RelPol – IKOS Religion and Politics Podcast

<p>Our guest in this episode is Chiara Arnavas, a PhD Fellow at IKOS, who works on the intertwined construction of geographic, ecological, and religious frontiers in India. Chiara will share her insights on the dark side of sustainable urban projects in West Bengal and the discriminatory dynamics they entail. To learn more about Chiara's work, you can listen to her conversation with Kenneth Bo Nielsen on the <a href="https://newbooksnetwork.com/indias-land-mafia">Nordic Asia podcast</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/services/knowledge/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/11_chiara_arnavas_ecology_politics_india.html">Alternative text to the podcast</a></p>

<p>In this episode of the podcast, Zsolt Györegy, a PhD Fellow at IKOS, takes us to 17th-century South America and explains how cultural historians search for traces of native voices in missionaries’ chronicles using techniques of cultural translation. To learn more about Zsolt’s work, you can read his Open Access article <a href="https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/translating-guarani-artefacts-in-antonio-ruiz-de-montoyas-conquista-espiritual-101628hirec-2025-0011/">Translating Guarani Artefacts in Antonio Ruiz de Montoya's Conquista Espiritual</a> (2025).</p> <p><a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/services/knowledge/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/10_translating_religion_south_america.html">Text alternative to the episode</a></p>

<p>Our guest in this episode of the podcast is <a href="https://www.trf.uzh.ch/de/forschung/zentren/zrwp/team/atwood.html">David Atwood</a>, Professor of Religion in the Public Sphere at the University of Zurich and Director of the <a href="https://www.zrwp.ch/home.html#:~:text=The%20Center%20for%20Religion%2C%20Economy,an%20interdisciplinary%20and%20transdisciplinary%20approach.">Center for Religion, Economy and Politics</a>. David will help us understand how the act of organizing history has political implications and how historiography can give rise to new myths. This conversation serves as an introduction to his book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nomos-shop.de/de/p/schwellenzeiten-gr-978-3-95650-612-3"><em>Schwellenzeiten</em></a>&nbsp;(2019). David also summarises some of his key ideas in a short article in English in the <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/BSOR/article/view/14567">Bulletin for the Study of Religion</a>.</p> <p><a href="/ikos/english/services/knowledge/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/9_religion_politics_time_atwood.html">Text alternative to the episode</a></p>

<p>In this episode, we are pleased to host Bojidar Kolov, a lecturer in Russian history at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and an expert on the political theology of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Bojidar will help us understand how the ROC perceives its role in relation to the Russian state and how its discourse provides ideological resources for the expansionist aims of Putin's regime. He is also a participant in the <a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/english/research/projects/value-based-regime-legitimation-in-russia/">Values-Based Regime Legitimation in Russia</a> research project and has recently published on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2024.2334032">ecclesiastical populism in contemporary Russia</a> and, together with Pål Kolstø, on the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/9/1138#:~:text=The%20religious%20ingredient%20in%20contemporary,and%20salvation%20to%20the%20world.">religious component in contemporary Russian imperialism</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/center/religion-politics/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/8_russian_orthodox_church_bojidar_kolov.html">Text alternative to the episode</a></p>

<p>In this episode, we are joined by Aike Rots, Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Oslo. Aike shares some of his findings on religion, politics, and ecology in Vietnam, drawing on his research project <a href="https://www.whalesofpower.com">Whales of Power</a>. We explore how Vietnam's Communist government navigates religious plurality and how environmental changes influence local religious practices. To learn more about Aike's work, click the link to read his 2023 article "<a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/15/3/8/384013/When-Gods-Drown-in-PlasticVietnamese-Whale-Worship">When Gods Drown in Plastic</a>," co-authored with Nhung Lu Rots.</p> <p><a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/center/religion-politics/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/7_aike_rots_religion_ecology_politics_vietnam.html">Text alternative to the episode</a></p>