Introduction

Abstract

This edition of the Yearbook of Balkan and Baltic Studies focuses on discussion and ongoing research presented to an academic community of scholars in Balkan and Baltic Studies at a conference held on 9-11 June 2020 in Riga, Latvia, organized by the International Society of Balkan and Baltic Studies. This annual conference was hosted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia and was jointly supported by the Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian Academies of Sciences, the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies; the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum, the Estonian Literary Museum and the Lithuanian Institute of History. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held over Zoom. In spite of the physical distance that had to be maintained, however, academic discussions were vibrant and fruitful, resulting in this joint edition of the Yearbook. Scholars from various countries and academic schools presented their research on spirituality, religion, identity and culture in the Baltic and Balkan regions and analysed the dynamics of religious and national transformations. The conference also examined the impact of globalization on religious communities and spiritual processes, and touched on aspects of social and cultural transformations in the modern era and their challenges. This necessitated a focus on migration, transnationalism, secularization and the search for the new spiritual means and models. Our academic community also analysed developments regarding the place of belonging and transformations of the historical memories of religious communities in the Baltic and Balkan regions.