Performative Ritual and Authority with Shia in Europe (PRASE)

Goffman's dramaturgical framework has provided a rich conceptual repertoire for analyzing the performative aspects of social life and how we adapt our self-presentations to the audiences we address. However, we are only just beginning to understand how advances in digital technology and the widespread use of social media have transformed the way people present their identities to both near and far audiences, as well as the tensions that can arise from performing for multiple audiences simultaneously. PRASE examines these questions through an innovative study of public religious rituals performed locally but projected globally.

Focusing on public rituals organized by Shia Muslims of South Asian origin in Europe, the project analyzes how these rituals are structured by different logics of religious and civic performativity directed towards different audiences. For example, the impetus to engage in passionate expressions of piety to impress Shias abroad (religious performativity) can clash with pressures to shape rituals according to local norms and sensibilities (civic performativity). These tensions are particularly notable with regard to Shia mourning rituals, as they often involve practices of self-flagellation that some consider antithetical to civic values. These rituals and the discussions surrounding their organization constitute key contexts for “facework” and interaction between Shia minorities, state authorities, and the general public, where issues of integration are actively negotiated.

The PRASE project combines historical research, rigorous multiple case ethnography and innovative social network analysis. The ethnographic component focuses on Barcelona, Bonn, London and Milan, four cities chosen for the distinctive migratory trajectories, socio-economic composition and ritual performances of the respective Shia communities, as well as the different ways of regulating religious expressions in public space. The project results will contribute to our knowledge of transformations in social performativity, the sources of religious innovation and the changing interface between religion and citizenship in the context of the current “digital revolution” and the opportunities it has generated to form and sustain transnational interconnections.

Project Details

“Performative Ritual and Authority with Shia in Europe (PRASE).” 2021-2024. Ministry of Science and Innovation, State Research Agency (R+D+i Project). Ref.: PID2020-116558GA-I00.

IP: Avi Astor

Financed by PID2020-116558GA-I00/MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033: