International Lecture: "Religion and Globalization in South Asia" by Dr. Deepa Nair

Dr. Deepa Nair presented a lecture at Santa Fe about the effects of colonialism and globalization on religious identity in South Asia. She explained that the most dominant stereotypes of the East, particularly in regards to religion, come from the colonial institution. She also highlighted the ways in which religion and religious identity are being used to bring people together, both within South Asia and abroad in the South Asian diaspora. The historical context that she provided was interesting, and something I found especially interesting was when she described the problem historians face when writing about the colonial past. A divide occurs because both sides would be likely to have very different perspectives on the matter. Dr. Nair explained that some viewed it as a cooperative interaction with indigenous peoples in an effort to extract resources and provide “civilization”, though others point out exploitative practices and a lack of any real available agency on the part of the natives.

Something that I hadn’t known was that the term “Hindu” was originally a geographical expression in origin, meaning “people who lived by the Indus river”. Our guest speaker told us that people did not see themselves in religious terms, and that the rise of Hindu nationalism came out of a colonial construct. Cultural traditions and backgrounds were investigated for the colonial regime in an effort to classify people into groups. The categorization of people into two unchanging, uniform groups (the Hindus and Muslims) inserted religion into their identities. Over time, people internalized these identities. Much of the content of the lecture correlated with material I’ve studied in my anthropology courses. For one, the discipline of anthropology itself emerged from natural history studies involving indigenous people living within European colonies. Dr. Nair also referred to colonial perspectives based on stereotypes that were used to justify the occupation, paralleling Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism. Her lecture brought to mind the issue of ethnocentrism, as she mentioned the view that religions in the West were considered rational and not superstitious, unlike the religions in the East. The state was seen as bringing both modernization and civilization to the region. People internalized these ascribed identities over time under colonial authority, bringing to mind Antonio Gramsci’s idea of hegemonic rule.

Finally, Dr. Nair discussed the contemporary direction of religious identity by accentuating historical revivalist movements in the 19th century. For example, the cow protection movement provided an icon - a symbol of fertility - that brought people together to work toward a common goal. She related to us that there have been attempts to redefine Hindu traditions and portray the whole as monotheistic. Something that I wish Dr. Nair would have had more time to elaborate on was the impact of the Internet in preserving cultural identity abroad. In those areas where Internet access is available, it can be an immediate resource in sharing traditions and beliefs across the diaspora - “a kind of long-distance nationalism”, as she put it. I would be curious to know how this technology is used in practice and how it contributes toward maintaining identity around the globe.