In the Name of God: Rhetoric, Religion, and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine

Focusing attention on Ukrainians' quest for credibility in the post-Soviet era, In the Name of God takes readers on a journey through everyday life in Ukraine throughout its first decade of independence. Written by a scholar of rhetorical studies, this book goes where political and historical accounts of Uk rainehave not, into the thoughts, habits, and lives of Uniate Catholics. Using interviews, on-the-ground observations, and current events, Dr. Alfred Mueller establishes a solid grasp of the issues facing Uniate Catholics as they struggled against the Orthodox Church to establish themselves as a credible community of believers. He plumbs founding documents, oral histories, contemporary accounts, and popular lore from both faiths to uncover the source of the rhetorical strategies each faith is using to construct a particular ethos in Ukrainian society. His studies also enable him to explain why, as we enter the 21st century, Uniate Catholics seem to be in a better position than the Orthodox to vie for the limited resources of the Ukrainian state. The result is a fascinating study of the religio-politicalnexus that has existed in Ukraine for over 1, 000 years.

Alfred G. Mueller II (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Mont Alto campus of Penn State University. His ongoing research in Eurasian rhetoric has appeared in such prominent venues as the international journal Ethnologies and the Western Journal of Communication. He has served as a Ford Foundation fellow, researching the relationship between Russia and the Caucasus, and has performed research at the Holy See in Echmiadz in, Armenia, at the personal invitation of His Holiness, KarekinII, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenia. He is a member of the Executive Council in the Eastern Communication Association and is Past Chair of the spiritual Communication Division in the National Communication Association.