The Social Life of Currant: an Essay on the Autoethnography of Labor in the Monastery

Abstract

Using the example of currant gathering, the article explores the hierarchical relationships revealed in the labor practices of an Orthodox monastery in the Russian North. It also discusses the position of an anthropologist who uses at least two models of labor interpretation: religious Christian and secular research. Labour in a monastery is seen as a way for the labourers to transfer their will to God, rather than secular work that aims for results; it is a spiritual activity that leads to Christian salvation. Labourers, laypeople who volunteer to work in the monastery, learn about spirituality from the hegumen and more experienced disciples. This article analyzes both the religious and secular techniques of self-transformation. It also explores what happens when an anthropologist uses the method of autoethnography. This involves acting as the main informant for her research, connecting personal experience with field observations. Methodologically, the article explores the correlation between various concepts: it examines Foucault's hermeneutics of the subject, pastoral power, and their application to analyzing power relations in a modern Orthodox monastery. The key category of Christian salvation in this context is humility before a superior. The article raises the question of what gives rise to different interpretations and how they relate to the Christian concept of spiritual work and the internal hierarchies within the monastery. These hierarchies are designed not only for the personal salvation of each individual but also for the collective salvation of the entire monastic community, which is managed by a pastor-hegumen within the framework of the monastic economy.