Milda Alisauskiene

Vytautas Magnus University · Department of Sociology

In the last decades, the Baltic states, encompassing Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, have undergone profound sociohistorical changes, with notable transformations in gender equality and religious life. Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990/1991 was a turning point that paved the way for profound changes on the political, economic, and social f...

New religions are places of social experimentation, primarily constructed in the shadow of majority religions, an interplay that creates the arenas where traditional gender roles may be challenged. However, more frequently, they also become places where the re‑traditionalization of gender roles or a return to patriarchalism occurs. These inner deve...

What is the relationship between religion and gender in contemporary Baltic societies? Do religious institutions, groups, or individuals operate as resources for or hindrances to gender equality? In this chapter, we present the overall framework for this volume and investigate how different actors in a post‑Soviet region that neighbors the presumed...

This volume aims to rethink the intersections of gender and religion, as well as the secular and religious, in implementing and challenging gender equality at individual, institutional, and societal levels in the regions around the Baltic Sea. Acknowledging the diversity of societies and the significance of socio‑historical contexts, the empirical...

This special issue of RASCEE focuses on the findings of the international research project “Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments” (ReliGen), funded by EEA Grants/Norway Grants under the project contract No. S-BMT-21-4 (LT08-2LMT-K-01-036) with the Research Council of Lithuania. The project, conducted between 2021-2023, aimed...

Israeli political scientist Jonathan Fox, a well-known scholar of religion and state relations and discrimination against minority religions, has co-authored a book with legal scholar Lev Topor that asks the question, Why do people discriminate against Jews? At first glance, the question is thought-provoking. The authors distinguish between anti-Se...

This article discusses the construction of gender roles in contemporary Baltic Paganism through a case study of teachings and everyday practices among female members of the Ancient Baltic Religious Association Romuva in contemporary Lithuania. Reconstructionist Pagan religious groups usually represent a traditionalist worldview, while the impact of...

This paper discusses the results of the international applied research project ‘UniDiversity – Universities Towards Diversity’ that examined what discriminatory attitudes, beliefs and behaviours based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics (SOGISC) exist in the Lithuanian, Greek and Italian academic environment. Specifically...

Religious diversity is a social reality of every modern society, and minority religions are integral to it. The research monograph by the sociologist of religion, Milda Ališauskienė, analyses the relations between minority religions, society and the state in contemporary Lithuania using a socio-historical perspective and sociological analysis. The...

Social research data shows that Jehovah’s Witnesses experience social ostracism, distancing, marginalization, and labeling in contemporary Lithuania. This article searches for an explanation for these public attitudes by applying a sociohistorical approach to the analysis of the processes of othering and resilience of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Lithuan...

This paper analyses the phenomenon of anticlericalism in contemporary Lithuania, applying a socio-historical approach. It starts with a discussion on the problem of criticism of religion and anticlericalism in contemporary societies, and particularly Lithuania. The empirical part of the paper provides a statistical data analysis of two surveys, con...

This paper analyzes the phenomenon of anticlericalism in contemporary Lithuania, applying a sociohistorical approach. It starts with a discussion on the problem of criticism of religion and anticlericalism in contemporary societies, and particularly Lithuania. The empirical part of the paper provides a statistical data analysis of two surveys, cond...

This paper aims to analyze the way religious identification and practices influence family practices in the division of labor in childcare and housework in contemporary Lithuania. The analysis is based on a quantitative survey (n = 3000) representing the last Soviet generation born between 1970 and 1984. The sample was distributed across five group...

The attitudes and evolution of views of various religious organizations on human rights are well recognized in scholarly work. However, research on the potential links connecting religious views, beliefs and identities with perceptions of and support for human rights seems to be far less developed. This paper aims to bridge this gap.

Reactions to the Law by Minority Religions is the third volume in a series of books initiated by INFORM devoted to the issue of minority religions and law. (INFORM is an independent educational charity based in London that focuses on minority religions and sects.) As co-editor Eileen Barker puts it, previous volumes published in the series have mai...

