Conversion to Orthodoxy and Belarusian Cultural and Identity Development (Research Brief)

This project addresses the cultural realities and identity implications of the conversion of 1.3 million Belarusian Uniates, or Greek Catholics, to Russian Orthodoxy in 1839. This event eradicated the Greek Catholic church in the Russian lands of the Polish partitions and expanded the Orthodox core of the Russian Empire. Moving beyond tendentious imperial-era histories and the political focus of recent works on the subject, my archive-based approach supplies a much-needed cultural analysis of the conversions, with an eye toward a greater understanding of the impact of this enormous shift in religious jurisdiction on the development of Belarusian identity. Approaching this history from the parish level, I am studying patterns of compliance and resistance on the part of the Belarusians, as well as their own role in the conversion process, as active players in determining their religious-cultural fate even within the confines of imposed confessional change.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

Barbara Skinner, of Indiana State University, was a 2010-11 Short-Term Travel Grants (STG) fellow.