REVISITING SECULARISATION

Secularism and Secularisation

A Bibliographical Essay
Mohita Bhatia

Tracing the trajectory of secularism studies, this essay

brings out a critique of the evolutionary perspective that
pronounced a waning of the religious in a
predominantly secular modern world. In the face of
global and local realities that negate any strict
boundaries between the secular, religious and
political, many western and non-western debates on
secularism have creatively re-envisaged the concept
and highlighted its variegated meanings. Yet, these
have been unable to locate secularism in lived
phenomenological realities. This bibliographical essay
discusses works that may not be categorised as
secularism studies and yet offer insights into the
interaction between religious, cultural, political and
secular aspects of society, while attempting to
unentangle the different, but related, processes of
secularism and secularisation. It is the secularisation
process that needs academic attention to understand
the complex interaction between the secular
and the religious.

The author is grateful to the editors for comments to an earlier draft.

Mohita Bhatia (mohita27@gmail.com) is at the Centre for the Study of
Discrimination and Exclusion, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
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he post-enlightenment understanding of secular as a

specific set of behaviours marked by a neat demarcation
between secular and religious prevailed for a large
part of the 20th century. Many academics (Berger 1969;
Luckmann 1967; Wilson 1966) analysed the relationship
between secularism and secularisation, assuming that both
are engendering a modern world by replacing religion. This
thesis received a setback when evidence pointed to not just
prevalent religiosity among people in Western and non-Western
landscapes, but also to the dialogic and entwined nature of
interaction between the secular and the religious. The
inadequacy of previous theories highlighted the failure of
secularisation studies that were operating in isolation from
studies on religion or culture. Studies focusing on the significance of everyday religious practices did not concern proponents of the secularisation thesis, as long as such practices did
not assume any politically conspicuous form. The master narrative of progress continued to inform their theorisation until
finally negated by events such as 9/11 in the US, the emergence
of the religious right in the West, and conflicts with religious
dimensions in south Asia. Resistance by the non-Western world
towards cultural-evolutionary understandings of secularism
also invigorated a debate that not only pointed to the localised
and variegated meanings of secularisms, but also diminished the
premise of a reason/faith divide. The canonical understanding
of secularism as a default natural condition was challenged
and a new space defined where secular and religious could
coexist, overlap, converge or diverge, thus providing new
perspectives on the processes of secularisation.
Studies on secularism and secularisation from south Asia
have contributed greatly to recent re-contemplation. They have
emphasised the south Asian specificities and contradictions.
Yet, these studies have not problematised the relation between
secularism and secularisation. How do secularism and secularisation engage/disengage with each other? How can the
lived realities, religious pluralities, and intercommunity interactions or conflicts contribute to the theorisation of secularism?
How do the religious, political and cultural processes in everyday life blur the secular/religious or rational/irrational boundaries? Do secularism and secularisation always move in the
same direction? To draw attention to these intricacies, this
bibliographic essay will describe a range of works dealing
with varied religious and cultural practices that may not have
dealt directly with secularism, but may provide significant
pointers about the diverse processes of secularisation and its
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complex relation to secularism. However, it will do so after

illustrating the global and south Asian debates on secularism
and secularisation.
Rethinking Secularism and Secularisation: An Overview

