Religion and Politics in South Asia

This module is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of conceptual and empirical debates about religion and politics in South Asia. The rise in public manifestations of religions in the last two decades in almost all parts of the world has led to much rethinking and reconsideration of the relationship of religious thought and practice to political structures and dynamics. We will take a theoretically informed and empirically grounded look at the imbrication of religion and politics in the wider South Asia region, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The course allows an insight into the diversity of religious ideas and practices in the region, historical variations, influence of colonialism and the relationship with globalization. We will engage with scholarship on these themes from the disciplines of history, anthropology and political science.

Prior familiarity with the region is not required.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

-understand recent debates social sciences regarding conceptualizing and defining religion

-understand the limitations of previous frameworks for assessing the role of religion in political processes across South Asia

-recognize key transformations in different religious traditions across South Asia.

-develop a nuanced and critical approach to analysing religion and politics more generally