Project management: Jonah Neuenhaus
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Roland Hardenberg, PD Dr. Susanne Fehlings
Duration: November 2020 – April 2026
Funding: German Academic Exchange Service (September 2021–September 2022; February 2024–February 2026)
This doctoral project focuses on the significance of religious knowledge for local interpretations of the Bahá’í Faith in Kyrgyzstan, a post-Soviet republic in Central Asia. The project is based on a total of 16 months of fieldwork conducted between 2019 and 2024.
In my work, I first describe current religious practices, beliefs, and positions within the Kyrgyz Bahá’í community. It is evident that, on the ground, ideals of what it means to be a “true” Bahá’í are constantly being negotiated and, in some cases, exist in conflict with one another: Over the past 15 years, activities ratified by a transnational administrative order for the dissemination of scripture-based religious knowledge have become the central reference point for such dynamics. While national and local institutions of the Bahá’í community in Kyrgyzstan now define these activities as part of being a good Bahá’í, strive for their implementation in specific neighborhoods and villages, and generally prioritize scripture-based ideal types, Bahá’ís who act contrary to such ideal types experience their religiosity as marginalized. To better understand such dynamics, this dissertation subsequently addresses the following questions: How have processes of becoming a Bahá’í—that is, of religious conversion—unfolded, and how can they be distinguished from one another? How have Bahá’ís learned what it actually means to be a “good” Bahá’í? What role exactly do transnational administrative structures play in this process? Which categories and values are of particular significance here, and why?
Ultimately, the dissertation aims to contribute to a theoretical understanding of religious conversions and religious forms in post-Soviet everyday life. The findings are currently being written up.
