“God Doesn’t Know about Nationalities”: Questioning Religion and Nationalism in Evangelical Communities in Romania

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović

Institute for Balkan Studies, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade Aleksandra.djuric@bi.sanu.ac.rs

Abstract

A strong link between religion and national identity has been particularly important in the study of Eastern and Southeastern Europe during the 20^th century. The study of religion and its changes came into the focus of anthropological and sociological research especially after the communist period. One of the most important aspects of change was “religious revival” which also included conversion to new forms of religiosity such as the Evangelical communities, the Nazarenes, Baptists, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and Pentecostals. The majority of Serbs living in Romania belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church, but during the last decades a number of Evangelicals appeared among the Serbian minority. This paper is based on the results of qualitative ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2010 among the Serbian Evangelical communities in Romania. The research focuses on the influence of conversion from Christian Orthodoxy to Evangelicalism among Serbs, focusing on the Evangelical response to religion and nationalism discourses, changes in collective and personal identity of newly converted believers, and perception of converted co-ethnics by the non-Evangelical community. In addressing these issues, this article explores the role of religious traditions which do not overlap with any particular national/ ethnic group, the relationship between religion and nationalism, and the presence of supra-national narrative emphasized in Evangelical communities.

Keywords:

religion, nationalism, Serbs in Romania, Evangelical communities, conversion

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Biographical Note

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović completed her Ph.D. at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, Faculty of Philosophy, Department for Ethnology and Anthropology. Since 2010 she has been working as a research fellow at the Institute for Balkan Studies, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade. Her research interests include religious minorities, ethnicity, migration and multiculturalism. In 2015, she received a grant from the Apostolic Christian Church Foundation for a project on the migration of religious minorities (Nazarenes) from Yugoslavia to the United States. She is the author of Double Minorities in Serbia. Distinctive Aspects of the Religion and Ethnicity of Romanians in Vojvodina, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Art (2015). Aleksandra.djuric@bi.sanu.ac.rs