Being and Belonging (Erfurter Studien zur Kulturgeschichte des orthodoxen Christentums) (German Edition)

This book examines and compares, from an interdisciplinary perspective of Religious Studies and International Relations, the conduct and rhetoric of the Orthodox Churches of Greece and Cyprus vis-à-vis the ‹Europeanisation› process. This study focuses on the conditionality of their «sense of belonging» in the European Union (EU) as their predisposition is dependent, in part, on their sense of «being», as well as on their perception of an ideal type of Europeanness. In this context, this book offers insights on how the Greek and Cypriot Churches, as soft power actors of domestic and European capacity, perceive Europeanness and Otherness; thereby, the compatibility of the personified Greek and Cypriot states with the EU as a post-Westphalian political-cultural entity comes into view. Cover Table of Contents 1 Introduction and preliminaries 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Object of research ‒ the Orthodox Churches of Greece and Cyprus 1.2.1 Why Them? Why Then? 1.2.2 Comparability 1.3 Literature review 1.4 Methodological approach 1.5 Theoretical background synopsis 1.6 Importance of study (scientific contribution & originality) 2 Europeanness – the Problématique of adherence 2.1 Defining Europeanisation and the Problématique on European identity 2.2 Perceptions of Europeanness – conditionality of Belonging 2.2.1 The Orthodox Church of Greece 2.2.2 The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 2.3 Churches and their offices of representation to Brussels: functions and purposes 2.3.1 The Orthodox Church of Greece 2.3.2 The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 3 State personification – the state through the eyes of the corresponding churches 3.1 A detailed account of the theoretical framework 3.2 The group-person’s articulation of Being and political culture 3.2.1 The Orthodox Church of Greece 3.2.1.1 Being under threat 3.2.1.2 Heterodefinition (not being) and otherness 3.2.1.3 The ark of the nation’s identity and its Benign Mutation 3.2.1.4 If the (chosen) nation is Orthodox, then so must be the state 3.2.1.5 Church‒state relations 3.2.2 The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 3.2.2.1 Latent, conditional ethnarchy 3.2.2.2 Antitheses, kinship and self-perception 3.2.2.3 Church‒state relations 3.2.2.4 Post-ethnarchic soft power 4 Readjustment to the post-Westphalian era 4.1 “Reverse Westphalia” and the interplay with geopolitics and culture 4.2 National churches’ response to challenges and their agenda adaptation 4.2.1 The Orthodox Church of Greece 4.2.2 The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 5 Dawn of the debt crisis and initial reactions 5.1 The Protestant ethic and Homo Economicus 5.2 The Orthodox Church of Greece 5.3 The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 6 Conclusions 7 Sources and bibliography 7.1 Primary sources 7.2 Secondary sources 7.3 Interviews 7.4 Bibliography Appendix Questionnaire (semi-structured) Transcribed interview samples This book examines and compares, from an interdisciplinary perspective of Religious Studies and International Relations, the conduct and rhetoric of the Orthodox Churches of Greece and Cyprus vis-à-vis the 9 uropeanisation: process. This study focuses on the conditionality of their "sense of belonging" in the European Union (EU) as their predisposition is dependent, in part, on their sense of "being", as well as on their perception of an ideal type of Europeanness. In this context, this book offers insights on how the Greek and Cypriot Churches, as soft power actors of domestic and European capacity, perceive Europeanness and Otherness; thereby, the compatibility of the personified Greek and Cypriot states with the EU as a post-Westphalian political-cultural entity comes into view This book examines the conduct and rhetoric of the Orthodox Churches of Greece and Cyprus regarding ‹Europeanisation› and its guiding principles and values, which, from a socio-cultural political perspective, necessitate the adaptation of previous national attitudes to post-Westphalian, post-national conditions