Family, Sex, and Faith is the first systematic examination of what the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) teaches and how believers respond to its messages regarding issues such as marriage, divorce, contraception, abortion, husband-wife relations, and LGBTQIA+ rights. According to Pål Kolstø, for the ROC, the ethics of private life involve what Michel Foucault called ‘biopolitics’: the state regulates the sex lives of its citizens to control the development of the population.
Family, Sex, and Faith offers a systematic analysis of aspects of the moral theology of the ROC, discussing the means and strategies it employs to achieve its goals, to counter resistance, and to emerge victorious from the battles in which it is embroiled. Although the constitution defines Russia as a secular state, the ROC has achieved a privileged position in society, functioning as a major provider of ideology and legitimacy for the Putin regime.
Table of Content
Introduction
1. Biopolitics in Theory and in Russian Orthodox Practice
2. Confessions and Confessors as Instruments of Moral Guidance
3. Marriage, Divorce, and Cohabitation
4. Patriarchy, Feminism, and the Question of Female Impurity
5. The Vexed Question of Sex
6. Protecting the Family against ‘Juvenile Justice’
7. Male Violence Against Women
8. Banning Abortion in Russia: The Battle the ROC is Losing
9. Family size, Family Planning and Contraceptives
10. The Battle Against LGBT
11. Combatting Sex Education in Russian Schools
12. The Impact of ROC Moral Teachings in Russian Society
13. Community: The Family Ethics of ROC in Perspective
Regimenting Sex and Family Life in Russia
About the author
Pål Kolstø, Professor Emeritus of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Oslo, specializes in ethnic relations, nationalism and religion in Russia and other former Soviet republics. He is the author or editor of ten English-language books on these topics.
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