Abstract
The article employs theoretical perspective of religious market to discuss the gap between the indicators of religious identification (69%) and indicators of engagement in religious practices (3%) in contemporary Russian society and the linked issue of insignificant influence of religiosity on population values and behavior according to mass surveys data. As the subsample of practicing Orthodox Christians demonstrates that religiosity has a very strong influence on values, marriages and reproductive behavior, rates of social diseases, etc. (I. Zabaev, E. Prutskova, D. Oreshina), the absence of religiosity effects in mass surveys data demands deeper investigation. Majority of studies interpret the gap between religious identification and participation in religious practices in the perspective of the secularization theory. We suggest reinterpretation of religious processes in Russia within the framework of the religious supply-side model. On the basis of the theory of religious economy (R. Stark, W. S. Bainbridge, R. Finke, L. Iannaccone, and others) we develop model of the religious market in the countries with religious monopoly. Depending on the average time spent on the confession, we model different evaluations of the religious market supply-side. Our analysis reveals that religious supply in Russia is significantly restricted by inaccessibility of given population of priests for regular participation in confession. The model of religious supply suggests the alternative to mainstream secularization discourse hypothesis for the explanation of the gap between Orthodox Christian identification and participation in confession and communion practices in contemporary Russia.
Highlights
IntroductionA discussion of the presence or absence of the social effects of religion in contemporary Russian society requires alternative approaches that takes both the specific measurements of Orthodox Christian religiosity in the Russian context, a set of factors which inhibit or facilitate the engagement of believers into religious practices, and the expression of social effects emerging from that religiosity into account
The Problem of the Lack of Dynamics among Practicing Believers in the Russian Sociology of ReligionThe results of sociological studies carried out by the Institute of Socio-Political Research of RAS, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), the Levada-Center, and others show a significant gap between those who identify themselves with Orthodox Christianity and practicing church-going Orthodox Christians, estimated from 3% to 15% of the population regularly attending church services, going to confession, RUSSIAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW. 2016
A discussion of the presence or absence of the social effects of religion in contemporary Russian society requires alternative approaches that takes both the specific measurements of Orthodox Christian religiosity in the Russian context, a set of factors which inhibit or facilitate the engagement of believers into religious practices, and the expression of social effects emerging from that religiosity into account
Summary
A discussion of the presence or absence of the social effects of religion in contemporary Russian society requires alternative approaches that takes both the specific measurements of Orthodox Christian religiosity in the Russian context, a set of factors which inhibit or facilitate the engagement of believers into religious practices, and the expression of social effects emerging from that religiosity into account. The development of such an approach is the goal of this article
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