The Legacies of Afghanistan’s Urban Cosmopolitanism

Sikhs, Muslims and Markets in London

Bibliographic Data

ID6017778
AuthorsМагнус Марсден (corresponding author), Magnus Marsden
Year2024
Volume7
Issue1
Pages22-45
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfghanistan (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2399-357X • E-ISSN: 2399-3588
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/afg.2024.0122
OpenAlexW4393990946
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited45

This article explores the lives and activities of Afghan Sikhs living in the United Kingdom. Rather than analysing Afghan Sikhs as a one-dimensional “community” defined in relationship to a singular “identity” based on a shared geographical origin in Afghanistan, the article emphasises the ways in which they have formed multiple and dynamic networks across shifting geographical and historical contexts. Ethnographically, it focuses on the importance of commercial spaces, practices, and relations to the formation of such networks and the modes of social life within which these are entwined. The article argues that particular forms of everyday cosmopolitanism arise in the context of participation in long-distance commerce. Cosmopolitan sensibilities coexist with distinctions based on caste, language, and regional background, and are consciously regarded by some of the traders as markers of skill and social accomplishment

Ancient history · Cosmopolitanism · Political science · Politics · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

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