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Full-Text Articles in Ethics in Religion
Religious Practice And The Phenomenology Of Everyday Violence In Contemporary India, Vikash Singh
Religious Practice And The Phenomenology Of Everyday Violence In Contemporary India, Vikash Singh
Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
This article focuses on ‘dread’ in religious practice in contemporary India. It argues that the dread of everyday existence, which is as salient in a biographical temporality as it pervades the phenomenal environment, connects and transfers between religious practices and everyday life in India for the marginalized masses. For such dread, dominant liberal discourses, such as those of the nation, economy, or ego-centric performance, have neither the patience nor the forms to represent, perform, and abreact. Formulated in dialogue with critical theory, phenomenology, and psychoanalytic theory, this article conceives of religious practices in continuum with the economic, social, ethical, and …
Work, Performance, And The Social Ethic Of Global Capitalism: Understanding Religious Practice In Contemporary India, Vikash Singh
Work, Performance, And The Social Ethic Of Global Capitalism: Understanding Religious Practice In Contemporary India, Vikash Singh
Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
This ethnographic essay focuses on the relationship between religious performances and the “strong discourse” of contemporary global capitalism. It explores the subjective meaning and social significance of religious practice in the context of a rapidly expanding mass religious phenomenon in India. The narrative draws on Weber's insights on the intersections between religion and economy, phenomenological theory, performance studies, and Indian philosophy and popular culture. It shows that religion here is primarily a means of performing to and preparing for an informal economy. It gives the chance to live meaningful social lives while challenging the inequities and symbolic violence of an …