Suchergebnisse

After the work accomplished by G. Le Bras and his disciples it is now possible to envisage a « history of religious mentalities in the modem Western world». The numerous investigations of retrospective sociology undertaken these last years call for a summing up to give them their full significance at the level of the collective mentality. But this collective mentality was — and still is — the product of the conflict and interpenetration of two cultures, the one predominating and the other more or less repressed. The researcher must always keep in mind this dialectical exchange between two worlds, and the religious facts of the past will be best apprehended by focusing on the gap between what was prescribed and what was actually experienced.
This key makes it possible to tackle the dechristianization question A correct evaluation can only be proposed on the basis of a study of Christianization which has not yet been undertaken. Thus few people have seen that the great moment for Western Christianization was not the Middle Ages but the « modern» period (16th to 18th centuries), beginning with the two Reforms which, in spite of their apparent rivalry, were in fact interdependent. The Christianization of this period had to depend on the State and practise a pedagogy of fear. Hence its gradual enfeeblement and the current decline of the model of Christian religion prevalent in the classical age.
Must it be concluded from this that Christianity, in its essence, always relates to this model ?

Papers from a colloquium held at the European University Institute. ; Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in Open Access in 2021 for research or private study purposes

Stephen Blank, Soviet politics and the Iranian revolution of 1919-1921.
The Soviet intervention in Iran during 1919-1921 arose out of the conjuncture of historic Russian interest in dominating Iran, Leninist visions of third world revolution, Stalin's personal ambitions, and the Pan-Islamic aspirations of radical Soviet Moslems led by Sultangaliev. This article seeks to trace the interplay between the domestic ramifications of the Soviet debate on tactics in Iran during 1919-1921 and the actual implementation of radical policies on the ground by Soviet troops ultimately commanded by Stalin on the one hand and the Iranian Communists on the other. By exploring the interconnected nature of the resolution of fundamental issues of Soviet nationality policy and foreign policy the article seeks to uncover the roots of Stalin's international activity at this time and the consequences of the Iranian adventure for both domestic and foreign policy after 1921.

Nancy Shields Kollmann, The boyar clan and court politics: the founding of the Muscovite political system.
The organization of politics at the Muscovite court in the fourteenth century is shown to have been based on kinship relationships amongst boyars, the counsellors of the sovereign grand prince. The circumstances of Moscow's emergence as a regional power in the fourteenth century and particular aspects of the family history of the sovereign Danilovich family nurtured the development of a cohesive political elite of boyar clans. One can plot the emergence of boyar clans in the fourteenth century, and one can discern a hierarchy of power amongst them. Study of the thousandman post, which fell into disuetude by 1373, reveals that kinship links with the sovereign clan were the foundation of predominance in the hierarchy, and further suggests that court political crises can best be analyzed as struggles amongst factions of boyars.