Freedom of Conscience in (Post)Soviet Space: Legacies of Michael Bourdeaux and the Keston Archive

by Julie K. deGraffenried (Editor), Michael Long (Editor), Xenia Dennen (Editor), Rowan Williams (Preface by)

Overview

Freedom of Conscience in (Post)Soviet Space, a collection of original essays edited by Julie K. deGraffenried, Michael Long, and Xenia Dennen, is inspired by the work of Michael Bourdeaux, the holdings of the Keston Archive, and continuing questions of freedom of conscience. Ranging from England to Siberia and moving chronologically from 1917 to the twenty-first century, this book reveals the unique organization and methodology behind the Keston's collection of materials and the ways those in the West thought about religion and communism during the Cold War, including the connection between religious liberty and human rights.

The essays demonstrate the depth and breadth of current research on religion in communist and postcommunist contexts, a much-needed corrective to contemporary political uses of religious freedom. Bourdeaux's activism and preservation of materials influenced many fields of study, as reflected by contributing authors' varied disciplines—history, theology, sociology, languages, and literature. A preface by the theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams comments on Michael Bourdeaux's life and significance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501782732
Publisher:	Northern Illinois University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2025
Series:	NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Julie K. deGraffenried is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Baylor University and author of Sacrificing Childhood.

Michael Long is Professor of Russian and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Baylor University and author of Making History.

Xenia Dennen helped found the Keston Institute in 1969 and became chair in 2002. She was founding editor of its journal and edits The Keston Newsletter.

Table of Contents

Introduction: On Tributes and Truth-Speaking
1. Part 1: Reflections on Michael Bourdeaux and Keston College
2. Keston College and ReligiousSamizdat: Documenting the Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
3. The Truth Will Set You Free: The Theological Foundations of Michael Bourdeaux's Commitment to Religious Liberty
Part 2: New Perspectives on Religion in the Soviet Union
4. The Awakening of Soviet Youth: TheQuest for Authenticity in the 1960s and 1970s
5. Youth Religiosity: An Ideological Challenge to the Soviet Authorities in the 1970s–1980s
6. Protest from the Margins: A Human Rights Campaign Led by Evangelical Women in the Soviet Union
7. Seeing Is (Un)believing: Anticlericalism in Soviet Antireligious
Part 3: Freedom of Conscience beyond the Soviet Union
8. Overcoming One's Own Fear: Overcoming One's Own Fear: Exile Publishing, Samizdat, andthe Illegal Transport of Literature to Czechoslovakia, 1971–1989
9. The Unhappiest Barrack in theSoviet Bloc: Suicide, Well-Being, and Church-State Relations in Socialist Hungary
10. The Russian Orthodox Church: Thirty Years of Post-Communist Development

What People are Saying About This

Lee Congdon

Although primarily aimed at an academic audience, the book might attract general readers with an interest in religion, primarily Christianity, and the history of communism.

Emily B. Baran

This volume does our field a great service by spotlighting the continued relevance of Keston and its materials for further study of religious life in the Soviet bloc and beyond.