Professor of Sociology, Syracuse University

Lecture Series on Religion and Transnationalism in the South Asian Diaspora

The Political Incorporation of Religious Minorities in Canada and the U.S.

 

Dans le cadre de SAMAJ et l'atelier de recherche “Vécus de la pluralité religieuse et réflexivité en Asie du Sud »

Lundi 2 juin, 14h-16h, salle 638

This presentation is based on an ongoing project examining how differences in political structures, policies regarding immigrant integration and religion, as well as migration patterns, shape the political incorporation of religious minorities in Canada and the U.S. It focuses specifically on two South Asian groups, Hindus and Sikhs, which manifest very different patterns of mobilization. I show how these differences are due to the fact that the religious, multicultural, and political structures of Canada and the U.S. provide different contexts for settlement and political mobilization.

 

Race, Religion, and the Political Incorporation of Contemporary Immigrants

 

Dans le cadre du séminaire de Catherine Wihtol de Wenden, CERI

Mercredi 4 juin, 14h-16h, (salle à confirmer)

Using a case study of Indian Americans, this presentation examines how race and religion interact to shape the political incorporation and mobilization of contemporary immigrants. Indian Americans have been identified as a growing political powerhouse in the United States. What is particularly striking about this group is that they have mobilized around a variety of identities in an attempt to influence United States policy. Some identify as Indian Americans, others as South Asian Americans, and yet others on the basis of their religious background as Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians. A growing group identifies in terms of their party affiliation, as Democrats and as Republicans. There is also an adult, second-generation population that is getting involved in civic and political activism in very different ways from their parents’ generation. My research focused on a variety of Indian American advocacy organizations and found that differing understandings of race, as well as majority/minority religious status in the United States and in India, played important roles in producing much of the variation in the patterns of civic and political activism of various Indian American groups.

 

Majority versus Minority Religious Status in India and Foreign Policy Activism in the United States

 

Dans le cadre de la journée d’études “Hinduism abroad: contacts, politics and transnationalism”

Mardi 10 juin (horaire et salle à confirmer)

This presentation draws from a larger project on race, religion and the political incorporation of contemporary immigrants. Here I examine how religion and majority/minority religious status shapes the process of political incorporation of Indian Americans. When it comes to activism around domestic issues, Indian Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh organizations in the United States manifest a very different pattern from Indian Christian organizations. These differences will be presented and explained.