Economie morale du pelerinage et societe civile en Iran: les voyages religieux, commerciaux et touristiques a Damas

In: Politix: revue des sciences sociales du politique, Band 20, Heft 77, S. 39-54

Abstract

The pilgrimage is a central religious practice in Islam. But beneath this banal observation lies a great social & historical complexity. On the one hand pilgrimage is not a timeless phenomenon, it is located within time & of course space, on the other hand it is made up of religious & mundane or profane aspects that are looked upon as unconnected with religion. It is this complexity that makes pilgrimage a political practice important to the formation of civil society. The observation of a group of Iranian Shiites throughout the pilgrimage to the holy sites of Syria, in July 2003, should help to understand the role played by women both as pilgrims & traders. It should also highlight the social impacts of such practices as referred to gender relationships, the autonomy of business in front of the State, & the process of individuation. Although as transcendental as they have ever been, the religious experiences are far from being opposite of a rational & economical calculation. Thus the pilgrimage is less a kind of updating of communitas for believers than a perfect area where are shaped social practices & identified struggles in the double context of nation & globalization. Adapted from the source document.