Unblocking the sacred: new perspectives on the religious revival in South Eastern Europe

A long line of contemporary studies of religion in South East Europe links resurgent nationalism together with the revival of religion. These studies argue that the new nations and the nationhood of these states are grounded on an ideological use of religion and especially the Orthodox Churches. This type of argument has become a key feature of social scientific studies of religion, as Daniela Kalkandjieva has pointed out in a 2011 study. The argument has become an overarching and encompassing theoretical point of departure when religion in South East Europe are studied.
In the cases of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro this point of departure has blocked for a more nuanced description of the religious transformation of the Orthodox communities in the period after the fall of communism. The local religious transformation of heritages, holy sites, communities and clergy are too often diminished to be “proxies”, “scenes” or “agents” for nationalism. The sole focus on the religious backdrop of nationalism in these states provide a blocking view on religion.
In this paper I will therefore discuss, how it is possible to unblock the study of the sacred in the South East European context and revisited some central cases from Montenegro. It is my intention to craft another analytic strategy that can be used to unblock religion.