Religieus cliëntelisme in een Joegoslavische boerengemeenschap

Samenvatting

This article has been retracted by the editors. Some decades ago, Eric R. Wolf argued that the study of patron-client relations & other "parallel structures" might further understanding of complex societies (Kinship, Friendship, and Patron-Client Relations in Complex Societies [no additional publication information provided]). Regarding political patronage, Wolf's theory has been accepted, but in terms of religion, his views have scarcely been heeded. Data obtained from a Yugoslav peasant community indicate that Wolf's proposition is applicable to the religious field as well. In Medjugorje, a pilgrimage center in Bosnia-Hercegovina, a patronage network has evolved around a small group of young local seers. Their relations with the "official" clergy-run Marian devotion are rather strained. The dynamics of that parallel structure of the institutional Church, & how the visionary-centered patronage network differs from patron-client configurations in the political field are discussed. 47 References. Modified AA