Religion, Politics and Gender in the Context of Nation-State Formation: the case of Serbia

Abstract

This article argues that nationalism has connected religion with secular politics in Serbia but that their rapprochement has been a gradual process. In order to demonstrate the transition from a limited influence of religion on politics to a much tighter relationship between the two, this article discusses the abortion legislation reform and the introduction of religious education in public schools, respectively. It argues that, while illustrative of different types of connection between religion and politics, these two issues had similar implications for gender equality-they produced discourses that recreated and justified patriarchal social norms. After religion gained access to public institutions, its (patriarchal) discourses on gender were considerably empowered. The article points to some tangible evidence of a re-traditionalisation and re-patriarchalisation of gender roles within the domestic realm in Serbia.

Killing ‘Unborn Children’? The Catholic Church and Abortion Law in Poland Since 1989

“…Understanding conservative attitudes towards gender roles as playing an important part in the process of building and strengthening national identity has become a topic of feminist studies on nationalism and gender, especially with regard to women’s reproductive roles (Spivak, 2009; Drezgić, 2010). Control over women’s bodies is often exercised by modern state institutions dominated, especially at the beginning of the process of nation-state formation, by men.…”

“…In Serbia, the processes of re-traditionalization and re-patriarchalization of the public sphere took place gradually, after discourse on separate gender roles became part of the mainstream public debate. This resulted in the rising role of religion and the Orthodox Church (Drezgić, 2010). In Poland, the year 1989 was often also presented as ‘regaining independence’ in the sense of the existence of a nation state.…”

Homophobia in Serbian Online Discourse: The Case of the 2016 Belgrade Pride Parade

“…Apart for the conspicuous dialogue progress and the commitment to EU integration, Serbian society remains divided as it continues to balance between Europeanisation and pro-nationalist politics. Drezgić (2010) claims that the persistence of nationalist and patriarchal values in Serbia is a consequence of ''religious nationalism''-a term that refers to a specific system characterised by a symbiotic relationship between political institutions and the church which has throughout modern Serbian history based its authority in the role of a national, rather than a religious institution (ibid.). The symbiosis between national and religious ideologies is particularly evident in the Kosovo myth, which symbolises a martyrdom of the Serbian nation in defense of their honour and Christendom against the Ottoman occupiers.…”

Confronting recent history: Serbia’s ‘fateful eight’ and a decade of Kosovo’s independence in the Serbian Media (2008–2018)

“…Confronting recent history: Serbia's 'fateful eight'… Page 9 of 16 and all-national Foundations -as well as a part of their own people, unstoppable decay and disappearance of Serbia would begin, until its final removal from history. (Uredništvo, 2018) The emphasis on the religious is common in Serbian nationalism and has been studied in scholarship on the region, as religion, since the 1990s, has made an extremely successful comeback and permeates all aspects of the society, politics included (Aleksov, 2018;Drezgić, 2010;Malešević, 2005;Perica, 2002;Powers, 1996). Considering that Kosovo boasts a significant number of Christian Orthodox churches and monasteries -according to some, over a thousand (Vlašković, 2016) -and that the Kosovo myth itself stems from a mystical, religious Weltanschauung, this coupling of Kosovo's independence with religion was to be expected.…”