Shaping public Orthodoxy: Women’s peace activism and the Orthodox Churches in the Ukrainian crisis

This chapter discusses women’s peace activism in contemporary Ukraine, following the Maidan protests, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and the war in the Eastern regions of the country. Taking up four different examples of such activism, the author shows how new forms of women’s sociopolitical engagement are informed or inspired by religious values, notions, and representations. While the initiatives have different understandings of the roots and resolutions of the conflict, they are all attentive to the gendered aspects of war. Moreover, they all draw from the Orthodox tradition as a spiritual and cultural resource for the advancement of social cohesion, solidarity, empathy, and the common good.