Hinduism can be considered a historical point of contact between various religious traditions. Countless situations of contacts with other religious groups have left their marks on Hinduism, contradicting its ethnic dimension many scholars have focused on.

Such relevance of contact in the history of Hinduism is well known in South Asia but must also be analyzed in diasporic contexts.

The aim of this conference is precisely to initiate a discussion on how Hinduism and Hindus interact with other groups and religions they encounter overseas. How does Hinduism redefine itself abroad, far from its holy land and among non-Hindus? What kinds of links have been established between Indian and diasporic Hinduisms? What about the territories they connect? Are the situations of contact observed overseas comparable to the ones that have occurred in past and present time in India? Do these contacts lead to cosmopolitism or do they feed ethnicity? What are the consequences of these contacts on the nature of contemporary Hinduism in terms of religious practices and representations, and in terms of politics?

Such are some of the issues that will be addressed during this workshop, drawing on several case studies located in Western contexts and resulting from migrations that occurred during the last century.  

 

9h30

Mathieu Claveyrolas & Pierre-Yves Trouillet (CNRS, CEIAS)

Welcome address

 

10h-11h

Knut Jacobsen (University of Bergen, Norway)

Hindu Traditions and the Plurality of Religions in the South Asian Diaspora in Norway

Discussant: Raphaël Voix (CNRS, CEIAS)

 

11h-12h

Sidharthan Maunaguru (National University of Singapore)

‘Naming the Giving’: Hindu Temples, Politics, Law and Philanthropy in London

Discussant: Delon Madavan (CERIAS, Montréal)

 

Lunch break

 

14h-15h

Prema Kurien (Syracuse University, USA)

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

Discussant: Aminah Mohammad-Arif (CNRS, CEIAS)  

 

15h-16h

Frank Neubert (University of Bern, Switzerland)

From Connecting Hindus to Uniting Global Hinduism: History and Guiding Principles of Hinduism Today

Discussant: Véronique Bouillier  (CNRS, CEIAS)