Project description
Faith and power on Moldova’s fault lines
As a small and deeply religious country in Eastern Europe, Moldova represents a unique case of split allegiance, positioned on a geopolitical fault line separating Russia from the West. Although Moldova achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its Orthodox Church continues to be a subsidiary part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scheme, the Theoterra project is investigating the impact of religion on politics, community and citizenship. Its goal is to assess political dynamics in the church in relation to jurisdiction. Through archival analysis and ethnography, the project aims to document the battle of two contrasting political philosophies.
Objective
TheoTerra investigates the theopolitics of Orthodox Christianity in Moldova, a country situated at the frontline of the contest between European integration and Russian influence. In this context, religious institutions do not act solely as spiritual authorities; they actively mediate political allegiance, social cohesion, and civil resilience. While scholarship has often overlooked religion as a driver of regional politics, in Moldova the Orthodox Church operates as a significant political actor, shaping state policies and everyday social practices.
The project adopts a multi-scalar approach that combines historical research, ethnographic fieldwork, and comparative analysis to examine the interactions between canonical claims, parish-level practices, and transnational Orthodox networks. The first objective maps and analyzes competing Orthodox jurisdictions, including the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia and the Metropolitanate of Chișinău and All Moldova, tracing historical developments under Tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet regimes. The second objective explores parish-level responses, including clergy defections and lay affiliations, with attention to gender, generation, and socio-economic context, highlighting how local actors mediate broader theopolitical dynamics. The third objective situates Moldova’s ecclesiastical disputes in a broader post-Soviet and Eastern European comparative framework, including Ukraine and Georgia, to assess intersections with state sovereignty and regional geopolitics.
TheoTerra combines archival research, interviews, participant observation, and digital media analysis. Findings will be disseminated through academic outputs (primarily a monograph) and multimodal outputs in partnership with Moldovan cultural institutions and independent media. By linking historical trajectories, local practices, and regional geopolitics, the TheoTerra investigates the theopolitics of canonical territory in Moldova’s Orthodox Churches.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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1100 Wien
Austria
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