“Conversion Without Crisis?” Inquiry into Religious Narratives of the Bahá’í Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Conversions in Central and Eastern Europe : The Politics of Religion and Nonreligion across the 20th Century
- Author(s)
- Milovanović, Marko Galić
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Place
- London
- Year
- 2026
Description
This paper focuses on the dynamics of religious conversion within the Bahá'í community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a minority faith in a multi-confessional society shaped by its historical and cultural intersections of ethnicity and religion. Drawing on 11 conversion narratives collected through qualitative interviews, the study explores the motivations, processes, and outcomes of joining the Bahá'í Faith, emphasizing the interplay between individual spiritual seeking and the broader socio-religious context. Unlike traditional narratives of conversion often centered on crises or radical transformations, Bahá'í conversion experiences reveal a pattern of intellectual and spiritual progression. Many informants described their decision to join the faith as a natural extension of their prior beliefs, often characterized by dissatisfaction with institutionalized religion or the desire for a more inclusive and universalist worldview. The narratives also highlight the diverse ethnic and social composition of the Bahá'í community, with respondents from Bosniak, Serb, Croat, and international backgrounds. The paper focuses on the role of social networks in conversion processes, the specificity of the Bahá'í conversion narratives, aiming to contribute to the broader study of religious conversion in the Balkans, by shedding light on an underexplored community in a region where religion and ethnicity are deeply intertwined. The research aims to provide new insights into a distinctive model of conversion, characterized by intellectual engagement, inclusivity, and spiritual continuity.