Spatial methodology in the study of diasporic religions: the example of Shia Muslim networks in Britain

This chapter discusses recent debates on the development of a spatial methodology in the study of diasporic religions and its use in research on minority religious communities, their transnational dimensions and their place and role in public life. These contributions are used to understand the multiple spatial layers in which transnational religious networks are located and to question some of the discursive dichotomies created around diasporic religious communities such as regressive vs. progressive, purity vs. hybridity, continuity vs. discontinuity, transnationalism vs. localism. To exemplify and apply these theoretical reflections, the chapter uses the results of ethnographic fieldwork conducted as part of a larger project on Twelver Shii Muslim transnational networks that operate between Britain and the Middle East.