Conversive Relationality in Bahá’í Scholarship

Abstract

This article explores ways in which the work of Bahá’í scholars might follow the process of consecration by centering the sacred within and decentering the self out of academic work. Academic discourse will be contrasted with a conversive model based conjointly on the Bahá’í writings, American Indian literary models (written and oral), Wittgensteinian philosophy, and contemporary feminist and postmodern theory. A conversive model of communication and scholarship is firmly rooted within the sacred, emphasizing relationality, intersubjectivity, and collaboration while rejecting the questionable benefits of an assumed “objectivity.” Such a model is presented as more in line with the Bahá’í teachings than are traditional models of academic discourse. The article ends with several specific suggestions that are developed to provide concrete examples of ways by which a conversive approach could reinform and transform academic and nonacademic writing and scholarship.