The Politics of Religion in the Reconstruction of Identities: The Albanian Situation

Albert Doja (1)

1 Université de Lille

"Within the theme of Balkan identities and nationalist constructions Albert Doja offers us in this paper a long-term historical perspective on the roots of Albanian ethnicity and the relationship between religious conversion and national affirmation. In a fascinating exploration of a little known cultural history, Doja suggests that some parallels can be drawn between the conversion to Islam of Albanians under pressure from Slav and Greek influences in the Balkan Orthodox Churches and the conversion of Bosnians similarly situated between Orthodox Serbia and Catholic Croatia, while discussing what is specific to the 'hibernation in history' of the collective identity of one of the last nationalities to appear in Europe." (John Gledhill and Stephen Nugent, Editorial).

Mots clés: Albanian; conversion; ethnicity; religion

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Religions; Histoire; Sociologie; Science politique

Albert Doja. The Politics of Religion in the Reconstruction of Identities: The Albanian Situation. Critique of Anthropology, 2000, 20 (4), pp.421-438. ⟨10.1177/0308275X0002000404⟩. ⟨halshs-00406257⟩