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This book is an ethnographic study of Muslim survivors of ethnic strife in Mumbai and two major cities of Gujarat. Based on narratives of and interviews with Muslim men and women, it tries to understand the world and worldviews of those who have seen and lived through one or several violent confrontations and episodes in their lives. Through engagements with these survivors, the book weaves several stories of devastating loss, the painful and never absolute process of recovery, and battles for survival and redress from the state. By giving space to the voices of both women and men, to survivor

Focused on the theme of the sociology of religion, this volume brings together essays by well-known scholars which examine the resurgence of religious identities in the Indian context. The contributors question many received notions, address critical problems, and raise important issues surrounding various current debates. The papers are divided into four sections. The first deals with religion, society and national identity. The next section is devoted to sects, cults, shrines and the making of traditions. The third section discusses religious conversion, while the last section provides a com

AbstractThis paper will look at converted Christian communities on the Indian subcontinent and the emergent rich bricolage of religious traditions. A narrative of Indian Christianity takes us almost imperceptibly into the realm of cultural convergence and communication. While the concepts of 'syncretism' or 'composite culture' have framed many discussions regarding this interaction, newer perspectives have begun to emerge. Syncretism sometimes implies the harmonious interaction of different religious traditions, while ethnographies bring up a far more complicated picture of contestation and struggle. We also need to look closely at patterns of religious interaction and engagement. Christianity may take from Hinduism, but this is not always the case. Sometimes both Christianity and Hinduism simultaneously engage with a different religious and cultural environment. Processes are more complex than they at first sight appear and, as this paper will attempt to show, some amount of historicisation is essential when understanding the ways in which they work.

AbstractThis paper explores the ways in which a resurgent Hindu fundamentalism (Hindutva) is redefining Hinduism and Hindu identities in a transnational, global context. The global project of Hindutva makes use of new global communication channels, including the Internet, and is apparently espoused by influential sections of the transnational Hindu middle class, especially in the United States. This paper examines a selected sample of Internet sites devoted to the spread of religious and fundamentalist beliefs and ideas particularly relevant to India and transnational Hinduism, and explores the ways in which the Internet is changing the shape of communities and the ways in which they represent one another. The paper puts forth the argument that in the context of globalization, the Net has become an important space for the creation of transnational religious identities. The Net is shaping religion, specifically Hinduism, in distinct ways and is the newest expression of religion's changing face. The battle for souls is being fought on Internet sites. The questions of this paper relate to the modes of representation of "other religions" as revealed particularly by Hindu sites, the ways in which Internet sites garner audiences, and the strategies they adopt to link themselves with both global audiences and local groups. A sociological analysis will reveal the shape of these discourses and link their popularity with the social and political context of globalization, a liberalized economy, and the organization of religious practice in post1990s India.