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The Construction of Religious Boundaries book cover

The Construction of Religious Boundaries

Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition

Harjot Oberoi

This book challenges traditional interpretations of religion and society in India. The author examines Sikh historical materials and shows that early Sikh tradition was not concerned with establishing distinct religious boundaries. However, a new Sikh movement sought to recast the tradition and purge it of diversity. A study of how a pluralistic religious world view is replaced by a monolithic one, this book questions assumptions about the efficacy of fundamentalist claims and the construction of social and religious identities. An essential read for South Asian religions, cultural anthropology, postcolonial studies, and religious history in general.
Publish Date
1997-11-27T00:00:00.000Z
1997-11-27T00:00:00.000Z
first published in 1993
Goodreads Rating
3.73
ISBN
9780226615936
Recommendations
1
Recommendations
2019-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
The third book I nominate on South Asia is by a compatriot and contemporary. This is Harjot Oberoi’s The Construction of Religious Boundaries. Set in the undivided Punjab of the 19th century, this study subtly explores the evolution of a corporate identity within the Sikhs, whose ideologues sought to more explicitly demarcate their faith from that of Hindus and Muslims. Deeply empirical as well as sharply analytical, Oberoi’s work blends the best of the British and French intellectual traditions. It is also thoroughly Indian, drawing on the author’s own rich immersion in the culture and language of his native province.      source