Finding a new home through conversion: the ontological security of Iranians converting to Christianity in Sweden
Extant scholarship on ontological security in sociology has focused on the significance of home as a source of security. In this article, I argue that when Iranian asylum-seeking converts lose faith in mainstream primary institutions (such as the public and political institutions formed and shaped b...
| Published in: | Religion, state & society |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2022
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| In: |
Religion, state & society
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| Further subjects: | B
ontological security
B Sweden B Asylum seeker B Conversion B Stevens, John C.: Home |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Extant scholarship on ontological security in sociology has focused on the significance of home as a source of security. In this article, I argue that when Iranian asylum-seeking converts lose faith in mainstream primary institutions (such as the public and political institutions formed and shaped by Iran’s religious autocracy), they turn to Christianity to find a source of such significance. This conversion is a secondary institution that shields them from existential anxiety and homelessness, while the primary institution has become meaningless. The new home that this secondary institution offers increases their sense of ontological security and minimises their existential anxiety. Through conversion, they have become ‘at home’ in the secondary institution, and the self has been re-institutionalised. |
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| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2022.2061828 |