In the preceding sections, I have attempted to approach the topic of this thesis – Russian national identity constructions with a focus on religion and relations vis-à-vis Europe – from different angles in order to arrive at the theoretical groundings that guide my research. The first section has argued that – for the sake of academic scrutiny as well as out of normative considerations – there is a case for reconsidering the wide-spread ignorance of religion in IR theory and analyses. While there is a plethora of widely differing phenomena and movements referred to as 'religious', it was suggested that one important defining feature applicable to most of them is that they centrally include references to the sacred and supernatural, which in turn
presupposes an element of faith to be present for the acceptance of this basic characteristic (that can not be defined or comprehended by a purely rational logic).
In the second section, I have argued that identity, like other phenomena in the social world, is best understood as essentially constructed through social interaction, and is conveyed through various narrative processes that define its constitutive elements. Therefore, identities are not given or stable but rather politically contested and in flux – although this may not always be noticed by the holders of these identities. In order to establish a stable sense of identity, such narratives must necessarily and simultaneously be based on both an inclusive logic (saying what “we are”) and an exclusive one (to show what “we are not”), the latter of which can include the inscription of sharp delineating lines, for example, through the securitisation of (aspects of) an identity. Furthermore, I have shown that in the particular case of national identity constructions, different logics contribute to the establishment of essentialised images of what a nation 'is' or is supposed to be. A particularly important principle in this context is the discursive combination of several more specific traits, such as language, ethnicity, religion, into a seemingly coherent whole.
For the thesis at hand, there are several relevant linkages between the theories and concepts explicated in the foregoing chapters. The most obvious connection between national identity and religion is when a specific denomination is included into the canon of defining traits for a nation, examples for which are numerous, ranging from unequivocal “Islamic republics” to references to God in a constitution or on national emblems. Such references can then also employed for straightforward delineations from other nations not sharing the same religion.
But also on a more subtle level, religious terminologies can continue to live on in the narratives of nations, although the corresponding state may be professedly built upon secularist foundations. This happens, for instance, when different denominators employed for defining a nation are imbued with (quasi-) religious qualities, for example, by viewing a certain territory as “sacred lands”, or by construing the purpose (or mission) of a nation in terms of a divine destiny. Examples for the latter have been found in such different contexts as the American
“Manifest Destiny” (portraying the United states as ordained and destined by the god to expand across the North American continent) or a mission to advance Communism on a global scale carved out for communist Russia in the 20th century. Smith (2000:799) refers to such instances
of religious jargon being implicitly or explicitly present in political discourses as the
“messianisation of politics”.
On the other hand, in a reversal of the this logic of linking religion and national identity, references to religion can be endowed with political significance to serve political purposes.
This process of “politicisation of religion” (ibid.) has been observed, for example, when originally religious sites are declared national shrines, when traditional prophets are elevated into the rank of a national hero, or when holy scriptures or parts thereof are reinterpreted as national epics. Such practices can thus contribute to instilling a sense of one's nation having 'sacred' properties that go far beyond mundane' allegiance to a state based on characteristics, such as social welfare or the protection of property and well-being. In essence, it has been observed that religion
far from being squeezed out of the frame of a secularising modernity, re-emerges within it in new guises. Its legacies are not buried and forgotten, rather they are transmuted in and by nationalism. For, not only are specific motifs, symbols, and traditions of earlier world religions taken over and used by nationalists [...]; nationalism itself, through its conception of the nation as a sacred communion […] becomes a novel kind of anthropocentric, intra-historical, and political ‘religion’ (Smith 2000:811).
However, the implications of these various possible linkages between religion and the idea of a nation are particularly important when considering that – as explicated earlier – a distinguishing feature of religion is that it involves a crucial element of faith, which in turn suggests that defining principles and truths are divinely preordained and eternal, rather than being subject to negotiations or change. As Laustsen and Wæver (2003) point out, this aspect of religion provides for a particularly fruitful ground for the securitisation of identity. This is because the eternal and unflexible nature of religious identities inscribe a rather strict either-or-logic when dealing with others (i.e. they can only fully belong to the same religiously-based community or not at all) or with challenges (perceived to be) addressed at them (Mansbach and Rhodes 2006:16). Instances of 'otherness' can thus more easily translate into strongly othering perceptions because of this lack of room for negotiation. Moreover, religion, by definition, does not deal with only some specific aspects of life or marginal, mundane matters, but rather provides for the principles of being in itself. It is therefore that threats directed at religion easily become defined as profoundly imperilling existence as such. In other words the relevance of religion with regards to its potential for securitisation lies in the fact that,
religion is existential, and hence […] threats against sacred objects are often seen as
existential threats demanding immediate and effective action by the state or an entity endowed with similar power […] [and hence] the possibility of success in making the security move on behalf of sacred objects is greater than when attempting to securitise most other objects (Laustsen and Wæver 2003:159)
Having thus laid out the theoretical assumptions that guide the analysis conducted for the thesis, I will now turn to the specific methodological tools employed in order to investigate potential linkages between religion and national identity and belonging in Russia, namely Q methodology.