Family, Sex, and Faith

Family, Sex, and Faith is the first systematic examination of what the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) teaches and how believers respond to its messages regarding issues such as marriage, divorce, contraception, abortion, husband-wife relations, and LGBTQIA+ rights. According to Pål Kolstø, for the ROC, the ethics of private life involve what Michel Foucault called "biopolitics": the state regulates the sex lives of its citizens to control the development of the population.

Family, Sex, and Faith offers a systematic analysis of aspects of the moral theology of the ROC, discussing the means and strategies it employs to achieve its goals, to counter resistance, and to emerge victorious from the battles in which it is embroiled. Although the constitution defines Russia as a secular state, the ROC has achieved a privileged position in society, functioning as a major provider of ideology and legitimacy for the Putin regime.

Pål Kolstø, Professor Emeritus of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Oslo, specializes in ethnic relations, nationalism and religion in Russia and other former Soviet republics. He is the author or editor of ten English-language books on these topics.

Kolstø offers a detailed analysis of the political and ethical agenda of the Russian Orthodox Church. His book will help scholars think more deeply about how much and what kind of influence the Church really exercises in Russia today.

Kristina Stoeckl, coauthor of The Moralist International:

Pål Kolstø provides a detailed, empirically rich ethnography of sources. I am unaware of research that has surveyed the everyday religious discourse of believers and priests in Russia in such depth. Kolstø shows how the concept of traditional values is used inside the Russian Orthodox Church, pointing out the idiosyncrasies and contradictions.