From Entanglement to Disentanglement and to Re-Entanglement?

This chapter explores the dynamics of competitive entanglement between Albanian and Turkish Bektashis in Macedonia, leading to organisational, hierarchical, and linguistic disentanglement within the order. Despite these separations, shared interests foster moments of cross-ethnic re-entanglement. Ethnicity plays a central role in these processes, but power and solidarity are also negotiated beyond ethnic lines. This chapter addresses how ethnicity is entangled in the Bektashi order and how it shapes internal challenges. Based on multi-sited field research and interviews with Bektashi actors, it offers insights into the interplay of identity, competition, and cooperation within this Sufi context.