The Baha'i: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity
The Baha'i (: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity by
MICHAEL MCMULLEN. New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Rutgers University
Press, 2000, 251 pp. $65.00 (cloth), $29.00 (paper).
"Think globally and act locally" is the resounding theme of
Michael McMullen's study of the construction of Baha'i identity in
Atlanta, Georgia. This book is one of the few published sociological
works on the Baha'i
Faith, joining Will van den Hoonaard's The Origins of the Baha'i
Community in Canada (1996) and Peter Smith's the Babi and Baha'i
religions (1987).
Drawing upon cultural globalization theorist Roland Robertson,
the author sets out to fill in theoretical gaps in the literature
about globalization and religion by presenting empirical data
concerning the organizational and ideological connections between
the local and global. He succeeds by highlighting some mechanisms
through which this new religion constructs identity and manages
personal and community tensions. McMullen posits that the Baha'i
religion is a universalizing movement that inspires within its
members a collective consciousness with a universal message and
identity. His significant finding is that while other religious
movements or denominations are global in their outreach, Baha'is
are: "global in a different way in that the ideology and the
ecclesiastical structure of the Baha'i administrative order shapes
the Baha'i identity as a situated universalist" (p. 177). The
foundational concepts of the oneness of humankind and the oneness of
religion are expressed by Baha'is through local lines of action
oriented toward social justice, racial harmony, and collaboration
with like- minded religions and organizations. The participation in,
and recognition of, democratically elected local Baha'i governance,
brings BahA'is into alignment with the national and globalized
authority structures. This linkage is facilitated through frequent
consultations and communications, reflexively molding the religious
identity of Baha'is as world citizens (p. 74) .
The key strength of this book is the author's rigor in providing
a meticulous presentation of collective and personal BahA'i
practices, observances, and theological teachings and laws of the
religion. This is a multi-faceted study drawing upon participant
observation, archival research, in-depth interviews, and survey
questionnaire data from some 241 people. McMullen employs a very
useful format in structuring the chapters of this book which will
assist those readers who are unfamiliar with the religion and its
practices. The first part of each chapter provides comprehensive
details of Baha'i belief and theological doctrine, while the second
part provides data from his case study material, interviews, and/or
survey results from the metro Atlanta Baha'i community. In addition,
the author explores in depth a number of different types of Baha'i
events, international meetings and local gatherings, conducted in
formal and informal contexts, which provide an interesting and
richly textured exploration into the everyday and extra special
events of the life of this community.
My major criticism of this work is that in McMullen's attempt to
convey an unbiased portrayal of the Baha,'i community, and to
explicate "the lived reality of the Atlanta community," he has
overly favored discussion and analyses of the negative tensions and
expressions in people's lives. There are few representations of any
experience of certitude or confirmation in Baha'i religiosity, or of
the adherents' rational insights into complex theological teachings.
There are no discussions of participants' positive experiences of
being of service (a major part of Baha'i life and ideology). In his
summary discussions and conclusion, McMullen dwells primarily on the
paradoxes in the ways Baha'is talk about their religion, the few
theological issues which Baha'i'is cannot explain (e.g.
nonparticipation in partisan politics), or cultural practice which
is not as yet completely possible for the Baha'is to follow (the
Baha'i calendar). The manner in which he presents and frames these
and other tensions as "contradictions" and sometimes "hypocrisy,"
ignores in a number of cases the larger context of issues such as
the organic growth and the marginal position of the religion in
current society, the lack of understanding of certain topics in the
broader context of the teachings of the religion, and the slow
emergence and dissemination of scholarly knowledge in some of these
areas. The Baha'i's themselves may have trouble recognizing the
vital elements of their own community's beliefs in this book. In the
key chapters on race unity and the construction of a global
identity, however, the author presents a picture of a consonant
Baha'i identity and represents the Baha'i community and individuals
as agents of social change. In the final analysis, Baha'i literature
supports McMullen's argument, that faith and reliance on an ultimate
global authority of the Baha'i administrative order is the way that
Bat-d'is in general counteract any cognitive dissonance they may
experience.
The book reads well, and the extensive notes and bibliography are
a plus for undergraduate and graduate students. Since this is the
first detailed empirical study of a local Baha'i group, it is a
welcome addition to the social science literature, and will be of
interest to sociologists of religion.
Lynn Echevarria
University Of Saskatchewan
©Copyright 2002, Association for the Sociology of Religion Spring 2002
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