BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:talks.ox.ac.uk
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Religious Conversion and Communal Identity in Central Asia: The Is
 mailis of Badakhshan - Daniel Beben (Nazarbayev University)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20190507T170000
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20190507T180000
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/c6e47e65-c3a7-40b6-8ad0-8aa95b1824f6/
DESCRIPTION:In this presentation I address the question of how minority re
 ligious communities are able to successfully endure and proselytize under 
 adverse conditions of persecution. I examine this through the example of t
 he Ismaili Shiʿi community of the Badakhshan region of Central Asia\, a c
 ommunity which\, despite many centuries of violent repression\, has retain
 ed its status as one of the largest religious minorities of the Iranian wo
 rld. I investigate the inter-related practices of shrine patronage and the
  elaboration of religious conversion narratives connected with Ismaili sai
 nts\, and demonstrate how these practices intersect within a cyclical proc
 ess of appropriation and re-appropriation of the sanctity of these saints 
 among both Ismaili and non-Ismaili communities. This process provides a cr
 itical source of symbolic capital for Ismailis and a tool for communal sur
 vival and proselytization. Finally\, I demonstrate how this framework can 
 address the seeming paradox of why Ismailism\, which is often depicted in 
 scholarship as a quintessentially intellectual and literary tradition\, ha
 s found its deepest roots in “peripheral” regions beyond the political
  and cultural centers of the Islamic world.\nSpeakers:\nDaniel Beben (Naza
 rbayev University)
LOCATION:New College (Lecture Room 4)\, Holywell Street OX1 3BN
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/c6e47e65-c3a7-40b6-8ad0-8aa95b1824f6/
BEGIN:VALARM
ACTION:display
DESCRIPTION:Talk:Religious Conversion and Communal Identity in Central Asi
 a: The Ismailis of Badakhshan - Daniel Beben (Nazarbayev University)
TRIGGER:-PT1H
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR