CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland

Religion and Culture

Organiser: Frances Ota

Geyushev, Altay (Baku State University, Azerbaijan) POLITICAL ISLAM IN AZERBAIJAN AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF MONARCHIC RUSSIA
The party known as Ittikhady-Islam, which arose in 1917, was the most powerful organization of the Islamic trend in the Caucasus, until the April 1920 occupation of Azerbaijan by the Soviets. Having the second largest number in the Parliament, Islamists became the main oppositional force in the period of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (1918-1920). Propagandizing the idea of solidarity and development on the basis of Islam, the Ittikhad Party was the first well-organized structure of political Islam in Azerbaijan. This party was part of the fifth and last governmental coalition formed in the autumn of 1919. After the April occupation in 1920, the legal activities of the Ittikhad Party were prohibited by the new Soviet government of Azerbaijan. Some of the leaders were arrested and exiled, many others emigrated. Nevertheless, 'Ittikhadists' continued their illegal activities, taking part and being the organizers of many anti-Soviet uprisings covering the whole of Azerbaijan, until the Second World War.

Simonova, Inna (Harvard University, USA) "FALL BALL OF THE NEW YORK SAINT NICHOLAS PATRIARCH CATHEDRAL" - A WAY TO OVERCOME BARRIERS
Dividing Russian People in Diaspora Not for the first time, the Russian Orthodox Church abroad conducts so-called "Theological Balls". Money raised at them goes for the stipends at Jordanville Saint-Trinity Theological College (State of New York). A few years ago in Washington, a Charity Ball took place, the proceeds of which went for the restoration of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, which belongs to the American Autocephalous Russian Orthodox Church. Recently this initiative, which is not entirely within the conservative "canon" of Orthodox ecclesiastical policy, is continued by the Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarch Church, which continues friendly relationships with the American Autocephalous Russian Orthodox Church, but still doesn't recognize the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, founded after the Revolution in 1917 and led, till the autumn 2001, by Metropolitan Vitaly. With the blessing of Holy Moscow and All Russian Patriarch Alexis II, a Fall Ball was held in the most imposing hall of New York, the "Waldorf Astoria". The objective was to raise funds for the reconstruction of the most sacred place of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States of America - the Saint Nicholas Patriarch Cathedral. This cathedral is the symbol of the unity of the Russian people on the North-American Continent. The importance of this church was stressed by the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Together with his spouse, he attended a service dedicated to the memory of the victims of September 11, when he was in New York last November.

Bloomfield Ramagem, Sonia (Montgomery College, USA) UNDERSTANDING JEWISH FUNDAMENTALISM: POLITICS AND RELIGION ON THE DELIMITATION OF ISRAEL'S TERRITORY
The general objective of the paper is the study of the relations between religion and culture, focusing on the "fundamentalism" and space issue. The specific objective is the examination of the cultural construction of Israel's territory and the related sense of territoriality in Jewish fundamentalist circles. This is accomplished through the study of spatial practices from Biblical times to the present context of the (re) definition of the borders of the Israeli State by the praxis and discourse of present Jewish Fundamentalism.

Ota, Frances (Toronto School of Theology University of Toronto)  SOCIAL AND THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MINISTRY POST-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
In the days following the September 11 tragedy at the World Trade Centre in New York City, clergy from all faith groups grappled with what message to bring, and what the implications were for their congregations. Although Canada was somewhat removed from the events, congregations in Canada were also touched. Churches reported a brief rise in attendance, and then a drop back to normal numbers. Do churches have a role to play in shaping post-September 11 attitudes? What is our role as clergy in a world which is increasingly globalised? How do we help our congregants understand some of the deeper issues behind such attacks? This paper reflects on the implications for ministry, from the perspective of Doctor of Ministry students at Toronto School of Theology at Victoria University, University of Toronto.

de Lourdes Beldi de Alcantara, Maria (University of Sao Paulo)
THE ¥ANDERUS MEETINGS - A GUARANI-KAIOW CULTURAL RESPONSE
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ¥anderus meetings of the Guarani-Kaiowa "paj‚s" (healers), which took place in Mato Grosso do Sul, a town 10 km. from Dourados, Brasil, on July 18 and 19, 2001.The Guarani-Kaiowa believe that the only way to curtail the suicide "epidemic" which has been sweeping the Dourados reserve since 1986, is to commune using prayer and traditional chants. According to the Kaiowa, these rituals are the means to recover those traditions which contain the essential elements to reinforce their culture.Going to the heart of this problem, we will analyse the key symbols which identify the rituals. More specifically, we will look at the way these symbols communicate with and oppose each other, and the way they are reconstructed in the face of different cultural acts which originate in the town of Dourados. We are asserting that this town is paradigmatic of Western encroachment on indigenous cultures like the Guarani-Kaiowa.The Guarani-Kaiowa cultural response will be introduced through several different discourses and acts. The purpose of these acts is to renew and update rituals, and at the same time point to socio-economic and cultual alternatives to the ever-present threats to cultural integrity which they are presently experiencing.The dynamics of retrieving and reassembling a cultural identity will ground the analysis of these rituals. There is no intent to attempt to recover the "real" Kaiow identity, for the target is the observation of the continuous process of reconstruction of traditions.