What is it about?
According to my study, “political secularism” means the separation of political power from religious institutions, while “social secularism” is a theory and endeavor to eliminate religiosity from not only public but also private life, considering it an obsolete way of thinking. I examine four case studies based on my ethnological fieldwork in Hunza (in the Pakistani-controlled Kashmir), the Middle Ural (Russia), Transylvania (Romania), and Sápmi (northern Scandinavia). I outline and compare ethnic minorities (Hunzakuts, Tatars, Szeklers, Samis) according to their historical background, contemporary social environment, relation to the majority, their political endeavors, and the role of religion(s) among them. Based on my anthropological fieldwork, interviews, and sociological data, I analyze the similarities and differences of ethnic complexity, terminological confusions, problems of “lived religion,” and the impact of social and political secularism. Since their religiosity differs from the majorities’ ones, I found that secularism has a complex role and reception. Political secularism is essential for defending these minorities from assimilation, but most of these minorities reject social secularism since religion is part of their multifunctional ethnic discourse space. Religiosity is part of their survival strategy. Notwithstanding, ethnic minorities’ religious institutions participate in political activity and propagate their claims for self-governance.
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Why is it important?
An inductive study with theoretical results. The author analyzes the social role of political and social secularism amongst ethnic minorities in Pakistan, Russia, Romania, and Norway. While political secularism is part of their survival strategy, social secularism has an opposite role: it is a tool for assimilation. The paper is based on ethnological fieldwork.
Perspectives
This study is part of an ongoing work towards a book of comparative studies about ethnic minorities' contemporary religiosity and its relation to the different kinds of secularism.
László Koppány Csáji
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This page is a summary of: Secularism and Ethnic Minorities: Comparative Case Studies on Ethnic, Religious, and Political Cognitions in Pakistani-Controlled Kashmir, Central Russia, Romania, and Northern Scandinavia, Religions, January 2023, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/rel14010117.
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