FINANCIAL CULTS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The paper explores the phenomenon of financial cults in Ukraine as a unique intersection of religiosity, economic ideology, and digital persuasion. Drawing on global and local examples, it defines financial cults as high-demand religious or quasi-religious movements that link prosperity to divine election and employ viral marketing techniques to sustain continuous financial participation. The study situates Ukrainian prosperity-oriented churches, motivational organizations, and hybrid media movements within the broader tradition of the global “prosperity gospel” and transactional spirituality exemplified by Scientology and international megachurch networks. The author combines personal ethnographic observation with comparative analysis to reveal how structures of charisma, reward, and humiliation function analogously in both religious and corporate environments. The Ukrainian case demonstrates how post-Soviet moral disorientation and economic precarity foster the emergence of movements that sacralize wealth, discipline, and individual success. By transforming faith into an instrument of financial extraction, these organizations mirror the deeper logic of late capitalism, where spiritual and economic capital become mutually convertible. The paper concludes that financial cults in Ukraine are not marginal anomalies but social mechanisms through which neoliberal values acquire theological legitimacy. They express the desire for order and meaning in a society marked by instability and loss, translating the pursuit of salvation into the language of performance, profit, and resilience.