Discursive formations in the period of perestroika: believers and party and state leaders about confessional politics (1985–1991 years)

Abstract

The studying of discursive formations in official correspondence with public authorities and in
local and central newspapers is offered as a part of discourse analysis of perestroika. Discursive
events are based not only on facts but also on the action models of believers and civil servants. The
characteristics of contents of resources given in the article enabled the new sphere for analyses of
state-confessional relations. The analysis helped to understand the discursive practices of the believers
and high-level personnel, which include a wide range of issues: the return, restoration and construction
of religious buildings, financing, management of religious communities, the functioning of religious
legislation. The author demonstrated that the discursive practices are associated with social practices.
This approach allowed tracing the transformation of the relations between the state and religious
organizations after the discursive events.