David Knaute
Institutional affiliation(s): EHESS
Professional contact information
dknaute[at]yahoo.fr
Dissertation director: Catherine Servan-Schreiber
PhD program: EHESS - Social Anthropology and Ethnology
Initial registration: 2010
Cultural and Religious Minorities and Diasporas in the Present Day: The Case of the Parsi Zoroastrian Community in Pakistan
So far, scholarship on the Parsi community in Pakistan remains sparse. The object of the study of the diaspora will therefore be to shed light on questions relative to a community that is known in particular for having made a significant contribution to the foundation of the Pakistani nation: the Parsi were closely linked to the development of the megalopolis of Karachi, as their fellow believers in India were to Bombay. Within the Pakistani nation, the Parsi also stand out because of their status as a minority. However, they were never subjected to the persecution visited on others—including Christians and Ahmadis—because of their high social status and other socio-cultural and religious characteristics (for example: absence of proselytism and large amount of charity work which benefits the entire Pakistani population).
Over the past few decades, the diaspora along with other factors such as a marked aging of the population (the average age is 65) have nonetheless lead to a drop in the Parsi population. In comparison to India, where there is still a significant population, the demographic situation in Pakistan raises doubts about the immediate survival of the community. It has already fallen back on Karachi alone, is shrinking before our very eyes, and could very soon disappear entirely.
The study of the diaspora will in particular make it possible to understand the stakes and identitarian transformations of the Parsi community in Pakistan. Several aspects of these transformations will be studied:
the transnational exchanges linking the communities which have stayed in Pakistan to those now living in the United Kingdom, North America or Australia;
the perpetuation of certain specificities of Parsi communities, particularly their role as agents of social change, something which has characterized them over the course of history in the Indian subcontinent;
the issues raised by the diaspora in terms of religious identity: uprooting the Parsi community from the Indian subcontinent means its members are far away from the sacred sites and there is a progressive loss of the framework within which ritual and sociocultural practices can be maintained (funerary rituals, use of Gujarati as a 1st language, etc.).
the opportunities presented by closer contacts between Zoroastrian communities from India and Pakistan and those from Iran, who are encountered during the course of diaspora.
Last update: 25 January, 2016
Les sites du CEIAS
- SAMAJ | The South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
- CEIAS - Facebook
- CEIAS - Twitter
- CEIAS - Newsletter
- Le Bulletin de la Bibliothèque
- Régionalisme & cosmopolitisme
- DELI | Dictionnaire Encyclopédique des Littératures de l’Inde
- DHARMA | The Domestication of “Hindu” Asceticism and the Religious Making of South and Southeast Asia
- TST | Texts Surrounding Texts
- STARS | Studies in Tamil Studio Archives and Society 1880-1980
- I-SHARE | The Indian Subcontinent’s Shared Sacred Sites
- Sri Lanka et diasporas
- Sindhi Studies Group
- Carnet du Master Études asiatiques
- Master “Asian Studies”
- Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry
- Caste, Land and Custom
- Musiques indiennes en terres créoles
Actualités
Devenir juifs : conversions et assertions identitaires en Inde et au Pakistan
Débat - Mardi 9 mai 2023 - 14:00Présentation« L’an prochain à Jérusalem ! », scande un homme portant une kippa dans une synagogue de Karachi au Pakistan. Ses paroles sont répétées en chœur par les membres de sa communauté, un groupe comptant près de trois cents personnes qui s’autodésignent par (...)(...)
Le Centre d'études sud-asiatiques et himalayennes (Cesah), nouveau laboratoire de recherche (EHESS/CNRS) sur le Campus Condorcet
Échos de la recherche -Depuis le 1er janvier 2023, l'EHESS, en tant que co-tutelle, compte un nouveau centre de recherche né de la fusion du Centre d'études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud (CEIAS - EHESS/CNRS) et du Centre d’études himalayennes (CEH - CNRS) : le Centre d'études sud-asiatiques et h (...)(...)
Centre d'Études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud
UMR8564 - CNRS / EHESS
54 boulevard Raspail
75006 Paris, France
Tél. : +33 (0)1 49 54 83 94
Communication :
nadia.guerguadj[at]ehess.fr
Direction :
dir.ceias[at]ehess.fr
La bibliothèque du CEIAS
Maison de l'Asie
22 avenue du Président Wilson 75016 Paris
54 boulevard Raspail
purushartha[at]ehess.fr