Єленський В. Велике повернення: релігія у глобальній політиці та міжнародних відносинах кінця XX - початку XXI століття. Львів: Вид-во УКУ, 2013. - 504 с.

Viktor Elensky's book "The Great Return: Religion in Global Politics and International Relations of the late XX - early XXI Centuries" is devoted to the most relevant trends in the religious sphere that have been taking place in the world over the past 40-50 years. These are interrelated processes: desecularization, deprivation, and the return of religion to the public sphere. The author does not go into the nuances of the discussions of sociologists of religion, known as the secularization debate, although he allows himself to briefly outline the sociological theories of religion of the last quarter of a century (pp. 71-98, 196-205). At the same time, V. Elensky mentions many concepts of religion, but he does this not in the context of revealing the history of religious studies (the sociology of religion), but in the context of describing the history of religion's return to public life in America and Europe, the role of religion in the formation of political nations, and understanding globalization as one of the factors of desecularization.

page 415
In fact, the very statement of the question of the great return of religion to the global stage, according to the author, is connected with the Islamic explosion, the evangelical boom, the Catholic awakening and the surge of new religious movements. Turning to the topic of Islamization, the author focuses primarily on the already classic example of the influence of Islam on social and political life - the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979. In addition, his book deals with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Wahhabis, and mentions September 11, 2001. The evangelical boom refers to the "fourth evangelical awakening" that the United States experienced after World War II, which was manifested in an increase in the influence of Protestant conservatives and fundamentalists on public life, and an increase in religious rhetoric in US foreign and domestic policy. As for Catholics, in the second half of the 20th century, Catholicism was influenced by the Second Vatican Council, as well as the pontificate of the Polish Pope John Paul II. During this time, the Apostolic See has gained an international image as a defender of human rights and freedoms, and Catholics around the world have been actively involved in political movements. The emergence of new religions also had a major impact on the international arena, raising the "problem of the existence of sects" and giving rise to the "brainwashing theory". In the book, the reader learns not only about the condemnation of the practice of "deprogramming", thanks to which the anti-cult movement in the United States suffered a financial collapse, paying for the claims of followers of neo-religions ("cults" and "sects"), but also about the recognition of the "brainwashing theory" as pseudoscientific.

On a global scale, an important factor in the "great return" is the religious revival in Central and Eastern Europe, where, according to the Marxist understanding of history, the achieved secularization of public and private life did not imply a revenge of religions. It is also important that religion returns to where it was previously displaced by the "great ideologies". Another significant factor in the modern world that cannot be ignored is globalization. The latter process, according to V. Elensky, although it does not necessarily lead to religious and cultural convergence, it certainly leads to an irreversible meeting of different cultures and religions.

Popular topics in Western sociology of religion: "Religion and Terrorism", " Religion and Politics-

page 416
US foreign Policy", "Religion and military conflicts in the post-socialist space", also find their place in the book by V. Elensky.

The role of religion in the transformation of public life is often of academic interest to Ukrainian religious scholars, but it is often only about the post-Soviet space and, first of all, directly about the Ukrainian context. Studying the history of the formation of the modern polyreligious landscape, interfaith and state-church relations in Ukraine-these are the main topics of Ukrainian religious studies. At the same time, comparison of the religious situation in Ukraine even with neighboring states is extremely rare, and an attempt to fit the Ukrainian case into a broader context can be considered an exception to the general rule. In fact, like the author's previous book "Religion after Communism" 8, "The Great Return" is such an exception.

A separate, fourth part of the book is devoted to Ukraine. And if the previous text is primarily a mountain of read literature, a skilful and fascinating narrative based on other people's research, then the Ukrainian scenario of religious revival is purely the author's observations of the development of the religious environment in Ukraine, the interaction of Orthodox Christians with each other and with Greek Catholics, both of them with political parties and government structures of the country.

For the Russian reader, the accents placed in the book may not be uninteresting. Elensky when considering the Moscow Patriarchate as a geopolitical player, as well as Orthodoxy and Islam in the context of the Russian-Chechen wars. Of course, the author writes about the Moscow Patriarchate when considering the problem of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It should be noted that the positions of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is in canonical unity with it, are presented separately on this issue.

The number of sources analyzed in V. Elensky's book is impressive. It can be seen that the author has been dealing with the problem of modern religious processes for a long time and systematically. At the same time, it should be noted that foreign studies are primarily of interest to V. Elensky as a source of scientific research.-

8. Єленський В.Є. Релігія після комунізму. Релігійно-соціальні зміни в процесі трансформації центрально і східноєвропейських суспільств: фокус на Україні. К.: НПУ імені М. П. Драгоманова, 2002.

page 417
It is also important to take into account the availability of factual material, as well as the presence of descriptions of trends in religious life at the local, regional or global levels. The author of the book under review is not interested in the theories and methodological positions of Western researchers - his main goal is to demonstrate the emergence of religion on the global stage of politics and international relations. In this case, it should be recognized that some chapters fall outside the scope of the topic suggested by the title of the book. These are the section on the philosophical and theological understanding of pluralism, as well as part of the material in the last section on Ukraine. Taking into account that the title of the third section "The Return of religion to global politics and international relations" almost duplicates the title of the entire book, it seems to us that a better title for the book could be "Religion in the public sphere: global and local context".

V. Elensky is a recognized analyst of religious life, often commenting for the media on current processes in this area. One of his strengths is the ability to compare research data from different regions and historical eras, and the careful application of the best practices of Western sociologists to the Ukrainian situation. At the same time, V. Elensky's interpretations can hardly be accused of being biased - they are restrained, without unnecessary emotions and extremes. We find all this in a peer-reviewed book. The style of presentation of the material itself is quite academic, but at the same time not dry, without "scientific" double epithets, complex and" abstruse " phrases, unnecessary special concepts, etc. The author's journalistic experience and familiarity with Western standards of academic writing have become a good foundation for developing a recognizable style, the main features of which are lightness, clarity and clarity.

Thus, V. Elensky's book "The Great Return", in our opinion, has three advantages in comparison with other Ukrainian studies: the problem statement, the bibliography of the study, and the style of presentation.

page 418

Permanent link to this publication: