Cambridge University Press

European Shi?ism - Matthijs van den Bos

The presence of Sh? te communities in Western Europe dates to the late nineteenth century, with Britain as the primary destination for immigration, as well as notable communities developing in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Exploring selected encounters of Twelver Sh? te Muslims with the European West, this study examines local and transnational religious organization to assess socio-political integration. Its central thesis defines European Sh? sm through peripheral engagement and religious retention. Building on a range of language sources, interviews with Sh? te spokesmen and fieldwork in Iran, Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany, Matthijs van den Bos identifies European Sh? sm with a religious mode of engagement involving hierarchization of collective self and other identities. Sh? te parties with greater distance to high politico-religious authorities abroad are seen more likely to engage in cultural exchange with their European milieu. On one side stand ethnically varied Sh? te organizations with limited engagement of others in Europe. The other shows civic outreach, ritual transformation, and integrationist theology.

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