Religious fundamentalism, individuality, and collective identity: A case study of two student organizations in Iran

This study investigates the relationships between religious fundamentalism, collective identity, and individuality. The questions addressed in this research are: Who is joining fundamentalist student organizations? Why and how are they doing so? And, how do these organizations maintain their collect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical research on religion
Authors: Razaghi, Mohammad (Author) ; Chanzanagh, Hamid Ebadollahi (Author) ; Chavoshian, Hasan (Author) ; Rabiei, Kamran (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2020
In: Critical research on religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Iran / Student association / Islam / Fundamentalism / Religious identity / Individualism / Group identity
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BJ Islam
KBL Near East and North Africa
Further subjects:B Collective identity
B Individualism
B Individuality
B Religious Fundamentalism
B Collectivism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This study investigates the relationships between religious fundamentalism, collective identity, and individuality. The questions addressed in this research are: Who is joining fundamentalist student organizations? Why and how are they doing so? And, how do these organizations maintain their collective identity in the face of ever-growing individualism? To gain an adequate understanding of the fundamentalist characteristics of such organizations, we first explored the existing theoretical literature. Then, we performed a qualitative case study of two student organizations at the University of Guilan: the Basij and Welayat Lovers. Our findings indicate that although these organizations strongly tend to define and impose a unified collective identity on their members, some important social trends, such as the expansion of secularist higher education and rising levels of students' knowledge, skills, and their reinforced individuality, leave little room for the growth of a fundamentalist collective identity.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303219900226