"Opfer" und "Aktivistin". Zwei Muslima aus Gujarat ringen mit der Ambivalenz des Sakralen

Abstract

Recourse to religion can escalate as well as de-escalate intergroup conflict – so the emerging academic consensus. But the “ambivalence of the sacred Appleby 2000) concerns not only violent or non-violent movements or ideologies, it is also experienced on the micro-level of religious identities and individual agency. This article takes two female Muslim peace activists’ biographical narratives and psychometric profiles to illustrate how the ambivalence and ambiguity of religion towards violent conflict unfolds its dynamics on the individual level. Both women struggle with and fight for religion in Gujarat, India – and both experience their own Muslimness as ambivalent and/or ambiguous. Their stories highlight the relevance of explorative empirical methods on the individual microlevel for an adequate understanding of religio-political conflict.