In Hoc Signo Vinces: The Politics of Religion as a Source of Power and Conflict

A new article on the politics of religion concerning the Early Balkan Slavic studies:

Albert Doja, "In Hoc Signo Vinces: The Politics of Religion as a Source of Power and Conflict." Politics, Religion & Ideology, vol. 20, no. 4, 2019, pp. 447-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2019.1697871.

In addition to ethnographic and sociological data, I used a historical analysis of the legacy of Constantine the Great to which the title refers, along with some other examples from the medieval history of Slavic and other Balkan societies. Among historical cases are the religious politics of the medieval Serbian dynasty, the Ottoman politics of the first Patriarch of the Rum-Orthodox Church, or the ethno-religious ideology of Serbian nationalism.

The focus is not so much on the role of religion in politics as on the political character of religion itself. I believe an approach from the perspective of political anthropology can provide a new understanding of the fundamentally political character of religion and I hope this contributes not only to Southeast European studies, including Early Balkan Slavic studies, but also to studies of political philosophy regarding religion.