Strong contestation of the traditional secularisation theory

initially came from scholars such as Hadden (1987), Stark (1999),
Stark and Bainbridge (1985), and Warner (1993), who asserted
that religion will continue to retain an influential position in
society. Peter Berger shifted his position from advocating the
secularisation thesis to criticising it. He argued that the thesis
represented the attitudes of the educated elite and ignored the
wider social realities that point to the continued relevance of
religion. Evidence of an upsurge of religion in society led many
scholars, such as Stark and Berger, to abandon the theory of secularisation. Yet there were others who did not relegate it to a
sphere of irrelevance, but believed that it required critical rethinking and de-standardisation. Critiquing the classical theories of secularisation, Casanova (1994) argued that a decline
and privatisation of religious beliefs has not occurred in many
societies. However, the part of secularisation theory advocating
institutional differentiation of secular spheres from religious
institutions still holds true at many places. He emphasised
the varied and competing ways of experiencing secularism/
secularisation around the globe, as there cannot be any uniformly fixed boundaries between the religious and the secular.
Similarly, attacking the one-size-fits-all theory, Gorski and
Altinordu (2008) have insisted that the terrain of secularisation debates should be broadened to include variable outcomes. French sociologist Hervieu-Lger (1990) laid emphasis
on understanding religious modernity to overcome the simplistic binaries produced by old theories. Habermas (2008),
earlier a proponent of the secularisation thesis, revised
his position and argued that in contemporary post-secular
societies, there is a coexistence of religious and secular sensibilities, although he stressed on the need for translating
religious arguments into secular language. In their edited
volume, Gorski et al (2012) have reflected on the profound shift
in the secularisation debate and analysed what it means to live
in the contemporary post-secular age. Basing his analysis on
European societies and North America, Taylor (2007) terms
the classical understanding of secularisation a misconceived
subtraction theory, in which secularism is postulated as a
natural condition revealed after faith dissolves. He holds that in a
secular age, secularisation is not the result of a decline of religion
(nor of translation of religious reasons into secular vocabulary), but rather of a recognition of a range of self-understandings and human potentialities in which faith, even for
the most staunchest believer, is just one human possibility
among others (Taylor 2007: 3). Calhoun and Juergensmeyer
(2011) underscored the complex interface between secular,
religious, political and national identities.
Asad (2003) demonstrates that far from being a neutral
category, complex notions of secular have been shaped
through European history, representing specific power technologies; thus authoritatively describing certain modes of
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living as acceptable, while prohibiting others. The most

significant aspect of Asads work is his argument that the
secular cannot be viewed separately from the religious, as
both share a dialectic relationship. Connolly (1999) similarly
unpacks the authoritative and anti-pluralist assumptions of
the supposedly natural category of the secular. He stands
neither for merely refashioning secularism nor eliminating it,
but converting it into one perspective among several in a
pluralistic culture (p 11). He asserts that secularism should
be inclusive to be able to pursue an ethos of engagement in
public life among a plurality of controversial metaphysical
perspectives...secular thought and a secular, nontheistic
perspectives (p 39).
Nuancing the debate further, Roy (2007) addresses an
oft-repeated question: Is Islam compatible with secularism?
He points to the prejudiced understanding of Islam as a religion
deeply immersed in a homogeneous traditional culture. Separating religion and culture, Roy demonstrates that the rise of
radical religious movements is rather a consequence of globalisation that de-culturalises individuals and enables them to articulate their views in transnational settings. According to Roy,
Islamism also acts as an unintentional agent of secularisation
as it individualises and de-socialises religious practices
(2007: 76). Mahmood (2006: 344) states that the political project
undertaken by the US to reform Islam reflects the normative
force of secularism, which seeks to produce a particular kind
of religious subject who is compatible with the rationality...of
liberal political rule. She advocates thinking outside the
bounds of the prescribed secular-liberal imagery. In her study
of Egyptian womens participation in the Islamic revivalist
movement, she locates their agency in the willingness of
women to inhabit religious norms and pious morality. These
modes of flourishing are not captured in the restricted secularfeminist discourses of individual autonomy and freedom. Joan
Wallach Scott (2007) and Sherine Hafez (2011) have also
contested the disciplinary vocabulary of secularisation, which
pronounces certain ways of being human as progressive
while denouncing others.
Rather than debating the intricacies that define the relationship between the secular-liberal and the religious, Judith
Butler (2011: 70) claimed that depending on which religion
we have in mind, the relation to the public will be different.
Based on her study of the Israel-Palestine situation, she suggests a process of secularisation based not on tolerance but
cohabitation the idea of plurality or polyvalence rooted in
the diasporic traditions within Judaism that enables a criticism of Israeli state violence coming from within the Jewish
frameworks of social justice. Butler thus retrieves the potential
of religion to invigorate political criticism.
The South Asian Context