This article discusses features of women's religious leadership , social innovations, and transmission of existing gender relations patterns within diverse new religions in post-communist society in Lithuania. The article is based on participant observation in Pagan and Hindu-origin religious groups and interviews with women leaders of these groups...

The introduction to this special issue on religious leadership in new religions discusses questions arising from existing published theoretical and empirical research into religious leadership. Theoretical contributions are made in articles by five authors, James T. Richardson, David G. Bromley, Liselotte Frisk, Susan J. Palmer, and Milda Ališauski...

This paper contributes to the academic debates about the compatibility of religion and modernity and reveals the way Soviet modernization has affected the religious values of the last Soviet generation in Lithuania. It discusses the role and dynamic of religion, intergenerational transmission, and the manner in which religion becomes or does not be...

This chapter uses historical and sociological perspectives to analyse religious traditions and groups of Hindu origin in Lithuania, and it discusses their diverse forms of expression and public attitudes toward them. First, the article describes the historical evolution of Lithuanian interest in South Asia and the development of academic studies on...

This chapter analyzes the social history of irreligion – freethinking, non-belief and atheism - in Lithuania starting from the 19th century to present days. It aims to disclose how phenomenon of irreligion manifested in the religious field of Lithuania dominated by Roman Catholicism. The chapter covers three periods of the country’s history startin...

This study analyzes the attitudes towards the right to life and the religiosity of young people (16–18 years old) in Lithuania. We will focus on euthanasia and abortion as two cases indicating attitudes of young people towards the possible limitation of the right to life. Abortion and euthanasia are rarely debated in public in Lithuania; from time...

This article contributes to the ongoing theoretical and empirical discussions within the studies of media and religion on the interaction of these social institutions in contemporary society. First, we locate our research questions within the recent theoretical debates on relations between media and religion in contemporary society, the US, Western...

In this article I argue, based on observations as well as on recent sociological analysis, that in contemporary Lithuania religion is becoming more public, but at the same time more individual and private. Generally, in the Lithuanian public sphere religion means Roman Catholicism. The reasons for this are manifold. Firstly, demographical data (200...

The pyramid of Merkinė, constructed by Povilas Žėkas in the southern part of Lithuania in 2002, began within the Lithuanian Roman Catholic milieu only to develop years later into an independent religious movement. In this article, I analyze the history and development of the pyramid in light of changes affecting religions in Lithuania during the la...

The introduction to this special issue on new religions in Eastern Europe provides a historical background on the place of new religious movements in the region during the Soviet and post-Soviet era. This includes the varieties of new and alternative religions active in these societies and how this changed after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The gue...

This paper suggests comparative analysis of attitudes toward religious freedom among young people in two different political and religious contexts in Belarus and Lithuania. The aim of the research is to understand whether belonging to religious, non-religious, and religious in general sense groups as well as to majority/ minority religions togethe...

This monograph focusing on groups at risk of social exclusion reflects current issues in the contemporary Lithuanian welfare system in which the dilemmas of neoliberalism, social justice and egalitarianism as well as the constant search for a better life are all intertwined. Difficult life stories of the members of these groups allow us to take a c...

The paper discusses the aspects of social exclusion of religious minorities within homogeneous religious field of post-soviet Lithuania. Academic literature states that main agent of social exclusion is considered to be the society. Social exclusion of religion manifests in governmental and spatial spheres and on the individual level through religi...

The article contributes to the theoretical and empirical discussions about the social exclusion of religious minorities in contemporary Lithuania. It is based on the data of the empirical qualitative research – focus group and semi-structured interviews with members of religious minorities in Lithuania. The theoretical part of the article focuses o...

Straipsnyje analizuojama religinės įvairovės reprezentavimo Lietuvos internetinėje žiniasklaidoje problema. Pirmoje straipsnio dalyje aptariama žiniasklaidos įtaka viešosios nuomonės formavimo procese ir religinės įvairovės reprezentavimo problematika žiniasklaidoje. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjama Lietuvos katalikų bažnyčios reprezentacija, įvairių kit...

