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Who are the Mennonites ?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

James Urry
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Who do you think the Mennonites are ? What do you think their future will be ? These were the questions I most commonly encountered among older ‘Russian’ Mennonites in Canada. The ethnographer who enters the field expecting to ask questions is a little disconcerted to be quizzed by informants. It is worse, however, when one is expected to pronounce upon their history or to make prophetic statements concerning their future! Yet the questions were asked in all sincerity; suddenly I was placed in the role of the expert and expected to issue a final judgement on Mennonite identity. I soon learnt to be very cautious of providing answers, particularly to the first question. The question obviously involved a search for a Mennonite identity and it was clear that this had a long and troubled history. For a hundred years ‘Russian’ Mennonites have been searching for an identity acceptable both to themselves and to the wider world. This paper will attempt to explain how and why Mennonites have sought different identities at different periods in their history.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , November 1983 , pp. 241 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1983

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