Although the postcolonial south Asian societies have added

many new and competing dimensions to the meaning of
secularism, and manifest distinct ways of secularisation, this
process has not been without contradictions or dilemmas.
Their colonial histories, consequent fetishisation of religious
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identities, and lately, the surfacing of religious and ethnic conflicts, have led scholars to rethink the process of secularisation
in south Asia. In India, particularly in the context of the
political resurgence of the Hindu right, liberal academics
such as Asghar Ali Engineer (1989) claimed that communalism
has impaired secularism. Others, such as Madan (1998),
Chatterjee (1994) and Nandy (1998), alleged that secularism
enforcing a decoupling of religion and politics is a derivative
discourse from the West, and is thus inapplicable to the Indian
situation. Chatterjee argues that the secular vocabulary is
inadequate to combat Hindu majoritarianism, and instead
proposes religious tolerance. He recommends incorporating
a politics of representative democracy among religious groups,
so that they generate internal reforms free from reformist
interventions by the state and create conditions for mutual
tolerance. Rajeev Bhargava (2011) negates the inapplicability
of secularism thesis and states that the Indian version of
secularism is not simply an imitation, as it digresses significantly from the formulaic Western ideal. He moots the term
contextual secularism to describe the Indian version, wherein
the state adopts the stance of principled distance. This implies
that the state either intervene or refrain from interference,
subject to which of the two positions is compatible with the
values of religious liberty, freedom and equality of citizenship.
While acknowledging the limits of secularism, he argues that
the best way forward is to rehabilitate it by thinking beyond
the liberal framework.
Bilgrami (2012) also emphasises the continued relevance of
secularism, but suggests reimagining the concept. Criticising
Nandy for his simplistic anti-modernist stand and romanticism
for past traditions, Bilgrami posits that the crisis of secularism
is not because it was a modern imposition into an essentially
traditionalist population, but rather because it was an imposition from the top that resisted negotiations between communities. He proposes secularisation from below to facilitate dialogue between the state and various communities. Without
dismissing the indispensability and empowering potential of
universal categories such as secularism, modernity, public and
private spheres, Chakrabarty (2000) acknowledges their inadequacies and exclusionary tendencies. He suggests renewing,
questioning and transforming these categories by and from
the margins. Chakrabarty recognises the inability of the scientific secular language to comprehend the religious world view
and argues that disenchantment of the world is not the only
principle by which we world the earth...The supernatural can
inhabit the world...and not always as a problem (1998: 27).
Peter Van der Veer also affirms the continuities and links
between the secular and the religious. He states that secular
conceptions, although derived from the West, have been distinctively engaged by Indian political and cultural traditions.
Tejani (2008) also affirms that secularism is not simply a static
idea borrowed from the West. She demonstrates that rather
than being distinct from community and caste, nationalism
and communalism, liberalism and democracy, Indian secularism
was a relational category that emerged at the nexus of all of these
(p 15). Pandey (1999), without dispensing with the ideas of
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modern or secular, situates secularism within the totalising

