The reinvention of tradition: the moral economy of monastic life in the Czech Republic
Result description
The chapter aims to analyse the moral economy of contemporary Benedictine monasteries in the Czech Republic in the process of state-church separation, which started in 2013 with the implementation of a restitution law restoring church properties. Monastic life in the Czech Republic was interrupted by the Communist regime, which seized monastic estates and made consecrated life illegal. Today, communities are attempting to return to monastic life, reinterpreting the tradition while finding new meanings for themselves in society. We analyse the dialogical relationship between the monastery and its surrounding 'world(s)', interpreting negotiations between the two sites as part of the moral economy, which is drawn from an extended conceptualisation of this term by Didier Fassin. We establish three regions of contact: the monastery as cultural heritage, the monastic economy and stewardship, and innovative interpretations of monastic spirituality. Within these regions, we try to describe how exchanges of social norms, emotions, spiritualities and material goods form a new moral pact between monasteries and society. We argue that the perception of monasteries as belonging to the past is shifting towards being seen as functioning local actors, as places of everyday activity, as important economic partners and creators of spiritual values relevant beyond Christianity.
Keywords
cultural heritagevalues and spiritualitiesmoral economyCzech RepublicBenedictine monasticism
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
Result on the web
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
The reinvention of tradition: the moral economy of monastic life in the Czech Republic
Original language description
The chapter aims to analyse the moral economy of contemporary Benedictine monasteries in the Czech Republic in the process of state-church separation, which started in 2013 with the implementation of a restitution law restoring church properties. Monastic life in the Czech Republic was interrupted by the Communist regime, which seized monastic estates and made consecrated life illegal. Today, communities are attempting to return to monastic life, reinterpreting the tradition while finding new meanings for themselves in society. We analyse the dialogical relationship between the monastery and its surrounding 'world(s)', interpreting negotiations between the two sites as part of the moral economy, which is drawn from an extended conceptualisation of this term by Didier Fassin. We establish three regions of contact: the monastery as cultural heritage, the monastic economy and stewardship, and innovative interpretations of monastic spirituality. Within these regions, we try to describe how exchanges of social norms, emotions, spiritualities and material goods form a new moral pact between monasteries and society. We argue that the perception of monasteries as belonging to the past is shifting towards being seen as functioning local actors, as places of everyday activity, as important economic partners and creators of spiritual values relevant beyond Christianity.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
C - Chapter in a specialist book
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
50404 - Anthropology, ethnology
Result continuities
Project
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2021
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Book/collection name
The Transformation of Religious Orders in Central and Eastern Europe
ISBN
978-0-367-35554-8
Number of pages of the result
24
Pages from-to
92-115
Number of pages of the book
194
Publisher name
Routledge
Place of publication
Abingdon
UT code for WoS chapter
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Basic information
Result type
C - Chapter in a specialist book
OECD FORD
Anthropology, ethnology
Year of implementation
2021