The Paradox of Religion

The (re)Construction of Hindu and Muslim Identities amongst South Asian Diasporas in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID2634878
AuthorsAminah Mohammad-Arif (corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume1
Issue1
Publication date2007-10-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1960-6060 • E-ISSN: 1960-6060
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/samaj.55
OpenAlexW1648335121
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited34

In the process of (re)constructing their identities in an alien society, South Asians have tended to give to religion a significant importance. This salience of religion owes as much to the dislocation and the stigmatization engendered by the migration experience as to the local context, the United States, who, while promoting a policy of multiculturalism, sees religion as an ‘acceptable’ identity marker. Drawing on this process, this article examines the implications on the inter-ethnic relationships, in particular between Hindus and Muslims (both Indian and Pakistani), as two opposite and competing trends are underway: on the one hand, separate, if not confrontational, Hindu and Muslim identities are arising, while on the other hand, a South Asian identity, ignoring the borders of Partition, is shaping up

Aesthetics · Context (archaeology) · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Geography · Hinduism · Identity (music) · Multiculturalism · Partition (number theory) · Salience (neuroscience) · Sociology · South asia · Anthropology · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Gender Studies · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society · Religious studies

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