主讲题目：Religious gift giving: An ethnographic account of a Muslim pilgrimage

主讲人简介：

Presentation: Religious gift giving: An ethnographic account of a Muslim pilgrimage

My work enhances the understanding of consumption practices, particularly gift giving, within the context of an Islamic pilgrimage called the ziyara. Pilgrimages are rich sites of analysis of entangled secular and sacred consumption. The findings of ethnographic research undertaken in this area have made a significant contribution to the literature on gift giving. Three particular types of gifts have been identified (1) ordinary liturgical gifts, (2) supplication gifts that invite ‘prayer’ counter-gifts and (3) soteriological gifts in the form of hassanat that are given to ensure other-worldly salvation. Pilgrims see the purchasing and consumption of gifts as activities intrinsic to their pilgrimage, even as sine qua non in the case of gifts distributed in the shrines. The consumption of material objects appears to be integral to pilgrimage rituals and transforms the intangible spiritual experience of the pilgrims into something ‘palpable’. The gifts are intended to embody the sacredness of the sites visited by the pilgrims and allow family and friends to partake in their sacred experience.

Short Bio
Dr Mona Moufahim is an Assistant Professor at Durham University Business School. Her current research interests include political marketing, critical marketing and organization studies, as well as, more recently, Islamic marketing and the Muslim consumer. Her research has been published in Organization Studies, Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Theory and Consumption, Markets and Culture. She has also contributed chapters to scholarly books on political marketing, critical marketing and public services management.