BB: Building a Godless Society: Albanian Communist State and Bektashi Community between 1944-1967
The presentation will concentrate on communist religious policy in Albania from the end of WWII until the Cultural Revolution of 1967, focusing primarily on the Bektashi order. The construction of a godless society represented one of the central principles of Communist doctrine. In 1967, Albania officially became the first and only communist state to ban all forms of religion. Since the end of WWII, the communists have attempted in various forms to curtail the power and influence of religion in society. They used various methods and tactics, from land confiscation to reducing the financial subsidies, to spreading propaganda, and lastly military measures. In the period from 1945 to 1964, the communist state and the Bektashi order frequently cooperated. The key question to address: Did the Communist state have a clear goal to terminate religion from the beginning? How did the Communists succeed in banning the 600-year-old Bektashi religious tradition with little to no serious protest from the believers, even among other denominations? What influenced the state’s religious policy? How did the Bektashi respond to the state actions and, restrain measures? What was the main outcome of 15 years of scientific atheism and 25 years of military atheism?
Rigels Lenja is a Ph.D. candidate at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, part of East and South East European Studies.
30.01.2024 13:00 – 14:00
Organizer
Zentrum für Südosteuropastudien, SOEGA & Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft
Venue:
Location: SR 111.41, BEETHOVENSTRASSE 8 4. OG 8010 GRAZ