Gendering the Fronts and Fronts against Gender: Feminism and Political Theology in Post-Maidan Ukraine

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    Abstract

    Based on interviews with Ukrainian students and dialogue with Russian and Ukrainian scholars, this essay aims to investigate the roles of Ukrainian women in contemporary Ukrainian society considering the current “war on gender.” Whereas men and women participated in near equal numbers in the Maidan movement, the recent militarism now seems to sharpen gender dichotomies. Amid the military war with Russia, however, Ukraine also faces a renewed war on gender, led by churches and right-wing organizations. This consists of a well-structured campaign to misrepresent the concept of gender, creating an enemy image of “gender-ideology.” Both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate build upon an enemy image in their political theology based on a divisive ideology of victory and defeat, whereas the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church shows a more ambivalent perspective. It applies to all these churches, however, that in times of military and ideological war, family and nation are represented as patri-archal and sacrosanct institutions, leading to paternalistic, prolife, and homophobic tendencies. In conclusion, this essay seeks to contribute to an Orthodox (and profoundly ecumenical) political theology of reconciliation that goes beyond nationalist, anti-Western, and imperial schemes, proposing several building blocks for a feminist political theology in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationTheology and the Political: Theo-political Reflections on Contemporary Politics in Ecumenical Conversation
    EditorsAlexei Bodrov, Stephen M. Garrett
    PublisherBrill Academic Publishers
    Chapter13
    Pages228-257
    Number of pages30
    ISBN (Electronic)978-90-04-44074-6
    ISBN (Print)978-90-04-43174-4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2020

    Publication series

    NameTheology and Mission in World Christianity
    PublisherBrill
    Volume16

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