Religious conversion as a biographical turn/ing: the case of Orthodox believers in contemporary Russia

Abstract

Ipatova examines the growth religious conversion among Orthodox believers in Russia at the end of the 20th century. The study and analysis involves 30 biographical interviews with women between 20 to 50 years of age, who have been Orthodox Church members for at least one year; and it uses 78 self-narratives about the conversion to Orthodoxy that were drawn from the Internet. Using a refined definition of religious conversion, Ipatova finds that confession is central to the process as it requires the individual to re-evaluate their secular life, and adjust their current and future biographical projects to orthodox values. On the basis of the biographical narratives, four types of turns in religious biographies are developed: the radical turn, the gradual reciprocating turn, the gradual stage-related turn, and a ceremonial transition.Whether these biographical turns are turning points or not is discussed, as the author concludes that the meaning of rites associated with conversion are determined less by normative form, and more by the previous biographical context of the person who must confess to convert.