Godroads
Modalities of Conversion in India

Investigates processes of conversion in India from a comparative, multi-disciplinary and theoretical perspective, between, within and across religious traditions.

Peter Berger (Edited by), Sarbeswar Sahoo (Edited by)

9781108490504, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 October 2020

306 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.52 kg

Dynamics of conversion and religious change more generally are extremely complex, yet it is crucial for contemporary societies to understand them. This volume contributes to this understanding by focussing on the processes and modalities of conversion within, between and across various religious traditions (Hinduism, Islamic Reformism, Christianity, indigenous religions) from a multi-disciplinary perspective, including anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history and theology. While the book deals with Indian case studies, the introduction, preface (by Piers Vitebsky) and afterword (by Aparecida Vilaça) also offer a comparative perspective linking the Indian situation to contexts of conversion in other parts of the world. The introduction not only provides an overview of important research on conversion in India, it also intends to advance the general theoretical reflection on conversion, considers analytical tools for further research and discusses the work of important theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Joel Robbins and Marshall Sahlins who are not generally referred to in debates on conversion in India.

Preface Piers Vitebsky
Introduction. Godroads: modalities of conversion in India Peter Berger and Sarbeswar Sahoo
1. The rise, growth and significance of Sudra conversion movements in the Methodist mission, Hyderabad, 1925–1947 Geoffrey A. Oddie
2. Communism and the cross: a caste-class trajectory of religious conversion in South India Ashok Kumar M.
3. Religious conversion as ethical transformation: a study of Islamic reformism in rural West Bengal Fernande W. Pool
4. Conversion versus unity: the Basel Mission among Badagas on the Nilgiri Plateau, 1845–1915 Frank Heidemann
5. Identity change and the construction of difference: colonial and post-colonial conversions among the Sumi Naga of Nagaland, Northeast India Iliyana Angelova
6. Conversion to Christianity and healing: the Naga of North East India Vibha Joshi
7. Reshaping the American evangelical conversion narrative in nineteenth century North India Arun W. Jones
8. Cultural transformations through performance arts in the early twentieth century South India Rajalakshmi Nadadur Kannan
9. Conversion and Hindu-Christian conflict in Odisha and Rajasthan Sarbeswar Sahoo
10. Rupture and resilience: dynamics between a Hindu reform movement and an Indigenous religion in Highland Odisha Peter Berger
Afterword. India seen from Amazonia Aparecida Vilaça
Endnotes
Notes on contributors
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Anthropology [JHM], Sociology: customs & traditions [JHBT], Sociology [JHB], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Religion & politics [HRAM2]