Leidinyje „Religinių mažumų lygių galimybių užtikrinimas Lietuvoje: problemos ir rekomen- dacijos“ išsamiai aptariama religinių mažumų situacija šiuolaikinėje Lietuvoje. Pristatomi tei- sinės bazės analizės, Lietuvos gyventojų apklausos, religinių mažumų bendruomenių narių interviu bei žiniasklaidos turinio analizės duomenys ir jų interpretacija. L...

Mokslo studiją „Iššūkiai religinei įvairovei Lietuvoje: religinių mažumų perspektyva“ sudaro įvadas, penki skyriai ir išvados. Studijoje aptariama religinės įvairovės problema šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje, reiškinio apibrėžtis, pagrindiniai bruožai, priežastys ir iššūkiai religinei įvairovei šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje. Mokslo studija baigiama rekomenda...

The paper analyzes contemporary hinduism in Lithuania, the issues of its identification and definition, a variety of its forms and public attitudes towards it. The author argues that studies and research of “living hinduisms” in lithuania are under-developed because these groups distance themselves from the traditional religion and emphasize their...

Since the end of state repression against religion, two major processes have taken place in the formerly socialist countries: historically dominant churches strive to reassert their position in society, while new religious groups and ideas from various parts of the world are proliferating. This generates pluralism of religious communities and indiv...

The aim of this article is to describe the expression of the process of secularization on the institutional level in Lithuania. The article deals with Lithuanian Catholic Church's participation in public life of society and its change. It is based on the data of media text analysis of the largest Lithuanian newspapers from the period of 1990-2010....

The book is dedicated to discuss discrimination and equality issues of the various social groups in Lithuania.

This paper analyzes Peter Berger’s theory of secularization, its main arguments and recent developments in general described as the theory of desecularization. The first part of the text examines Berger’s theory of religion as the sacred canopy and seculari- zation as the process in which religious symbols and institutions loose their dominance in...

This paper analyzes the influence of modernization process for the individuals’ religion in Soviet and post-Soviet lithuania. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews with respondents who experienced their religious socialization during pre-Soviet and Soviet period reveals the peculiarities of their religious life. This article consists of se...

The article analyzes the place, change and variety of forms of manifestation of religion in the post-communist society of Lithuania. The three level – micro, mezzo and macro – of analytical perspective is invoked. Religious variety, le- gal conditions for freedom of religion and development of Church-State rela- tions are discussed. Particular atte...

Vilnius UniversityThe leader in any new religious group is a very important person and a key feature in the establishment of the organized religion. The special role and place for the leader is found in the so-called spiritual groups—the Neo-Hindu religious movements. Although such groups do not relate themselves to any religious phenomena in gener...

The article discusses the premises for the emergence of modern religion, its manifestation and peculiarities. The analysis of the ideas of the classics of sociology of religion such as robert Bellah and Thomas Luckmann and contemporary sociologists Grace Davie, Cose Casanova, Steve Bruce, Zygmunt Bauman, Paul Heelas and Ronald Inglehart leads autho...

Aptariama Lietuvos Gyvenimo meno draugija naujųjų religijų tyrimų kontekste. Lie-tuvos Gyvenimo meno draugija save pristato kaip siūlanti dvasinį tobulėjimą ir atmeta bet kurias sąsajas su religija. Tačiau straipsnio autorė, argumentuodama, kad eminis ir etinis religijos apibrėžimai gali skirtis ir dažniausiai skiriasi, šią organizaciją aptaria nau...

The article discusses the problem of the definition of religion in the contemporary discourse of new religious movements. Sometimes the latter groups deny their religious character and prefer to be called "spiritual" The author states that the emic definition of religion, which studies individuals and groups, might be different from the ethic, one...