God has nationality too: national belonging and identity among religious Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic.
| Název česky | Bůh má také národnost: národní přináležení a identita věřících Ukrajinců v České republice |
|---|---|
| Autoři | |
| Rok publikování | 2013 |
| Druh | Další prezentace na konferencích |
| Citace | |
| Popis | The paper deals with the connection of religion and ethno-national identities of Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic. With long established history of migration between both countries, Ukrainians remains the biggest immigrant group for almost two decades now and also group, which motives to migrate are often seen purely in economic terms as migration from Ukraine to the Czech Republic is prevalently labor. In the paper I focus on more subtle and intimate part of migrant experience - on religiosity of immigrants and churches they visit to comprehend how the connection of ethno-national identity and religion works in the conditions of migration. One of the features of Ukrainian immigrants is their higher level of religiosity in comparison with Czechs. Religious immigrants from Ukraine often choose between two, for them well known, churches in the Czech Republic – Greek Catholic Church and Orthodox Church. These churches then help them re-create the (imagined) ethno-religious community with possible connections to their country of origin. Religion played and still plays an important role in the development and sustenance of the idea of “Ukrainian people” by marking the cultural lines between “us” and “them”. Such connection of religion and ethno-national identity translates also into the everyday realm of immigrants outside Ukraine. Greek Catholic Church and Orthodox Church in Ukraine had strong position in Ukrainian national identity building and they remain one of the main markers of Ukrainian identity. National identity and its connection with one of the churches is challenged and accentuated by the conditions of migration, the post-migratory experience and pressure to integrate, as Ukrainians are heading to far more secular society of the Czech Republic. Through the involvement with religious institutions, immigrants can re-negotiate their understanding of the position of religion in their (national) identity. Even though both Greek Catholic and Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic are visited mainly by immigrants, they are Czech based, not merely branches of Ukrainian churches. They consider themselves to be Czech Churches and refer frequently to their long history in the Central European region. Together with non-homogenous ethnic make-up of their followers, both of the Churches have to be cautious when it comes to openly demonstrate any kind of official connection with Ukraine, or any kind of nationalistic project. Nevertheless, there are also differences between both Churches. Greek Catholic Church is still significantly influenced by its origin in Eastern Europe and by its connection with the idea of Ukrainian nation. Orthodox Church on the other hand considers itself a multi-ethnic Church formed by multiple national traditions. With no direct established ties with Ukraine and with believers ‘recruited’ from different nationalities, Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic tends to downplay national interest of its followers and to some extent even links to communities of origin. I draw upon an ongoing qualitative research among Ukrainians in the Czech Republic (more specifically in the South Moravian region), and clergy and representatives of two Churches mostly visited by immigrants (although not only Ukrainians) – Greek Catholic Church in the Czech lands and Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Through in-depth interviews with Ukrainian immigrants and representatives of both Churches I focus on how the connection of ethno-national identity and religion works in the conditions of migration. I argue that Greek Catholic Church and Orthodox Church different understandings of the idea of (Ukrainian) nation influence their Ukrainian followers in the Czech Republic and their re-construction of national identity. |