Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Germany The international conference »Orthodox Christian Political Theologies: History, Development, Specificities, Contextualisation« is scheduled to take place at the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz from the 26th until the 28th of April 2018 and is organized by Vasilios N. Makrides (Erfurt University) and Mihai-D. Grigore (IEG). The conference, which will bring together experts on the topic from Germany and abroad, aims at filling a gap in examining orthodox political theologies from a systematic, interdisciplinary and broader perspective. The focus is on the historical evolvement of political theological discourses in Orthodox Christianity across time, from the fourth century until today. The conference will be also examining the historical background of Orthodox political theologies and their numerous forms, considering and analysing the specific parameters and factors that shaped those across time. The contributors attempt to locate and critically evaluate the reasons accounting for the specificities and particularities of Orthodox political theologies across history, as well as to contextualise the entire issue, first by comparing Orthodox with Western Christian political theologies, and second by looking at forms of political theologies in other contexts, beyond Christianity and the West. Programm Thursday, 26 April 2018 17:00 – 17:30 Welcome Address Irene Dingel – Vasilios N. Makrides – Mihai-D. Grigore 17:30 – 19:00 Session I: Political Theologies in Comparative Perspective Moderator: Vasilios N. Makrides 1. Speaking of God in our Times – The Challenge of the New Political Theology (Jürgen Manemann) 2. Rethinking Political Theologies in the Orthodox and Islamic Traditions (Vasileios Syros) Friday, 27 April 2018 09:00 – 11:00 Session II: Byzantine Political Theologies Moderator: Johannes Pahlitzsch 1. Key Aspects and Main Changes in the »Political Theologies« from Constantin to Justinian (Daniel Benga) 2. Augustine and Theodoret – Political Theologies in the Periphery (Hartmut Leppin) 3. Rulers and Synods: Comparing Political Theologies in Late Byzantium and the Latin West (Klaus-Peter Todt) 11:30 – 13:00 Session III: Political Theologies in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times Moderator: Hans-Christian Maner 1. Relics and Power: The Implications of a Late Medieval Bulgarian-Serbian Dichotomy (Boris A. Todorov) 2. Politics, Theology, Political Theologies: Four Examples from the Danubian Principalities between 14th and 16th century (Mihai-D. Grigore) 14:00 – 16:00 Session IV: Political Theologies in the Russian Empire and their Influence Moderator: Lora Gerd 1. Autocracy as a Form of Political Theology? Ruler and Church in Early Modern Muscovy (1450s–1700) (Jan Kusber) 2. Russian Tsars and Greek Hierarchs: Political Theology and Symbolic Legitimisation in the 17th Century (Nikolas Pissis) 3. Orthodox Political Theology in the Russian Empire during the 18th Century (Iannis Carras) 16:30 – 18:00 Session V: Political Theologies in the Age of Nationalism Moderator: Evert van der Zweerde 1. Russian Political Theology in the 19th and at the Beginning of the 20th Century (Lora Gerd) 2. When the New God is the New Enemy: Political Theologies of Nationalism and Ecumenism in the Late Ottoman Empire (Dimitris Stamatopoulos) Saturday, 28 April 2018 9:00 – 10:30 Session VI: Political Theologies in Russian Religious-Philosophical Thought Moderator: Dmitry Uzlaner 1. Keeping God’s Kingdom Out There – Orthodox Christian Political Theologies in 19th Century Russia (Evert van der Zweerde) 2. Sergei Bulgakov and Forms of Political Theology within the Russian Orthodox Diaspora (Regula Zwahlen) 11:00 – 12:30 Session VII: Orthodox Political Theologies in Modern Times: The Cases of Serbia and Bulgaria Moderator: Lucian Leustean 1. Serbian Political Theologies as an Answer to the Challenge of Post-1918 European Political Order (Maria Falina) 2. The Political Ecclesiology of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Daniela Kalkandjieva) 15:00 – 17:00 Session VIII: Orthodox Political Theologies in Modern Times: The Cases of Greece, Romania and Russia Moderator: Mihai-D. Grigore 1. Between Oikonomia and Akriveia: Power Struggles, Social Concerns and the Quest for an Orthodox Political Theology in the Church of Greece, 1900s–1940s (Anastassios Anastassiadis) 2. Social Apostolate and Political Nationalism in Romania (Lucian Leustean) 3. Political Hesychasm in Soviet Russia and Today: a History of Continuities (Kristina Stoeckl/Dmitry Uzlaner) 17:30 – 19:00 Session IX: Political Theologies in Orthodox Minority Contexts Moderator: Dimitris Stamatopoulos 1. Antiochian Orthodox Christians and Identity Politics (Tarek Mitri) 2. In the Shadow of a »Big Brother« – Political Theology in the Orthodox Minority Churches of Finland, Poland and Estonia (Sebastian Rimestad) LIST OF SPEAKERS 1) Anastassios Anastassiadis (École française d’Athènes / McGill University Montreal) 2) Daniel Benga (Munich University) 3) Iannis Carras (Freiburg University) 4) Klaus-Peter Todt (Mainz University) 5) Irene Dingel (Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz) 6) Maria Falina (Dublin City University) 7) Lora Gerd (Russian Academy of Sciences St. Petersburg) 8) Mihai-D. Grigore (Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz) 9) Daniela Kalkandjieva (Centre for Advanced Study Sofia / Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski) 10) Jan Kusber (Mainz University) 11) Hartmut Leppin (Frankfurt Main University) 12) Lucian Leustean (Aston University Birmingham, UK) 13) Vasilios N. Makrides (Erfurt University) 14) Jürgen Manemann (Research Center of Philosophy Hannover) 15) Tarek Mitri (American University of Beirut) 16) Nikolas Pissis (Freie Universität Berlin) 17) Sebastian Rimestad (Erfurt University) 18) Dimitris Stamatopoulos (FRIAS at the Freiburg University / University of Macedonia Thessaloniki) 19) Kristina Stoeckl (Innsbruck University) 20) Vasileios Syros (KNAW / Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences / Radboud University Nijmegen) 21) Boris A. Todorov (Independent Researcher, Sofia) 22) Dmitry Uzlaner (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration / Institute for Human Sciences Vienna) 23) Regula Zwahlen (Université de Fribourg Swiss) 24) Prof. Evert van der Zweerde (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Organisation: Mihai-D. Grigore, Mainz Vasilios N. Makrides, Erfurt Contakt: Mihai-D. Grigore Leibniz-Institute of European History Alte Universitaetsstraße 19, 55116 Mainz, Germany Tel: +49 (0) 6131-3939 474 Fax: +49 (0) 6131-3930 153 Email: grigore@ieg-mainz.de