Article: Shiite “Communities of Practice” in Germany+PDF

This article seeks to develop a perspective on Shii communities in Germany that, on the one hand, is able to analyse the modes and means by which Shii communities constitute and reproduce themselves, and, on the other, grasps the varying engagement of individuals within the communities and these groups’ mutual connectivity.

This article aims at an analytical framework that integrates an open understanding of belonging: employing Leave and Wenger’s concept of “communities of practice.” Although few in number, the various Shiite Muslim communities in Germany are highly diversified in terms of their linguistic, national and ethnic backgrounds and ritual practice. In order to come to terms with these multi-local actors and their specific articulations of Shiism, the article aims at an analytical framework that integrates an open understanding of belonging: employing Leave and Wenger’s concept of “communities of practice”, it argues that a focus on common practice in which heterogeneous actors engage, enables us to grasp, on the one hand, the varying specific characteristics of different groups and, on the other, their mutual belonging to the wider Shiite field.

Bibliographic Information

Title: Shiite “Communities of Practice” in Germany

Authors: Robert Langer and Benjamin Weineck

Published in: Journal of Muslims in Europe, Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 216 – 240

 Language: English

Length: 25 pages

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