Current Religious Situation in the Udmurt Republic: The Confessional Identification of Residents and the State of Inter-Confessional Relations

The growing importance of the religious factor and religious identities in modern social and political practices, the inclusion of religious meanings in the spheres of public and international politics predetermine the research interest in examining the religious situation in Russia. Research on this topic is conducted in sociological, political, historical, philosophical and other contexts. At the same time, national polls and studies cannot fully reflect the entire variety of situations in Russian regions, which requires regional studies. In addition, the relevance of the issue is determined by the fact that the authorities' underestimation of the role of the religious factor, a belated response to interethnic and interfaith contradictions can lead to an increase in tension, and sometimes to open conflicts. The article analyzes the current religious situation in Udmurtia on the basis of an ethnosociological study conducted in November-December 2020. The sample size was 1,600 respondents representing the adult urban and rural population of the republic aged 18 years and older, broken down by sex, age cohorts, education level and type of settlement (the statistical error does not exceed 3% with a confidence level of 0.95). As a result of the study, the following conclusions were made. A stable inter-confessional situation remains in Udmurtia. The general indicators of the population's religiosity demonstrate the persistence of long-term trends and generally correspond to the national characteristics. The number of believers changes insignificantly; there are no serious reasons for correcting this trend. The religious landscape of the republic has developed and any significant changes can hardly be expected. Religious organizations should adjust their activities in a number of key areas in order to increase the involvement of believers in religious life. The analysis shows that residents of the region with a low material income, low level of education and young people somewhat more often demonstrate distrust of representatives of other confessions and admit the possibility of conflicts on religious grounds in Udmurtia. In this regard, the authorities are encouraged to work more actively with these categories of citizens. In addition, it is necessary to constantly monitor the religious situation and monitor interfaith relations in the region.

Keywords

Authors

References