova V. A. Traditionalist Orthodox Christian media: discourse structure and peculiarities of the functioning. Monitoring obshhestvennogo mneniya: E`konomi-cheskie i social`ny`e peremeny`=Monitoring of public opinion: economic and social change. 2018;(2):291–308. (In Russ.). DOI 10.14515/monitoring.2018.2.17.
15. Grishaeva E. I., Busygin A. G. The Internet in the Orthodox parish: peculiarities of interaction between Orthodox users and Internet technologies. Research Result. Sociology and management. 2020;6(1):3–15. (In Russ.). DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-1-0-1.
16. Luchenko X. V. The Digitalization of Worship Practices during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Context of the Mediatization of Orthodoxy. Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov' v Rossii i za Rubezhom=State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2021;39(1):39–57. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-39-57.
17. Ostrovskaya E. A. Internet mediatization of confession in the Orthodox social networking sight vk.com. Logos et Рraxis. 2018;17(3):45–58. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2018.3.6.
18. Ostrovskaya E. A. Mission Possible: Russian Orthodox Priest Blogs. Koncept: filosofiâ, religiâ, kulʹtura=Concept: philosophy, religion, culture. 2021;5(1):44–59. (In Russ.). DOI 10.24833/2541-8831-2021-1-17-44-59.
19. Stähle H. In Search of a New Language: Patriarch Kirill's Media Strategy. (In Russ.). Available at: https://carnegiemoscow.org/2017/05/16/ru-pub-69951 (accessed: 15.05.2023).
20. Smirnov M. Yu. New religion formats in the modern Russian society public space. Technologos. 2020;(1):124–132. (In Russ.). DOI 10.15593/perm.kipf/2020.1.11.
21. Fedorov V. A. Bellyustin. In: Orthodox Encyclopedia. Moscow; Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya; 2002. Vol. 4. P. 530–532. (In Russ.).
Article
Received: 15.05.2023
Accepted: 30.06.2023
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Bogatova, O. A., & Golovanov, S. V. (2023). The activity of Orthodox bloggers as the factor of the Orthodox religious organizations modernization. Science. Culture. Society, 29(2), 91-102. https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2023.29.2.8
Section
Sociology of religion
1.jpg)
