Students’ research. Catholic resilience to (geo)political crises: an ethnographic study

Project idea

The summer internship, related to the ongoing international RELIDEM project, takes into account the dual (geo)political crisis that has struck Lithuania: Russia's war against Ukraine and the rise and normalization of far-right populism. The question is raised as to how religious organizations are responding to these two crises: are they contributing to social resilience and unity, or, on the contrary, increasing polarization, mistrust, and insecurity? The object of the practical analysis is the micro level of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, i.e., the perception of crises and reactions to them among ordinary believers in a small town parish. Qualitative research methods are used: participant observation, informal interviews, diary writing, and group interviews (focus groups). The desired result is to collect empirical data (interview transcripts, field notes) and perform an initial inductive thematic analysis. The internship strengthens analytical and critical skills, as well as skills in collecting and analyzing qualitative data.