Pluralization Challenges to Religion as a Social Imaginary
Anti-Caste Contestations of the Muslim Quota in India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3701590 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Khalid Anis Ansari (0009-0005-1821-9216, Azim Premji University, corresponding author), Caroline Suransky (0000-0002-4435-966X, University of Humanistic Studies) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 742 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14060742 |
| OpenAlex | W4379469801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 27 |
Postcolonial democratic deepening brings new challenges to religion as a social imaginary in India. Increasing cultural differentiation and pluralization are countered by fundamentalization, but also challenge existing minority/multicultural imaginations. Religion, as the overarching identity category, has come under scrutiny given the politicization of caste among Muslims, who form the country's most significant religious minority. Through social-justice and anti-caste politics in the 1990s, lowered-caste Muslims started to enact a new identity named Pasmanda, which means "those who have been left behind". The Pasmanda discourse emphasizes internal heterogeneities and hegemonies and pluralizes the "Muslim". It thus ruptures the imaginary of Muslims as a homogeneous minority in a culturally diverse country and problematizes the majority-minority framework. An important site of contestation is the reservation (quota) policy in public employment, education, and the legislature. While privileged-caste Muslims generally prefer a quota based on religion, the lowered-caste Pasmanda Muslims increasingly mobilize for a caste-based quota, thus challenging systems of recognition and redistribution
Caste · Identity politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The Imaginary · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Social and Economic Development in India
Social Exclusion and Justice in India
Power and Contestation
Caste, Class, and Power
Castes of Mind
Minorities within Minorities
The Pariah Problem
Religious Nationalism
The Saint in the Banyan Tree
The Saint in the Banyan Tree
Revisiting the Minority Imagination
Social and Economic Status of Backward Muslims in Uttar Pradesh
A New Demand for Muslim Reservations in India
Debating Difference
Affirmative Action for Muslims? Arguments, Contentions and Alternatives
Pluralism, multiculturalism and the nation-state
Caste and development
Beyond Caste
Islam and Muslim Society in South Asia
Who is the trueHalalkhor? Genealogy and ethics in dalit Muslim oral traditions
Some Theses on Secularism
The Logic of Affirmative Action
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |