The Bahá'í : the religious construction of a global identity /

The author of this work justifies his study of the Baha'i faith using "sociological theory derived from Roland Robertson," which argues that "in the midst of modern forces of globalization, social and religious movements must manage the tensions between the global and local; between universal forces and particular cultures; between the 'world at large' (literally) and specific places." This work presents in a careful scholarly manner the "Baha'i identity." The "fieldwork" was centered on the Baha'i community of Atlanta. The study includes thorough discussion in these chapters: "The Baha'i Administrative Order," "Authority in the Administrative Order," "Devotion and Participation," "Boundaries and Identity," "Teaching the Baha'i Faith," and "Thinking Globally, Acting Locally." An appendix includes the Atlanta questionnaire survey materials, along with 47 pages of notes, bibliography, and index. Highly recommended as an important study of the Baha'i faith. General readers; upper-division undergraduates and above. T. M. Pucelik Bradley University

McMullen (sociology, Univ. of Houston) deals frankly with the Bah '! religion as lived in Atlanta, GA. The Bah '! Faith was founded in Iran by Bah 'ull h (1817-92), who taught that one God has revealed His will through a series of divine messengers (among them Moses, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and Bah 'ull h) and that this is the age of the realization of the oneness of humanity. McMullen calls Bah '!s "situated universalists" whose international structure fosters global thinking with local action. He demonstrates that the social factors that typically influence religious belief (gender, race, education, etc.) are unrelated to how Bah '!s engage in personal and community spiritual obligations or adhere to Bah '! principles, a finding that appears unique among religious groups. Instead, the grounding of elected Bah '! institutions (e.g., the Universal House of Justice, national and local spiritual assemblies) in the religion's scriptures makes loyalty to them a spiritual necessity, which is consistently practiced. Unfortunately, the book has some weaknesses in methodological points, the treatment of controversies, and occasional historical inaccuracies. Nonetheless, this work offers fresh insights and useful findings about a new religious approach to globalization. It will complement the few existing published sociological treatments of the Bah '! faith, especially Peter Smith's The B h! and Bah '! Religions (1987. o.p.), and Will van den Hoonaard's The Origins of the Bah '! Community in Canada (Wilfrid Laurier Univ.,1996) and is recommended for academic collections on the sociology of religion.DWilliam P. Collins, Library of Congress (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.