RT Article
T1 Blurring the boundaries of religious identity: a phenomenological exploration of conversion and deconversion in Northern Thailand
JF Journal of contemporary religion
VO 38
IS 1
SP 21
OP 39
A1 Blumenstock, James A.
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1839536802
AB Recent literature on deconversion has highlighted the fluid nature of religious identity that occurs throughout periods of religious change. However, an inordinate emphasis has been placed on the roles of doubt and individual choice in deconversion over and against emotion and group belonging. This study presents a phenomenological interpretation of the experience of deconversion as occurring among Protestant Christian converts in Northern Thailand. Rather than investigating deconversion retrospectively, however, this study targets the felt ‘temptation’ that Christian converts experience to return to their previous Buddhist social worlds. By approaching the phenomenon in this way, I aim to describe better the fluid nature of religious identity as lived through by participants themselves. Further, by providing a cross-cultural comparison, I suggest that factors pertaining to social pressure and the consequent emotional strain should be given more consideration when investigating deconversion in cultural contexts outside North America and Europe.
K1 Christianity
K1 Thailand
K1 Identity
K1 Marginalization
K1 Phenomenology
K1 Deconversion
DO 10.1080/13537903.2022.2138024