Muslim lives in Eastern Europe
Book Description
This compelling ethnographic study reveals how spiritual identity transforms in the wake of profound social change. Kristen Rogheh Ghodsee takes readers into the remote mountain communities of southern Bulgaria, where Slavic Muslims known as Pomaks navigate the complex intersection of faith, tradition, and modernity.
Following the collapse of Communism in 1989, these communities faced a unique spiritual crossroads. After decades of enforced atheism, the Pomaks began reconnecting with their Islamic heritage, but their journey took an unexpected turn. Rather than returning to their ancestral religious practices, many embraced a more orthodox interpretation of Islam, influenced by international aid and guidance from the broader Islamic world.
Through careful observation and deep cultural immersion, Ghodsee illuminates how this spiritual transformation reshaped every aspect of community life. She explores the intricate ways that religious renewal intersected with economic upheaval, as traditional mining jobs disappeared and mosques emerged as new centers of social organization. The study reveals how men and women negotiated changing roles within their families and communities, with women often supporting stricter religious observance as a path toward addressing social problems like alcoholism and domestic violence.
What emerges is a nuanced portrait of how communities adapt their spiritual practices to meet contemporary challenges, blending new religious influences with enduring values of social justice and human solidarity rooted in their complex historical experience.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)
📄 Length: 280 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Islam
- ✓ Explore Political aspects of Ethnicity
- ✓ Explore Sex role
- ✓ Explore Muslims
- ✓ Explore Social conditions
- ✓ Explore Case studies
- ✓ Explore Religious life and customs
- ✓ Explore Political aspects
