ABSTRACT
In their famous study of cleavages, Lipset and Rokkan (1967) list ‘religious vs secular’ as one of the key lines that historically divide modern national societies. Opposition between secular and religious groups is an important dimension of political confrontation. Although the logic of this argument is solid, post-Soviet Russia has heretofore been a curious exception in this respect. Religion did not become socially insignificant and irrelevant as a result of the process of Soviet secularisation. On the contrary, after the fall of the USSR, religion attracted much attention, but with little confrontation or tension. There are, of course, disagreements among different religious organisations or even within them (Kostiuk 2002). There are ‘cult controversies’, including a significant debate concerning so-called sects and new religious movements (Shterin 2012). And the long and difficult struggle against militant Islamism continues. But religion in general – at least in its traditional form – has largely been a matter of consensus, not cleavage, for Russian society.
