In this fascinating, valuable, and empirically rich work, Pål Kolstø, Professor Emeritus of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Oslo, argues that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is “a national majority church … that at the same time exhibits the characteristics of a fundamentalist sect … demanding full adherence to all its precepts and commandments” (234). Nowhere is the church’s tendency toward authoritarianism seen more clearly than in its campaign for “traditional values” that includes “highly specific prescriptions and proscriptions for the private lives of believers” (3). Kolstø argues that the state has adopted some (but not all) of the Church’s ethical agenda.

Kolstø opens the book with a theoretical introduction to Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, “the set of mechanisms through which the basic biological features of the human species became the object of political strategy” (17). In championing traditional values (partially codified in the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted in 2000), the Church exercises biopower not only by its support of specific government legislation but also through more informal channels: its own normative documents, spiritual guidance offered in the confessional, religious literature, and Orthodox websites. In his detailed empirical analyses of printed and internet sources, Kolstø chronicles the “dogged determination with which the ROC seeks to regiment the details of the private lives of the faithful” (5).

The next four chapters explore the more informal means by which the Church exercises control over the family lives and sexual behavior of its laity. Confessors and spiritual elders (startsy) are essential agents of this system, offering spiritual guidance to Christians seeking advice about their intimate lives. As Kolstø demonstrates, however, overzealous confessors abuse their position by, for example, demanding detailed descriptions of their spiritual children’s sex acts. Kolstø also analyzes debates over appropriate Orthodox standards for marriage, divorce, the patriarchal family, and the “vexed question” (88) of sexual practice. Although the dominant voices in the Church support patriarchy and the subordination of the wife to the husband, Kolstø uncovers some faithful Orthodox women who embrace feminism and call for equality between the sexes.

In Chs. 6 through 11, Kolstø turns to debates over legislation on a variety of issues that affect the Church’s efforts to promote traditional values: domestic violence, abortion, contraception, sexual orientation, and sex education in schools. Arguing that the state should not interfere with the patriarchal family, the Church has successfully opposed legislation against domestic violence; such proposed laws are simply “foreign innovations” (113) according to Patriarch Kirill (Gundiaev) of Moscow. Likewise, the Church has helped eliminate sex education from the public school curriculum. Church officials have also championed legislation directed against homosexuality and other sexual minorities, helping to pass laws against “homosexual propaganda” (179) in 2013 and 2022. Nevertheless, the Church’s lobbying is not always successful, especially in the case of abortion. Although the Russian government has embraced a pronatalist policy that the Church also endorses, abortion remains legal and abortion rates relatively high. Beyond a brief reference to the introduction of a required course on religious cultures and secular ethics, Kolstø does not explore the Church’s role in the major educational reform of December 2012, which greatly expanded possibilities for religious education.

Survey research conducted in 2020 and presented in Ch. 12 shows that the ROC is one of the most trusted social institutions, ranking just below the armed forces and the president. Although most Russians agree with the Church’s opposition to homosexuality and its support for heteronormative marriage, they reject its harsh attitudes toward cohabitation, premarital sex, and divorce. Chapter 13 places the Church’s ethical and sexual agenda in a global context, noting connections with communitarianism in Africa and the west.

Kolstø largely treats Russia as though it were monoconfessional, mistakenly claiming that the Church had a monopoly on legal marriage in prerevolutionary Russia (51). Although there was no civil marriage in the Russian empire, religious marriages conducted by clergy of other recognized confessions for members of their communities were legally recognized. Even today, the ROC is simply the largest organization in a highly regulated spiritual marketplace, where the state favors politically reliable religions that promote patriotism and traditional values. Immediately after the Church approved its Social Concept in 2000, other religious organizations quickly developed similar documents: Muslims in 2001, Protestants and Jews in 2003, and Catholics in 2004. Under Putin, the state has encouraged all religions to foster traditional values. In this thorough and persuasive monograph, Kolstø illuminates the Orthodox discourse on sex and the family.