Overview
"The population of the South Asian Diaspora in the US is over 2.5 million people. Yet, in a post 9/11 climate of opinion, little is known about this group beyond images of Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists and terrorists.This is particularly true of women where simplistic assumptions about veils and subordination obscure the voices of the women themselves.Rarely are Hindu and Muslim American women - many of whom are social workers, physicians, lawyers, academics, students, homemakers - asked about their everyday lives and religious beliefs.""""Living our Religions"""" brings out these hidden stories from South Asian American women of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian and Nepali origin. Their accounts show how diverse and culturally dynamic religious practices emerge within the intersection of histories and politics of specific locales. The authors describe the race, gender, and ethnic boundaries they encounter; they also document how they resist and challenge these boundaries. """"Living our Religions"""" cuts through the myths and ethnocentrism of popular portrayals to reveal the vibrancy, courage and agency of an 'invisible' minority."
Full Product Details
Author: Anjana Narayan ,
Bandana Purkayastha
Publisher: Kumarian Press
Imprint: Kumarian Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.476kg
ISBN: 9781565492707
ISBN 10: 1565492706
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 30 January 2009
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Lucid in its narration and heartfelt in scholars careful etching of their religious, culturally specific and spiritual selves as a rightful, albeit negotiated part of their lives in the USA, this volume of essays demonstrates the richness of everyday life in contrast to theoretical attempts at capturing the ethos of religion. In the process, it takes on some formidable binaries including modernity/tradition, West/East and secular/religious. This collection of thought-provoking essays illuminates our understanding of the multiple contexts that shape South Asian American women's religious experiences. Through nuanced narratives, the authors compel us to break down simplistic stereotypes about religion and South Asia and to take a fresh look at the linkages between gender and religion. Religion is both the most intimate experience as well as the most widely-shared in a community, providing solace to the uncertainties of life and death even as it inspires the finest creativity and fiercest wars. Is there an intellectual thread that can sew such seeming contradictions? No region is more afflicted by the passions of faith than South Asia. No one is better equipped to address its dilemmas than South Asian women, for their innate humanity sifts the excess from the essence. Living Our Religions provides a fascinating perspective on public space from the strength of the inner eye. It is a superb addition to a complex literature. The book is a powerful multiple critique of the still socially and religiously hegemonic orientalist, fundamentalist, conventional Western feminist (privileging the experiences of middle-class white women), and sensationalist mainstream mass media discourses about the place and status of women in religious traditions, in particular Hinduism and Islam. This highly topical book is both timely and reflective of the contemporary challenges faced by many women who belong to complex networks and communities, including religious communities and who recognise both the complexity that this relationship entails and its contribution to our universal understanding of humanity and spiritual well-being. It is an ambitious piece of work which successfully achieves its primary aim that is, to narrate the experiences of Hindu and Muslim South Asian Americanwomen based upon their personal and lived realities. This book is an innovative collection of essays about religion and gender written by Hindu and Muslim women of South Asian orgin living in the United States. With minimal framing by the editors, the contributors explore their religions from diverse persepectives as spiritual journeys, ritual practices, inspirations for activism, and/or philosophical ideas. Most significantly, the authors provide alternative narratives to orientalist critiques of Hinduis and Islam's treatment of women... This book provides an excellent resource for undergraduate courses and allows students to understand the diversity of South Asian Hinuism and Islam and the experiences of religious minorities in the United States. This collection of vivid and provocative essays captures the rich diversity of religious experience among South Asian American women. It challenges popular assumptions about religion and South Asia.
This highly topical book is both timely and reflective of the contemporary challenges faced by many women who belong to complex networks and communities, including religious communities and who recognise both the complexity that this relationship entails and its contribution to our universal understanding of humanity and spiritual well-being. It is an ambitious piece of work which successfully achieves its primary aim that is, to narrate the experiences of Hindu and Muslim South Asian Americanwomen based upon their personal and lived realities.
Author Information
Bandana Purkayastha is Associate Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of the book titled Negotiating Ethnicity - Second Generation South Asian Americans Traverse a Transnational World (2005), and the co-editor of The Power of Women's Informal Networks- Lessons in Social Change from South Asia and West Africa (2004). She is also the Deputy Editor of the journal Gender and Society. Anjana Narayan is an Assistant Professor at California State Polytechnic University Pomona.
