Paper short abstract:

This presentation aims to elucidate the situation of religious minority diaspora within globalization, based on network, belonging, and identity. This is a case study of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community mainly in Japan, based on cultural anthropological fieldwork from May 2012 to the present.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation aims to elucidate the situation of religious minority diaspora within globalization, based on the following characteristics: network, gender, generations, belonging, and identity. This is a case study of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community mainly in Japan, based on cultural anthropological fieldwork from May 2012 to the present.

Ahmadiyya, founded in 1889, was one of the religious reformist movements started in British India. It now has tens of millions adherents (called Ahmadis) worldwide, especially in Europe, North America, and West Africa. Because of Pakistan government's persecution, their Fourth Caliph seek asylum in the United Kingdom in 1984. Since then Ahmadiyya headquartered in London.

Ahmadis' distinguishing traits are extreme pacifism, high systematization, and adoption of the caliphate. Headquarter office supervise organizations scattered all over the world.

In this presentation, the Ahmadis are described as being prepared to negotiate peacefully with others to keep their identity and to create their own place to live, without infringement from any nation-state and with human rights. We show how they strive to express their religious identity and to maintain that identity in host societies, and how they develop the next generation's religious identity in diaspora.