Efstathios Kessareas is a postdoctoral research fellow (Principal Investigator, DFG-Eigene Stelle) at the Department of Religious Studies – Chair of Orthodox Christianity of the University of Erfurt (Project title: “Hellenic Polytheism in Contemporary Greece: Beliefs, Practices, and the Symbolic Struggle over Hellenicity/Greekness”). He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Crete and a MA in Religious Studies from the University of Leeds. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at the Panteion University in Athens and another one in Greek Philology at the University of Crete. In the past he conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Religious Studies (Chair of Orthodox Christianity) of the University of Erfurt, and at the Department of Sociology (Center for Social Theory) of Ghent University. He is author of the book Church, Ideology, and Politics in Post-Dictatorial Greece: A Sociological Approach (Athens: Papazisi, 2022). His articles have been published in The Sociological Review, Social Compass, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Social Science Tribune, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, and Religions, among other outlets.

Efstathios Kessareas at Academia.edu

Latest Publications:

2024

Kessareas, Efstathios (2024) “The ‘Gordian Knot’ of Ethnocentrism and Universality: Comparing the Political Theologies of the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople”. In Mihai-D. Grigore and Vasilios N. Makrides (eds.) Orthodoxy in the Agora: Orthodox Christian Political Theologies Across History. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 

https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/theologie-und-religion/kirchengeschichte/58899/orthodoxy-in-the-agora

Dezember 2023

Kessareas, Efstathios & Makrides, Vasilios (2023) “Symphonie als tragfähiges Modell von Kirche-Staat-Beziehungen in der orthodoxen Welt heute? Bestandsaufnahme und kritische Würdigung”, Catholica: Vierteljahresschrift für ökumenische Theologie 77/3: 201-221.

https://www.aschendorff-buchverlag.de/detailview?no=16801

September 2023

Kessareas, Efstathios (2023) “Should the British Museum Return the Parthenon Marbles? The Response of the ‘Ethnic Hellenes’”, LSE Religion and Global Society, September 28th. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2023/09/should-the-british-museum-return-the-parthenon-marbles-the-response-of-the-ethnic-hellenes/

May 2023

Kessareas, Efstathios (2023) "Holy Communion in Greek Orthodoxy in the Time of Coronavirus: Ideological Perspectives in Conflict". Religions, 14 (5): no. 647 (pp. 1-17). https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/647

February 2023

Kessareas, Efstathios (2023) "'Signs of the times': Prophecy belief in contemporary Greek Orthodox contexts". Social Compass, 70 (1): 73–90.

Kessareas Efstathios (2023) "Economic Crisis, European Orientation, and Greek Orthodox Ideology" (in Greek), Social Science Tribune 20 (76): 28-63. 

Kessareas, Efstathios (2023) "Modernizers, Fundamentalists, and the 'Third Way' in the Orthodox Church" [in Greek]. Polymeros kai Polytropos, Volos Academy for Theological Studies, February 15th.

December 2022

Kessareas, Efstathios (2022) Faith, Economy, and Politics: Religious Tourism in Contemporary Greece. Erfurt: University of Erfurt (=Erfurter Vorträge zur Kulturgeschichte des Orthodoxen Christentums, 21)

Kessareas, Efstathios (2022) Church, Ideology, and Politics in Post-Dictatorial Greece. A Sociological Approach [in Greek]. Athens: Papazisi

Kessareas, Efstathios (2022) "Analysing Religious Public Discourses: Categories of Thought and Value Differences ", Sociology Lens, December 12th.

November 2022

Efstathios Kessareas (2022) "Geistliche Väter und ihre Idolisierung im orthodoxen Christentum", Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West, 50/11: 3–5. 

Kessareas, Efstathios, "The Church in Times of Crisis: A Refuge or a Driver for Change?", The Wheel Journal, 28/29: 66–71, 2022.