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Paper short abstract

In the Czech Republic, former synagogues no longer used for worship remain powerful non-human actors. This paper explores how synagogue buildings attract activism, mobilize narratives, and shape cohesion or polarization in local communities despite the absence of Jewish life.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores the agency of synagogue buildings in post-socialist Europe through ethnographic research conducted in several Czech localities where Jewish communities ceased to exist after the Second World War. In all cases, synagogues no longer function as places of regular worship. Nevertheless, they remain prominent and highly visible elements of public space and have become focal points of activism, heritage practices, and debates on belonging and responsibility.

Drawing on anthropological work in material culture studies and theories of non-human actors, we conceptualize synagogues not as passive heritage objects but as non-human agents that actively shape social relations. We ask whom these buildings attract in order not to collapse physically or symbolically, what kinds of intentions, narratives, and resources they mobilize, and how they become embedded—or fail to become embedded—within local communities.

The paper examines several models of synagogue reactivation in the absence of any local Jewish community. While in one case the preservation is driven by Jewish private owners, other cases demonstrate how non-Jewish activists, municipalities, and private individuals assume responsibility for synagogue buildings and redefine their public role. These synagogues no longer serve religious practice but operate as cultural, educational, or commemorative spaces.

We argue that synagogue buildings act as mediators between past and present, capable of fostering social cohesion, generating civic engagement, or, in some contexts, provoking tension and polarization. By foregrounding religious architecture as a non-human actor, the paper moves beyond heritage-centered paradigms and contributes to a relational anthropology of religion, space, and public life.