In the Beginning Was the Word... and in the End the Number? Orthodoxy and Anti-Digital Protests in Russia

Social Sciences (Российская Федерация). 2021. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 18–33.

Knorre B. K., Murashova A.

Translator: Е. Филиппов

This article focuses on the development of anti-digital protests among Orthodox fundamentalists and conservatives in Russia. Its aim is to reveal the main trends of these protests and the ideas that inspire them. It covers the period from the late 1990s to 2020, beginning from the early protest against the introduction of electronic means of personal data control, the use of barcodes and taxpayer identification numbers (VATIN – value added tax identification number) and ending with the reaction of Orthodox movements to the digitization initiatives of the state authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that although the anti-digital protest is mainly associated with fundamentalism and the most conservative movements in Russian Orthodoxy, which are largely based on archaic or “traditional” values, the
representatives of such groups in recent years have increasingly turned to the values of freedom and even to the human rights discourse that is widespread in the West. We also discover two clusters in modern Russian Orthodoxy: one (the main base of anti-digital protests) is focused on the physical mediation of interaction with the transcendent, and the other on the intellectual and ethical understanding of religion. Representatives of the former cluster are much less worried about the introduction of digital technologies; indeed, they even welcome the use of online technologies in religious practice.

Keywords: Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodoxy, conservatism, personal data protection, digitalization, fundamentalism, COVID-19

Publication based on the results of: The impact of crisis on the development of the nonprofit sector and citizen self-organization in Russia: New realities and prospects (2021)