Migration and Religion in Europe: Comparative Perspectives on South Asian Experiences (Urban Anthropology)

Religious practices and their transformation are crucial elements of migrants' identities and are increasingly politicized by national governments in the light of perceived threats to national identity. As new immigrant flows shape religious pluralism in Europe, longstanding relations between the State and Church are challenged, together with majority-faith traditions and societies' ways of representing and perceiving themselves. With attention to variations according to national setting, this volume explores the process of reformulating religious identities and practices amongst South Asian 'communities' in European contexts, Presenting a wide range of ethnographies, including studies of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Islam amongst migrant communities in contexts as diverse as Norway, Italy, the UK, France and Portugal, Migration and Religion in Europe sheds light on the meaning of religious practices to diasporic communities. It examines the manner in which such practices can be used by migrants and local societies to produce distance or proximity, as well as their political significance in various 'host' nations. Offering insights into the affirmation of national identities and cultures and the implications of this for governance and political discourse within Europe, this book will appeal to scholars with interests in anthropology, religion and society, migration, transnationalism and gender -- Provided by Publisher Cover Contents List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction South Asian Migration and Religious Pluralism in Europe 1 A Universal Hinduism? Dancing Coloniality in Multicultural London 2 ‘Our Future will be in India’: Travelling Nuns between Europe and South Asia 3 The Status and Role of the Norwegian-Pakistani Mosque: Interfaith Harmony and Women’s Rights in Norway 4 The Mobility of Religion: Settling Jainism and Hinduism in the Belgian Public Sphere 5 Sikh Associational Life in Britain: Gender and Generation in the Public Sphere 6 Temple Publics as Interplay of Multiple Public Spheres: Public Faces of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu Life in Switzerland 7 Buddhist, Hindu, Kirati, or Something Else? Nepali Strategies of Religious Belonging in the UK and Belgium 8 Hindutva and its Discontents in Denmark 9 Sikhs in Italy: Khalsa Identity from Mimesis to Display 10 ‘Our Lady of Carmo is the Patroness of our Family’: Migration, Religion and Belonging of Portuguese-Goan Brahmans Converted to Catholicism 11 Ganesha Caturthi and the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Paris: Inventing Strategies of Visibility and Legitimacy in a Plural Monoculturalist Society 12 From Sanskrit Classicism to Tamil Devotion: Shifting Images of Hinduism in Germany 13 A Suitable Faith: Catholicism, Domestic Labour and Identity Politics among Malayalis in Rome Index