A broad discussion about how history and religion contribute to identity politics in contemporary Europe, this book provides case studies exemplifying how public intellectuals and academics have taken an active part in the construction of recent and traditional pasts. Instead of repeating the simplistic explanation as a return of religion, this volume focuses on public platforms and agents and their use of religion as a political and cultural argument. Filled with previously unpublished data gathered from texts, interviews, field observations, artifacts, and material culture, this record challenges stereotypical images of East and Southeast Europe.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• CONFLICTING CONSTRUCTIONS – NATIONAL NARRATIVES IN EUROPE
  • 1. Rethinking the Space for Religion
    • New Actors in Central and Southeast Europe on Religion, Authenticity and Belonging
• NEGOTIATING EUROPEAN BELONGING AND THE USES OF RELIGION
  • 2. Religion, Gender and History
    • Why the Czechs Belong in Europe
  • 3. Romania’s Cultural Identity and the European Challenge
    • Convictions, Options, Illusions
  • 4. Cultural Religion or Religious Purism
    • Discourses on Orthodoxy, Authenticity and National Identity in Greece
• RELIGION AND NATIONAL HERITAGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE
  • 5. Duke Widukind and Charlemagne in Twentieth-Century Germany
    • Myths of Origin and Constructs of National Identity
  • 6. Myth of Victimhood and Cult of Authenticity
    • Sacralizing the Nation in Estonia and Poland
  • 7. Open Catholicism vs. Theocratic Impulses
    • The Polish Catholic Church as a Source of Liberal Democratic Values or a Hegemonic Structure?
• RELIGIOUS STRATEGIES IN A POST-1989 PERSPECTIVE
  • 8. Remembering the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
  • 9. The Role of Orthodox Christianity in Greece
  • 10. Exploring the Particular in the Global World
    • Three Contemporary Bosnian Theological Writers on Islam, Sufism, Authenticity and National Belonging
• MYTHS AND MUSEUMS – OLD STORIES, NEW USES
  • 11. Framing Uses of the Past
    • Nations, Academia and Museums Conjuring History
  • 12. Recycling Ancient Narrations on a Post-modern Market
    • Some Questions about Myth Today
• About the Authors