Introduction – Religious Minorities: Conceptual Perspectives
Michael Stausberg, Alexander Van Der Haven and Erica Baffelli
Abstract
This essay proposes definitions of key terms such as ‘minoritization’, ‘majoritization’, and ‘religious minority’, and problematizes standard criteria of identification of religious minorities while also advocating for an understanding of religious minorities as dynamic, processual, relational, contextual, situational, and intersectional. By doing this, it also warns against homogenizing representations of religious minorities and addresses minorities within minorities. It presents several important distinctions among and within religious minorities in terms of size, location, origin, legitimacy, recognition, social position, and self-perceptions. The essay discusses the mechanisms that turn assemblages of people into minorities and different criteria and strategies that establish such social formations as ‘religious minorities.’ This includes processes of recognition and non-recognition by societies and different forms of minorities (‘wild’ and ‘tame’ ones). The essay historicizes the emergence of the category and the problem of ‘religious minorities’ in the context of colonialism, modern conceptions of the nation-state, democracy, and international politics. Last but not least, it reflects on the importance of religious minorities as a theme for research, and as a lens for understanding the dynamics of religion in society.
Article
The term ‘religious minorities’ (or some vernacular equivalent) is part of the common lexicon of political language; in many countries this and similar terminologies such as ‘minority religions’, ‘minor religions’, or ‘minority religious groups’ are used in everyday talk, in self-identifications, and in processes of othering. The term is also used to celebrate ‘diversity’, ‘pluralism’, ‘multiculturalism’, and similar ideas. Majority/minority tropes are also invoked by people who are numerically a majority, but claim to have lost their predominance in a society or remember their past, real or imagined, as a minority; mobilizing an understanding of being ‘a threatened majority’ is a typical ingredient of what Arjun Appadurai calls “predatory identities”—namely, such identities “whose social construction and mobilization require the extinction of other, proximate social categories” (Appadurai 2006, 51). In contexts where homogeneity is emphasized, such as nationalist discourses, minorities can be perceived as potentially disruptive and dangerous, and feature prominently in conspiracy narratives. Similarly, the fear of a perceived threat implies dichotomised views about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ minorities. This essay offers a discussion of conceptual perspectives on religious minorities; we will begin by proposing definitions of key terms.
Read the Introduction in full here:
Database review
Published in Nova Religio, vol. 27, no. 4, 2024, p .138 f
Religious Minorities Online is an open access repository of peer-reviewed articles about key themes, specific countries and regions, and particular religious communities "and the challenges they face as minorities in different societal contexts." Co-edited by Erica Baffelli (University of Manchester), Alexander van der Haven (University of Bergen) and Michael Stausberg (University of Bergen), the series is suported by educational institutions in Norway and the United Kingdom.
The first seven articles in the series were published in July 2023, and cover a range of topics—from thematic explorations such as "Migration, Diaspora, and Minorities" (Natalia Muchnik and Mathilde Monge) to examinations of specific groups, as in "Religious Minorities in Ethiopia" (Terje Østebø). In addition, a helpful "Introduction" by the editors serves to define terminology and set the stage by problematizing the identification of minorities. It notes the "relational, contextual, and situational" nature of the concept "minority," pointing out its fluid and dynamic nature. It also explains why the study of religious minorities matters, both in terms of social and political policy-making but also in terms of understanding religious formation and innovation.
Fifty articles are projected to be published over a four-year period, with a minimum of twelve articles coming out each year. The next update was planned for January 2024, with another due in July 2024. Two printed volumes of the collected articles are scheduled at the conclusion of the project. And though the editors do not have a plan for open submissions, they appear willing to entertain proposals if they fit with the aims and scope of the series. Submission guidelines appear on the homepage.
Podcast on the project for the New Books Network
https://newbooksnetwork.com/religious-minorities-online
