‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns
Although an undoubtedly growing body of scholarly work deals with the economic, political and institutional transformation of post-socialist cities, the no less profound cultural changes former socialist cities have undergone since the beginning of the transition still remain relatively under-theori...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography
2018-09-01
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| Series: | Belgeo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/26515 |
| _version_ | 1818445385188769792 |
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| author | Márton Berki Brigitta Sivadó |
| author_facet | Márton Berki Brigitta Sivadó |
| author_sort | Márton Berki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although an undoubtedly growing body of scholarly work deals with the economic, political and institutional transformation of post-socialist cities, the no less profound cultural changes former socialist cities have undergone since the beginning of the transition still remain relatively under-theorised. In order to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of these overwhelming cultural transformations, this paper scrutinises religiosity in two Hungarian socialist new towns, Dunaújváros and Kazincbarcika, during and after socialism. Our case studies are based on quantitative and qualitative research methods: in addition to the analysis of religiosity-related census data and long-term parochial datasets obtained from the local churches, in-depth interviews were also conducted with priests, pastors and representatives of the local municipalities. Based on our analyses, two main research results might be outlined. On the one hand, it was revealed that religiosity – although mostly ‘under the surface’, in a less explicit form – played an important role in the daily lives of the residents of both new towns during the state socialist period. This finding is especially compelling, since these mono-functional industrial towns (should have) represented the quintessence of socialist urbanity, planned to be classless and inherently atheist. On the other hand, a remarkable religious revival might have been expected in the wake of the politico-economic transition, with the advent of the ‘free world’. In contrast to this assumption, however, only a slightly increasing (and then, rather stagnating) religiosity was observed in both case study towns. It might be traced back to the overall value crisis of these communities after having lost their formerly privileged position. Therefore, our research results might help us to deconstruct the over-simplified common view of ‘atheism under socialism’ vis-à-vis ‘a religious revival in the post-socialist period’. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T19:30:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6efaf8d239fa42208c63b1f2d785f932 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1377-2368 2294-9135 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T19:30:59Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Belgeo |
| spelling | doaj.art-6efaf8d239fa42208c63b1f2d785f9322022-12-21T22:50:05ZengSociété Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of GeographyBelgeo1377-23682294-91352018-09-01410.4000/belgeo.26515‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new townsMárton BerkiBrigitta SivadóAlthough an undoubtedly growing body of scholarly work deals with the economic, political and institutional transformation of post-socialist cities, the no less profound cultural changes former socialist cities have undergone since the beginning of the transition still remain relatively under-theorised. In order to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of these overwhelming cultural transformations, this paper scrutinises religiosity in two Hungarian socialist new towns, Dunaújváros and Kazincbarcika, during and after socialism. Our case studies are based on quantitative and qualitative research methods: in addition to the analysis of religiosity-related census data and long-term parochial datasets obtained from the local churches, in-depth interviews were also conducted with priests, pastors and representatives of the local municipalities. Based on our analyses, two main research results might be outlined. On the one hand, it was revealed that religiosity – although mostly ‘under the surface’, in a less explicit form – played an important role in the daily lives of the residents of both new towns during the state socialist period. This finding is especially compelling, since these mono-functional industrial towns (should have) represented the quintessence of socialist urbanity, planned to be classless and inherently atheist. On the other hand, a remarkable religious revival might have been expected in the wake of the politico-economic transition, with the advent of the ‘free world’. In contrast to this assumption, however, only a slightly increasing (and then, rather stagnating) religiosity was observed in both case study towns. It might be traced back to the overall value crisis of these communities after having lost their formerly privileged position. Therefore, our research results might help us to deconstruct the over-simplified common view of ‘atheism under socialism’ vis-à-vis ‘a religious revival in the post-socialist period’.http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/26515religiosityreligious landscapenew townsHungarysocialismpost-socialism |
| spellingShingle | Márton Berki Brigitta Sivadó ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns Belgeo religiosity religious landscape new towns Hungary socialism post-socialism |
| title | ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns |
| title_full | ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns |
| title_fullStr | ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns |
| title_short | ‘...the opium of the people’? Religiosity in socialist new towns |
| title_sort | the opium of the people religiosity in socialist new towns |
| topic | religiosity religious landscape new towns Hungary socialism post-socialism |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/26515 |
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