and homogenising drive of the nation state. He maintains
that the principle of secularism is integrated with the nationalist discourse that seeks to subsume diversities and differences
within the dominant majoritarian culture. Pandey suggests
unyoking the pair of state and nation, so that the state does
not represent the interests of the majoritarian community that
presents itself as the nation (2007). Kumar (2008) argues
that secularism has come to connote an ideal of tolerance and
peaceful coexistence among various communities. However,
the underlying essence of the notion of tolerance is not so
much to arrive at equality, but rather how to tolerate or put up
with minorities or non-hegemonic groups. She suggests moving
beyond the secular-liberal framework of tolerance or recognition of minorities to more substantial questions about equality,
democratic participation, and power sharing (Kumar 2008: 36).
Prakash (2007), along with Gyanendra Pandey, also argues for
moving away from the minority/majority discourse of Indian
secularism towards a society of multiple minorities, where there
is no place for a permanent majority. In the context of Sri Lanka,
a similar critique of secular discourse as privileging the majoritarian religious community comes from David Scott (1999).
Scott demonstrates how colonial modernity intervened to produce a rational, secular and codified form of Buddhism, and
crystallised the Sinhala-Buddhist identity. Sinhala-Buddhist
nationalism not only challenged Christianity and colonial
rule, but also proclaimed superiority over other socio-religious
groups in postcolonial Sri Lanka. Instead of renewing the secular democratic apparatus, Scott calls for replacing it with a
politics based on a recognition of communities and differences
a suggestion that is highly controversial as majoritarian and
homogenising tendencies may emerge within and between
communities themselves.
Secularisation debates concerning Pakistan have tended to
focus on the Islamisation process that is claimed to have
deeply divided the country and superseded Jinnahs vision of a
secular nation, exemplified in the work of Ian Talbot (2005).
This view, however, has been challenged by many scholars
who contend that it overlooks the nuances within Pakistans
society and politics, and simplistically equates Pakistan with
Fundamentalism and Islamism, thus proclaiming its utmost incompatibility with secularism. Humeira Iqtidar (2011)
questions such readings that assume an inextricable connection between Pakistan, Islam and fundamentalism. Not only
does her work separate Islamists from other Muslim fundamentalists, but it also explores the complex relationship
between Islamism, secularism and secularisation. Similarly,
Magnus Marsden (2005) has brought to the fore the dialogic
tradition present within Pakistans society. The works of Iqtidar
and Marsden are discussed in detail later in this article.
Moving beyond the Theoretical Frame

Despite the divergent positions reflected in the debates above,

there is unanimity among scholars that the narrative of
progressive rationalisation needs to be shunned. Rather than
the straightforward thesis of decline of religion, a more
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complicated and entwined relationship is envisioned among

religious, secular, public and private spaces. Yet, the terms
secularism and secularisation are employed interchangeably,
without any attempt to separate the two and explore their
interrelation. Scholars refashioning the secularisation debate
have remained largely in the theoretical realm, and have not
located their conceptual propositions within the phenomenological realm of everyday reality.
As a result, despite venturing beyond the conventional
Western-liberal framework and challenging the absolute
religious-secular divide, the current theories fail to capture
the vivid, fluid and multifunctional essence of religion as it is
practised in society. Examining lived experiences would have
helped explain more effectively the complex interactions
between secularisation, religion and politics, as well as the
relationship between secularisation and the state policy of
secularism. Nevertheless, one can gain a better understanding
of these mechanisms and linkages by going through the vast
array of ethnographic, anthropological, historical, theological,
and other studies that have implicitly or explicitly dealt with
issues related to secularisation.
Although most of these works do not directly engage with
secularism or secularisation per se, I have referred to these
studies in this article to draw out certain arguments that may
be used to further enhance the debate on secularisation. Discussing a range of studies, I argue that though secularism and
secularisation are linked categories as they influence each
other, secularisation is more elaborate and dynamic a process
than the state policy of secularism. Secularisation involves
diverse sociocultural and religious interactions, conflicts, dialogue and compromises, as well as political struggles with
variable outcomes that take place within the realm of everyday life. Rather than ascribing religion to a private and individual sphere, as generally suggested by present theories of
secularisation, this article calls for a more nuanced understanding of secularisation, which explores how boundaries
between religion, culture, politics, caste and community are
constantly drawn, challenged, redrawn or negotiated. The following works can thus be helpful in extending the south Asian
debate on secularisation, and comprehending religion as a
more fluid and internally contested category than is usually
acknowledged by secularisation theory.
Religion, Caste and Politics

The work of Mines (2002), based in a predominantly Hindu

village in south India, illustrates the significant place of local
gods and goddesses in village life, and the ways in which
gods, self and village are mutually constituted. She demonstrates how various struggles for reinforcement or subversion
of dominant relations take place through religious spaces such
as temples, gods/goddesses, rituals and festivals. Mines argues
that gods may indeed be understood as real historical
agents since they make actors act in one way versus another
(2002: 18). The non-dominant castes in the village engage
with their fierce Gods and religious festivals, while drawing
on the regional and national political discourse, to challenge
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the dominant caste Hindus in the village. It is through interweaving religious, political, cultural, national and local realms
that struggles are played out and caste hierarchies in the village continuously challenged. In Mines work, religion is as
much a secularising factor as the political discourses based on
caste, equality and justice.
Religion surfaces as both an oppressive and an empowering
factor in Schmalzs (2005) work on dalit Catholics in Uttar
Pradesh. Schmalz explains that Camars (or Chamars) who
have converted to Catholicism are situated on the margins of
both religious dominations. Yet, conversion to Catholicism has
provided them with a unique subversive marginal position
from which to resist religious hegemonies. Schmalz argues
that these dalit Catholics remain in constant motion as they
triangulate between Christianity, Hinduism and untouchability,
and thus attempt to make the most of their marginality. They
use their Catholic identity to distance themselves from
Untouchables. The boundary between Catholic and Untouchable, however, wears away in their opposition to the caste
structure and brahmin superiority within Hinduism. At the
same time, the boundary between Camar and Catholic is
always shifting and contested, as the dalit Catholics contest
the prejudices and discriminatory practices of Catholicism.
Through a constant movement, dalit Catholics struggle for
equality by simultaneously challenging and inhabiting the
religious spaces. The religious realm here does not operate in
isolation, but is suffused with political meanings. An interweaving of religion, caste, sect and politics is also explicit
in Saurabh Dubes (1998) work, which traces the history of
Satnamis, an ex-untouchable caste grouping. This subaltern
Hindu sect reworked anti-caste sectarian traditions as well as
appropriated some of the conservative caste principles such
as purity-pollution to innovate a site of resistance for the
low-caste Chamars of Chhattisgarh. Rather than a linear
process of rejection of religious or caste values, the process of
secularisation here follows a complex trajectory imbued with
moments of appropriation, reinforcement, as well as subversion of these values.
Without disregarding the liberating potential of dalit movements, Sekhar Bandyopadhyays (1997) work on colonial
Bengal focuses on the regenerative power of the hegemonic
caste system within Hinduism. He demonstrates how caste
elites appropriated modern discourses of science and technology
to reinforce the fundamental principle of hierarchy, albeit
allowing space for fluidities, contestations and modifications.
Bandyopadhyay contends that the radical protest movements
were unable to overthrow the caste system in Bengal, as the
latter provided sufficient space to non-dominant groups to
deviate from the strict caste practices and express protest.
Moulding their practices in response to the protests, the elite
Hindu groups could dilute the vigour and eventually assimilate
the oppositional groups. That is how, during the 1940s, the
hegemonic mainstream Hinduism that was inextricably
linked with nationalist politics successfully induced the
subordinate Hindu groups to prioritise religion over caste
and call off their traditional affinity with Muslim politics.
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His work demonstrates the inseparable connection between

modernity and tradition, religion and politics, and
nationalism and communalism.
Lived Religious Practices

Instead of overemphasising the potency of dominant religious

practices and their assimilating thrust, many scholars underscore the fuzzy, diverse and overlapping socio-religious realities
that remain resilient to categorisation and political homogenisation. Peter Gottschalk, in his study of a village in Bihar
(2000), demonstrates how people in the village use past narratives and memories to exhibit multiple and shifting group
identities that coexist with and frequently cut across
religious and communal identity markers. Gottschalk refutes
the idea of conceptualising south Asia through the bifurcated
lens of Hindus and Muslims, and argues that it is difficult
to define many religious and cultural practices as Hindu or
Islamic due to their internal perplexities, shifting dynamics
and shared nature. He alleges that not only do Western scholars,
informed by the ideas of secularism and rationality,
simplistically label south Asian societies as essentially religious,
but secular writers within south Asia also assume homogeneity
and mutual exclusivity of religious categories, overlooking
diversities, multiplicities and interdependencies.
Similarly, referring to regional cultural practices in the
Sundarbans (a mangrove forest in the southern region of
Bangladesh and West Bengal), Sufia Uddin (2011) points to the
female deity of forests, Bonbibi, who is believed to be the
daughter of Ibrahim, a faqir (saint) from Mecca. Both Hindus
and Muslims residing in close proximity to this forest and
depending on it for their livelihoods worship Bonbibi, looking
to her to protect them from tigers and other dangers. Uddin
explains that typically, at a Muslim shrine one would find a
tomb of the saint where offerings are made. Here, instead, we
have an image of a female holy personage that is by all appearances a Hindu goddess being venerated by both Muslims and
Hindus (ibid: 61). Although Hindus and Muslims venerate
Bonbibi differently and accord divergent meanings to her,
Bonbibi provides a common regional and cultural identity
to them. The local practices, Uddin argues, are not merely
syncretic or mutual borrowing. Syncretism, she holds, implies
improper mixing of two things of different origins. Rather,
the local practices of people in the Sundarbans form a more
complex and dynamic process that cannot be simply defined as
either Hindu or Islamic.
A similar argument is put forward by Dominique-Sila Khan
(2004), who notes that the notion of Hindus and Muslims
as two monoliths and binary opposites is misleading. It overlooks the socio-historical complexities of their evolution, as
well as the convergence of their lived practices, cultures and
experiences. She further explains that convergence does not
imply a linear relationship between two well-defined traditions, but is in fact the merger of a number of sectarian, ritual
and cultural practices that may ambivalently be defined as
belonging to a broader spectrum of Hindu and Muslim
modes of practices. Khan points out the limitations of the
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labels syncretism or hybridisation, which suggest a

temporary, improper or exceptional interaction between
the religious communities. She instead introduces the term
threshold, or an open door or middle ground, where various
traditions meet and intermix. Rather than a temporary
space, it is a permanent opening for intermixing, where groups
can retain their respective religious identities, or identities can
blur without having to choose one side or another.
The role of religion in public life as it facilitates not just
competition but also dialogue, sharedness and accommodation is
illustrated in Anna Bigelows (2010) work on three sacred
spaces in the Punjab region. One of the sites, a dargah or
tomb shrine of Haider Shaykh (a 15th century Sufi saint), is in
Malerkota region that has a largely Sikh and Hindu population and a minuscule number of Muslims. Two categories
of ritual specialists take care of the shrine khalifas, the
descendants of the saint, and chelas, who are mainly Sikhs
and Hindus and are said to be possessed by the saints spirit.
Bigelow argues that the fact that the saint is revered differently by khalifas and chelas as well as by pilgrims of the
different religions could be a potential source of conflict.
However, the very essence of the shrine, symbolised by diversity of human kind and plurality of perspectives, wanes the
possibilities of conflict, and in fact enables complex forms of
convergences and sharedness. The other two sites described
by Bigelow similarly facilitate a process of secularisation
through a series of struggles and negotiations. As she explains,
the secularisation did not occur through an uncontested,
spontaneous or unconscious acknowledgement of the sites
identity. Rather this came about through dialogue and a series of
compromises (Bigelow 2012: 39). Bigelow, Uddin and Gottschalk
point to the resilience of local religious and cultural practices
that refuse to be assimilated into the hegemonic Hindu or
Muslim political categories.
The works discussed above also bring out the contrast
between the processes of secularism and secularisation. Secularism, as a state policy, carries an assumption of Hinduism
and Islam as two mutually exclusive and fixed categories. It
often does not make provision for the ambiguities and intricacies that mark lived religious, cultural and local practices.
Thus, in some ways, secularism reifies religious categories
and contravenes the secularisation of society. Secularisation
processes, on the other hand, are far more complex and
dynamic. Far from the romanticised notion of secularism,
peace and tolerance, they entail competition, negotiation
and dialogue. Yet, secularism and secularisation do not always
move in different directions, as they often converge and influence each other. State and societal processes often respond to
each other, agreeing on common goals of accommodation,
plurality and coexistence.
Gurus, Deras and Secularisation

Guru organisations, offering alternative religious traditions,

have an extensive urban as well as rural reach, attracting
many lower and middle-caste, as well as middle-class devotees.
Juergensmeyer (1995) describes the Radhasoami tradition as a
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modern phenomenon that has attracted people of various

castes among the middle classes. Seeking to distinguish
itself from Hinduism and Sikhism, it has rejected ritualistic
forms of religious practices. It lays emphasis on rationality,
scientific language and progressive social organization.
However, it also retains conservative elements of tradition, lays
emphasis on karma, and also bolsters a premodern kind
of hierarchy in the form of the complete personal authority of
a spiritual leader. These alternative traditions entail a synthesis of seemingly contradictory realities that make use of
modern as well as conservative elements. Such a synthesis offers an alternative form of religion, one that is more
appealing to people. Blending so-called scientific, rational
and traditional elements, these alternative religious
practices are perfectly compatible with modern secular
ways of life.
Existing studies have linked the participation of the Hindu
middle class in popular guru organisations to the ascendance
of Hindu nationalist politics, loss of traditional ties, and
alienation caused by modernity (Kakkar 1984; Varma 1998).
Drawing on her ethnographic study among devotees of Mata
Amritanandamayi (belonging to the Bhakti tradition), Maya
Warrier (2003) states that none of these assumptions hold true
as many devotees were neither interested in divisive Hindu
politics, nor did they feel alienated from modern ways of living.
In fact, they questioned the traditional community-oriented
and taken-for-granted religious observances, and looked for
a more informed, meaningful and reflective approach to
religion (2003: 230). Warrier maintains that in choosing
from an array of gurus, individuals make an active personal
choice in which individualisation of faith, inner spiritual
striving, and self-fulfilment become central features, thereby
making religion more meaningful and negotiable for them.
The increasing religiosity associated with guru organisations,
argues Warrier, contains within it a tendency towards secularisation, as individuals define their religious lives not as a
given (2003: 237), but as something they can choose, reject,
or even shift loyalties at any point of time.
Many deras and guru traditions have particular significance
for lower-caste Hindus. Prescribing caste/class equality, these
traditions provide them an alternative location to challenge
conventional caste and ritualistic practices, without completely
discarding their Hindu sense of belonging. S S Jodhka, in his
study Of Babas and Deras in the Punjab region (2008),
explains the emancipatory potential of deras for lower-caste
Hindus and Sikhs. He argues that apart from spiritual values,
such alternative spaces also offer a sense of security to their
followers, a personal touch, something completely missing in
the mainstream gurudwaras and temples where one feels
anonymous, a part of the crowd (p 56). This feeling of belonging and personal touch is quite significant for the lower castes
who, more than anonymous, feel insignificant and rejected.
Again, in the context of Punjab, similar work has been done by
Ronki Ram (2007) that depicts deras as sites of resistance
against caste oppression. These traditions might not radically
challenge the caste system, yet they temporarily destabilise
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and subvert hierarchies, thus facilitating the everyday struggles

towards creating egalitarian, dignified and secular spaces
for the non-dominant castes.
Religious Myths, Alternative Interpretations

Religion interacts with politics, social hierarchies, and

cultural histories in countless ways often to fortify, rework,
or contest dominant structures. One of the ways in which
it mediates power structures is through ongoing processes
of construction and reconstruction of myths, as well as an
infusion of multiple meanings into them, in accord with the
sociopolitical interests of particular groups. One such example
is the retelling of myths based on the Ramayana story, illustrated
in the edited volume by Paula Richman (1991). Academic debates
have largely focused on Tulsidas Ramcharitramanas or
Valmikis Ramayana and its televised version on Doordarshan,
which was believed to favour certain powerful social groups
and fan Hindu nationalist politics. Richman, however, highlights the various other prevalent Hindu and non-Hindu
tellings of Ramayana to attenuate academic anxiety over the
dominant televised version. She emphasises the several
creations of the story ones that narrate the story from the
position of the marginalised; ones that highlight the experiences of Sita; ones that subvert the Ram-Ravana relationship;
ones that rethink the character of rakshasas or demons; or
ones that, told from Jain or Buddhist perspectives, contest
the dominant Hindu Ramayanas. Ramanujan (1991) explores
endless retellings of the Ramayana story Ramayanas that
are connected to one another; yet, rooted in specific literary
and ideological structures, they signify something unique
and new. Narayana Rao (1991) narrates Telugu womens
Ramayana folksongs, which contest the male-dominated
focus of the story by underlining the sufferings of Sita, and
recasting the relationship between Sita and Rama. Ramdas
Lamb demonstrates the selective usage of Ramayana by
Ramnamis, an untouchable sect in Chhattisgarh, as they
abridge and remould the Ramcharitramanas text according to
their own interests and caste-based struggles.
An interesting and recent depiction of Ramayana came
about in the form of an animated film: Sita Sings the Blues, by
an American woman, Nina Paley. Depicting events from
Ramayana, the film empathises with the agony of Sita as she
was abandoned by Rama. These events are juxtaposed with
those in the life of a modern American woman (based on
Ninas personal experiences), who is dumped by her husband
after he gets a job in India. The film uses ancient religious

EPW Index
An author-title index for EPW has been prepared for the years from 1968
to 2012. The PDFs of the Index have been uploaded, year-wise, on the EPW
website. Visitors can download the Index for all the years from the site. (The
Index for a few years is yet to be prepared and will be uploaded when ready.)
EPW would like to acknowledge the help of the staff of the library of the
Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai, in preparing the
index under a project supported by the RD Tata Trust.
december 14, 2013

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Economic & Political Weekly

REVISITING SECULARISATION

saga the hearsay urban version of Ramayana to foreground the patriarchal structures ingrained in modern
rational societies.
These multiple oral, televised, as well as literary myths,
interspersed with political meanings, are used by several
groups to engage in local, regional, and national power struggles. At times, the myths patronised by the state may reaffirm
the authority of already privileged groups and thus impede the
process of secularisation, while many community-oriented
subversions of the hegemonic myths may serve to challenge
the dominant power structures and intensify the struggle
for equality and justice.
Islam and the Secularisation Debate

Academic notions about Islams incompatibility with secular

or democratic values have been refuted by ethnographic
works focusing on the secularisation processes within various
Muslim societies. Marsdens ethnographic study of the Chitral
area (2005) questions the assumption that Pakistani society
has come under the conformist grip of a homogeneous, fanatic
form of Islam. He alleges:
[I]t is often assumed that because Islam is a religion of submission ...
there is little place for the expression of individual creativity in the
living of a Muslim life, and that morality in Muslim societies is a readymade and uncontested category simply deriving from a single set of
scriptural codes (2005: 54).

Contrary to this, he illustrates that despite pressure from

various radical groups seeking to present a singular version of
Islam, different groups among Muslims do not unthinkingly
accept or reject any religious norm or political ideology. Chitral
Muslims engage in critical and thoughtful debates about a
number of issues, including music, poetry, dance, and a variety of
ways to be good Muslims. Upholding a conversational tradition,
these Muslims do not think that it is only formally educated
Islamic purists or modern secular people who have the capacity to live rational, discerning, intellectually acute and morally
sophisticated lives (ibid: 10). Facile notions about the relationship between Islam and secularisation have also been contradicted by Iqtidar (2011). She not only points out fragmentations
and heterogeneity within Islamist groupings, but also challenges
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Women and Work

Edited by

Padmini Swaminathan
The notion of work and employment for women is complex. In India, fewer women participate in employment compared
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The introduction talks of the oppression faced by wage-earning women due to patriarchal norms and capitalist relations
of production, while demonstrating how policies and programmes based on national income accounts and labour force
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Forum against Oppression of Women Srilatha Batliwala Miriam Sharma, Urmila Vanjani J Jeyaranjan

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