HIV is God's Blessing
Rehabilitating Morality in Neoliberal Russia
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, General Christianity, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
| Author: | Jarrett Zigon | ISBN: | 9780520948327 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press | Publication: | December 16, 2010 |
| Imprint: | University of California Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Jarrett Zigon |
| ISBN: | 9780520948327 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press |
| Publication: | December 16, 2010 |
| Imprint: | University of California Press |
| Language: | English |
This provocative study examines the role of today’s Russian Orthodox Church in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Russia has one of the fastest-growing rates of HIV infection in the world—80 percent from intravenous drug use—and the Church remains its only resource for fighting these diseases. Jarrett Zigon takes the reader into a Church-run treatment center where, along with self-transformational and religious approaches, he explores broader anthropological questions—of morality, ethics, what constitutes a "normal" life, and who defines it as such. Zigon argues that this rare Russian partnership between sacred and political power carries unintended consequences: even as the Church condemns the influence of globalization as the root of the problem it seeks to combat, its programs are cultivating citizen-subjects ready for self-governance and responsibility, and better attuned to a world the Church ultimately opposes.
This provocative study examines the role of today’s Russian Orthodox Church in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Russia has one of the fastest-growing rates of HIV infection in the world—80 percent from intravenous drug use—and the Church remains its only resource for fighting these diseases. Jarrett Zigon takes the reader into a Church-run treatment center where, along with self-transformational and religious approaches, he explores broader anthropological questions—of morality, ethics, what constitutes a "normal" life, and who defines it as such. Zigon argues that this rare Russian partnership between sacred and political power carries unintended consequences: even as the Church condemns the influence of globalization as the root of the problem it seeks to combat, its programs are cultivating citizen-subjects ready for self-governance and responsibility, and better attuned to a world the Church ultimately opposes.
