Description
Book SynopsisHow do specific secular and religious ideologiessuch as nationalism, neoliberalism, atheism, Pentecostalism, Tablighi Islam, and shamanismgain popularity and when do they lose traction? To answer these questions, Mathijs Pelkmans critically examines the trajectories of a range of ideologies as they move into the post-Soviet frontier in Central Asia. Ethnographically rooted in the everyday life of a former mining town in southern Kyrgyzstan, Fragile Conviction shows how residents have dealt with the existential and epistemic crises that arose after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Residents became enchanted by the truths of Muslim and Christian missionaries, embraced the teachings of neoliberal and nationalist ideologues, and were riveted by the visions of shamanic healers. But no matter how much enthusiasm and hope these ideas first engendered, the commitment to any of them rarely lasted very long.Pelkmans finds that there is an inverse relationship between the tenacity and
Trade Review
Rooted in the author's deep understanding of Kyrgyz society, this is a complex, well-structured and nuanced text.... Readers will come away from the book with a very clear understanding of modern small-town Kyrgyzstan and the nuances governing its society.
* LSE Review of Books *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Ideational Power in Times of TurmoilPart I: Uncertain Times and Places1. Shattered Transition: The Reordering of Kyrgyz Society2. Condition of Uncertainty: Life in an Industrial WastelandPart II: Dynamics of Conviction3. What Happened to Soviet Atheism?4. Walking the Truth in Islam with the Tablighi Jamaat5. Pentecostal Miracle Truth on the Frontier6. The Tenacity of Spiritual Healing and Seeing Conclusion: Pulsation and the Dynamics of Conviction
