Which god’s own country? A spatial history of Hindu-Christian tensions in modern Kerala

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6420091
AutoresHarikrishnan (autor correspondente), S Harikrishnan (0000-0002-7509-0712, Dublin City University, autor correspondente), Harikrishnan Sasikumar (0000-0001-8862-6590, Dublin City University)
Ano2025
Volume63
Fascículo1
Páginas52-71
Data de publicação2025-01-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCommonwealth and Comparative Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1466-2043 • E-ISSN: 1743-9094
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14662043.2025.2498778
OpenAlexW4410514856
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas21

Kerala has long resisted the ambitions of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India; a state where despite a large grassroots presence of the Sangh Parivar, the BJP has enjoyed little electoral success. Previous scholarship has attributed this to the peculiar demography in Kerala which makes it difficult to consolidate Hindu sentiment, or to a ‘secular political culture’ nurtured by the socio-religious reform movements and the strong presence of communism. In recent years, the BJP in Kerala has tried to remedy this through outreach to Christian communities to position them as allies against a common ‘Muslim other’. This article looks at Hindu–Christian encounters from the nineteenth century to the present to argue that these attempts can be read productively as rhetorical and strategic. Through an analysis of key incidents, I argue that historically, advocates of Hindutva forces have considered Kerala to possess a ‘sacred geography’ for Hindus, where other identities are seen as invasive

Ancient history · Geography · Hinduism · Theology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Philosophy · Religious studies · Social and Economic Development in India · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies