Christian conversion in a changing world: confronting issues of inequality, modernity, and morality

Pelkmans, Mathijs and Vaté, Virginie and Falge, Christiane (2005) Christian conversion in a changing world: confronting issues of inequality, modernity, and morality. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Report 2004–2005. pp. 23-34.

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Official URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mathijs-Pelkm...

Abstract

In this essay we discuss religious conversion in the contemporary world, arguing that the study of conversion not only provides insight into the complex changes of the religious landscape, but also challenges some anthropological ideas concerning the relation between religion, society, and the self. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Eastern Africa, Central Asia, and Siberia, this essay presents three (partly overlapping) aspects of conversion processes: 1) conversion as a strategy for dealing with social inequality; 2) conversion as a search for “the modern'; and 3) conversion as a response to 'immorality". In comparing the ethnographic cases, we also examine how conversion is tied to global asymmetries and the profound socio-political changes that impacted our field sites in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Chuckci, Neur of Ethiopia, Kyrghyz
Subjects: B Mission theology/theory > Conversion
B Mission theology/theory > Contextualization/Inculturation
B Mission theology/theory > Mission and Social responsibility
G Christian traditions/Denominations > Eastern Orthodox
G Christian traditions/Denominations > Evangelical
Divisions: Former Soviet Union > Georgia
Former Soviet Union > Russian Federation
Depositing User: Katharina Penner
Date Deposited: 27 Nov 2024 16:28
Last Modified: 27 Nov 2024 16:28
URI: https://ceeamsprints.osims.org/id/eprint/3031

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