Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox Converts – Laurie Taylor talks to Mark Sedgwick, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, about the radical project for restoring sacred order. Traditionalism is founded on ancient teachings that, its followers argue, have been handed down from time immemorial and which must be defended from modernity. How has this mystical doctrine come to have contemporary sway on the political right, inspiring ex President Trump's former chief strategist, as well as the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, sometimes dubbed as “Putin’s brain”?
They’re joined by Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Assistant Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Northeastern University, Boston, who has uncovered an extraordinary story of religious conversion in one corner of Appalachia. Here, a group of American citizens has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church and through it Putin’s New Russia. They look to Russian religion and politics for answers to Western secularism and the loss of traditional family values.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
Ethnography Award Shortlist 2018
Mixed-race families
Dating at university, Online dating
Sacrifice
Racial inequality now, Women and political language
Women and democracy - the language of power
The White Working Class.
Artisanal food - Natural foods
A Valentine Day's special
Populism
Stigma
Countercultural seekers, Slum tourism
Countercultural seekers/ slum tourism.
Police culture
The sensory landscape of the city
The Housing Crisis, Squatting in Amsterdam
Working-class actors, Class and classical music
Christmas Television
The Trojan Horse Affair - Religion in Schools
The New Economy
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Global News Podcast
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
The Infinite Monkey Cage
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins