To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum

To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum
ISBN-10
0520288823
ISBN-13
9780520288829
Category
Social Science
Pages
306
Language
English
Published
2016-04-26
Publisher
Univ of California Press
Author
Nathaniel Roberts

Description

To Be Cared For offers a unique view into the conceptual and moral world of slum-bound Dalits (“untouchables”) in the South Indian city of Chennai. Focusing on the decision by many women to embrace locally specific forms of Pentecostal Christianity, Nathaniel Roberts challenges dominant anthropological understandings of religion as a matter of culture and identity, as well as Indian nationalist narratives of Christianity as a “foreign” ideology that disrupts local communities. Far from being a divisive force, conversion integrates the slum community—Christians and Hindus alike—by addressing hidden moral fault lines that subtly pit residents against one another in a national context that renders Dalits outsiders in their own land."

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