Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States

John Anderson (Author)

9780521467841, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 September 1994

252 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

"[Anderson] has...presented a detailed and well-considered analysis of Soviet Religious policy from Khrushchev to Gorbachev." Serhii Plokhy, Journal of Ukrainian Studies

Making use of newly available archive material, this book provides the first systematic and accessible overview of church-state relations in the Soviet Union. John Anderson explores the shaping of Soviet religious policy from the death of Stalin until the collapse of communism, and considers the place of religion in the post-Soviet future. The book discusses the motivations of Khrushchev's renewed assault on religion, the Brezhnev leadership's response to the election of a Polish Pope and the perceived revitalisation of Islam, the factors underlying Gorbachev's liberalisation of religious policy, and the problems in this area facing the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. This study will be of interest to students and scholars of Soviet and post-Soviet studies, religious history, and the politics of church-state relations.

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Khrushchev: towards a new assault
3. Khrushchev: theory into practice
4. Brezhnev: facing up to new challenges
5. Brezhnev and after: combatting religion
6. Gorbachev and the liberalisation of religious policy
7. Religion, state and politics into the 1990s
8. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political control & freedoms [JPV]