Vytautas Magnus University

Faculty Member, Faculty of Humanities

Dr.

Thesis Title: Tendencies in Alternative Spiritual Movements in a Post-Soviet Society: Vissarions and Anastasians

About

Many new religious movements can be examined in the context of offering an alternative to mainstream forms of religion. One part of my PhD research is focused on the relative importance of social and ideological contexts in the construction of the alternative religious identities of members of two NRMs which emerged in Russia in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and have since spread to Central and Eastern Europe and beyond: new religious Vissarion movement and 'spiritual' Anastasia movement which can be seen as an environmentalist New Age phenomena. It also explores the meaning of religious identity and how it influences, - and is influenced by - local and global cultures, ultimately producing a religious subculture. Particular attention is given to the role of these dynamics in the effect and development of the post-Soviet cultural heritage, as well as the communication of Western culture influences on the religiosity of Eastern Europe. The emphasis was on researched movements respective living environments as well as their alternative world-views, philosophical and social systems during PhD project research. Both movements, in their self-presentation and self-understanding, relied upon the perceived failure of the cultural mainstream in Lithuania and Russia and the turn to the self as understood by Tipton (1982) as critiques of modern technocratic society, according to Vissarion and Anastasia movements representers, who criticize civilization and wish to establish alternative institutions. The findings are based on data obtained from fieldwork carried out over a six-year period (2004-2010), including participant observation and interviews with respondents in Lithuania (groups of Vissarion and Anastasia movements) and Russia (the largest community of Vissarions).