Drops of One Ocean: Globalization, Identity Formation and Hegemony in the Baha’i Communities of Samoa, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Lithuania

This thesis examines the processes of globalization in different Baha’i communities in Samoa, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Traditionally globalization has been defined as a secular force imposing worldwide homogenization from the global-center onto the global periphery, however in the Baha’i Faith globalization is an essential part of the central goal to materialize a unified world marked by peace and racial, class-based, and gender-based justice infused with monotheistic spirituality. Drawing evidence from interviews with Baha’is and observations of community events and prayer services, and theoretical support from Foucault’s concept of authorship and Tsing, Rifkin, and Appiah’s theories of globalization, the central argument revolves around how the use of spirituality in Baha’i rhetoric centers human experience in globalization, resulting in tangible examples that defy assumed homogenization. The combination of these diverse theories aid to a conversation demystifying and decolonizing hegemonic globalization discourse and incorporate the ways in which friction between local and global streams of culture produce and reproduce heterogeneous cultural identities and communities.