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Paper short abstract:

The document shows that participation in rituals is a tool of personal and group social and property stratification, legitimizing social roles and statuses

Paper long abstract:

This presentation is devoted to the study of ritual economy in the business environment of Dushanbe and Khujand in recent times. Based on material from two studies in 2005 and 2016, this paper analyzes the participation of businessmen and their employees in rituals, the specifics of their roles in rituals, and their ritual expenses. I examined the relationship of the nature and amount of ritual expenditures to property and social status and the inverse effect of expenditures on status and influence. Material from interviews with entrepreneurs, their employees, and their family members made it possible to conclude that participation in rituals is a tool of personal and group social and property stratification, legitimizing social roles and statuses. This general situation looks different in Dushanbe and Khujand, as ritual activity reflects the differences in social organization in these cities.

Significant ritual expenses of businessmen make them the recognized leaders of kinship and fellow countrymen group. And it accumulates the resources and efforts of rank-and-file members in order to promote the most successful members, and thus the entire group. There is much less support in Khujand than in Dushanbe. Therefore, businessmen invest a lot of money in insurance for their business, but not in rituals. In general, the level of ritual expenses of Khujand businessmen is much lower than in Dushanbe. At the same time, ritual expenses almost do not go through the mosque and religious institutions, unlike in Dushanbe. The study demonstrated a complex relationship between ritual expenditures and social stratification.