Table Of ContentEVERYDAY RELIGIOSITY
AND THE POLITICS OF
BELONGING IN UKRAINE
EVERYDAY
RELIGIOSITY
AND THE
POLITICS OF
BELONGING IN
UKRAINE
Catherine Wanner
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON
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First published 2022 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Wanner, Catherine, 1960– author.
Title: Everyday religiosity and the politics of belonging in Ukraine / Catherine
Wanner.
Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021060342 (print) | LCCN 2021060343 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501764950 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501764981 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781501764967 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501764974 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Orthodox Eastern Church—Ukraine—History—21st century. |
Christianity and politics—Ukraine—History—21st century. | Church and
state—Ukraine—History—21st century. | Christianity and politics—Orthodox
Eastern Church—History—21st century. | Ukraine—Religion—21st century. |
Ukraine—Church history—21st century. | Ukraine—Politics and
g overnment—21st century.
Classification: LCC BR1050.U45 W36 2022 (print) | LCC BR1050.U45 (ebook) |
DDC 280/.209477—dc23/eng/20220215
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060342
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060343
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7298/scv8-f015
Cover image: Photo by Tania Mychajlyshyn-D’Avignon, taken on the Maidan in
Kyiv, Ukraine, 2014.
For Adrian, Elizabeth, Nicholas, and Katrina
Contents
Acknowl edgments ix
List of Abbreviations xii
Note on Transliteration and Translation xiii
Preface xv
Introduction: Together and Apart 1
1. “Freedom Is Our Religion”: The Religious Dimensions of
Po liti cal Life 25
2. Gold Domed Kyiv: The Power of Atmosphere 44
3. Radical Hope: The Maidan as Historic Event 82
4. The Aesthetics of Relatedness: Commemorative Spirits
in Public Space 118
5. Serving on the Front and the Home Front: Military
Chaplains in Public Institutions 149
Conclusion: The New Politics of Belonging 183
Notes 191
References 205
Index 219
Acknowle dgments
One of the sweetest moments of completing a book is the opportunity it pro-
vides to acknowledge the kindness and generosity of so many along the way. This
book was many years in the making. Extraordinary events w ere so fast breaking
that for years it was in a state of perpetual revision. My greatest debt in writing this
book is to the many p eople in Ukraine who, once again, have shared their time,
thoughts, and experiences by opening up their hearts to talk candidly about their
dreams, fears, joys, and sorrows. This willingness to trust and be patient with an
overly curious American and her strange and endless questions never ceases to
amaze me.
In addition to t hose I interviewed, many p eople have provided years of in-
spiring conversation and friendship for which I remain im mensely grateful. I
would like to thank Liudmyla Asmalovska and the entire Ornatsky extended
family, Olha Filippova, Lada Kolomiyets, Anna Kuks and her entire f amily, the
multigenerational Lapchyk f amily, Natalia Kovalchuk, Valentyna Pavlenko, Alla
Perminova, the Patlay f amily, Olena Yahodovska and all members of her f amily.
Svitlana Shlipchenko and Yurii Mykytenko deserve extra special mention for
their years of hospitality, generosity, and sustaining inspiration.
Several colleagues have been insightful readers of this manuscript. I thank
them for their encouragement and critical feedback, often at much needed mo-
ments. Olena Bohdan, Nicholas Denysenko, Kate Dudley, Gertrud Hülemeier,
Tetiana Kalenychenko, Neringa Klumbyte, Jeanne Kormina, Julia Lerner, Sonja
Luehrmann, Vlad Naumescu, Nancy Ries, Michele Rivkin- Fish, Joel Robbins,
and Viktor Yelensky all read parts of this manuscript and improved it immea-
surably. Julia Buyskykh, Bruce Grant, Valentyna Pavlenko and Oxana Shevel,
read this manuscript in its entirety and offered many helpful suggestions and
necessary improvements. Bruce Grant has been a steady and engaging conver-
sation partner since my days in gradu ate school. I am deeply appreciative of his
sharp critical eye, which is exceeded only by his deep sense of humanity. He has
read e very monograph I have ever written and has always been forthright with
criticism g ently delivered. I am grateful to Joel Robbins and Birgit Meyer for con-
versation and their provocative scholarship on religion, which I have found in-
spiring on numerous occasions.
The research for this book was partly funded by a grant from the Fulbright
Scholar Program that allowed me to benefit from the rich intellectual atmosphere
ix
