Religious Conversion and Imperial Rule

Over centuries and across continents, religious communities functioned as a link and driving force in shaping individual self-positioning within society. While studies on the phenomenon of religious conversion have grown considerably in the historical-anthropological literature, the relationship between conversion and imperial rule has been limited to a few geographical areas. In contrast, the present volume proposes a global and comparative approach. Although most of the included studies focus on the spread of Christianity and the responses of communities of different faiths, the further aim is to supplement a debate that goes beyond confessions or imperial configurations. By addressing diverse historical cases, firstly, the multidirectional character of religious conversion practices is shown. Second, they explore the varying degrees of change in conversion, shaped by the possibilities and limits of local structures. Finally, the volume examines notions of subjectivity within convert communities, which shaped their articulated responses to imperial strategies. Overall, these approaches illuminate the interplay between power, agency and social transformation.

Ricarda Vulpius is Professor of East European History and a Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics at the University of Münster. She specialized in the history of the Russian Empire and the history of Ukraine and its entanglements in the 16th to 20th centuries.
Ricarda Vulpius ist Professorin für Osteuropäische Geschichte und Mitglied des Exzellenzclusters Religion und Politik der Universität Münster. Zu ihren Forschungsschwerpunkten gehören die russländische Imperiumsgeschichte und die Geschichte der Ukraine und ihrer Verflechtungen im 16.-20. Jahrhundert.Guillermo Wilde is Professor of Anthropology and History of Latin America and Principal Investigator at the National Scientific Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) of. He specializes in the Ethnohistory and the study of religious conversion in missionary contexts of the Iberian World.
Guillermo Wilde ist Professor für Anthropologie und Geschichte Lateinamerikas und leitender Forscher am Nationalen Rat für wissenschaftliche Forschung Argentiniens (CONICET). Er ist spezialisiert auf Ethnohistorie und die Erforschung religiöser Konversion im missionarischen Kontext der iberischen Welt.