ABSTRACT
As noted in Chapter 1 of this volume, globalization operates through a dialectic of deterritorialization and reterritorialization (Scholte 2000). That is, on the one hand, increased cross-cultural contact and trends toward the construction of a global culture (Boli and Lechner 2005) lead to the possibility of lifting social relations from their original geographical setting, transforming a locale into a concept not always tied to a physical setting. On the other hand, the very same processes allow for the possibility of reconstructing, creating or re-creating locality. Both processes reshape the world’s religious landscapes. In this book’s previous chapters, the historicity of these processes has been highlighted. During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, this dialectic of deterritorialization and reterritorialization was expressed through the gradual fragmentation of the Ottoman Empire and the reterritorialization of authority within the emerging Southeastern European nation-states. In the post-1989 period, a similar process operated with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reterritorialization of authority within the post-Soviet states. Thus, this dialectic continues to impact the world’s territories and to cause new developments. In the 21st century, the current era of contemporary globalization, this dialectic poses new dilemmas for ecclesiastical institutions.
