"Наука, рациональное мышление, разум отвергаются": постсоветское антисектантское движение между контркультизмом и антикультизмом

Abstract

The article deals with various actors of the anti-sectarian movement in Post-Soviet Russia. More specifically, the focus is on their rhetoric against the new religious movements, as well as the values they claim to defend. The text identifies a tradition of anti-sectarian rhetoric in imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet Russia. Then follows a discussion of the current state of the anti-sectarian movement and the key organisations and individuals within it, as well as the values they declaratively defend. The article also offers hypotheses about the origins and mechanisms of the anti-sectarian rhetoric that emerged in post-Soviet Russia. In addition, the paper outlines the grounds to argue about the existence of an overall anti-sectarian field in post-Soviet Russia, of which the actors, regardless of their affiliation with religious institutions, produce a similar rhetoric based on the need to protect the boundaries of the secular sacred from the encroachments of the religious movements they criticize.