Politics and Change among the Baluch in Iran
Jun 20th, 2008 by MESH
From Stephen Peter Rosen and Martin Kramer
We are pleased to announce a new paper, the second in our Middle East Papers series. Philip Carl Salzman, professor of anthropology at McGill University and a member of MESH, offers an interpretation of what he calls “Islamic intensification” among the Baluch of southeastern Iran. Often it is assumed that ethnic and tribal loyalties compete with Islam. Salzman suggests that Islamic assertion complements Baluchi identity in Iran: for the Baluch, their adherence to Sunni Islam is the one area in which they can claim superiority over the dominant Persian (Shiite) center. The more they adhere, the more superior they feel.
There is much more fascinating information in this paper about the social structure of the Baluch in Iran, the role of segmentary opposition, and the relationship of periphery to center. Download here (pdf).
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