01/07/2026 09:00 - 17:10

HALL: Pola - Aula Magna

Contact: Napolitano M.

Chair: Napolitano M., Shterin M., Stoeckl K.

This panel examines transformations at the intersection of politics, society, and religion in Russia since 2022. Bringing together perspectives from sociology of religion, political science, and intellectual history, the contributions analyze the changing role of religion in legitimizing power, framing social crises, and reconfiguring public discourse under conditions of war and heightened authoritarianism. Several papers revisit the long-standing debate on post-Soviet religious revival, asking whether recent developments mark a qualitatively new "second stage" and how these dynamics should be assessed in relation to secularization theory. Others focus on the Russian Orthodox Church's engagement with demographic decline, civilizational narratives, and palingenetic visions of national survival and rebirth, highlighting how bodies, reproduction, and morality have become central sites of political and religious mobilization. Taken together, the panel sheds light on religion's evolving function as a key symbolic and institutional resource in Russia's wartime society, while also addressing internal tensions, ambiguities, and limits within these processes. This panel is part of the POLISMOD (2026-31, PI Kristina Stoeckl) project launch.