Asian Ethnographic Contexts
Objectives
. Historical and anthropological knowledge concerning the migratory processes developed by populations originatng in the Indian sub-continent;
. Ability to reflect on transformational processes (cultural, religious, political, etc.) within Indian diasporas, linking structural perspectives with perspectives focused on subject agency;
. Ability to reconsider theoretical perspectives stemming from an anthropology based on the Indian sub-continent within a multi-sitituational perspective.
General characterization
Code
01106305
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Susana Salvaterra Trovão
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - 168
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
- Baas, M., A.K. Sahoo & T. Faist (eds.), 2012. Indian Diaspora and Transnationalism. New Delhi: Rawat Publications.
- Gregory, R. G., 1993. South Asians in East Africa. An Economic and Social History 1890-1980. Boulder: Westview Press.
- Lal, B. V., P. Reeves & R. Rai (eds.), 2006. The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora. Singapure: Ed. Didier Millet.
- Jacobsen, K. & P. Kumar (eds.), 2004. South Asians in the Diaspora, Histoires and Religious Traditions. Leiden: Brill.
- Mawani, S. & A. Mukadam, 2012. Gujarati Communities across the Globe, Memory, Identity and Continuity. London: IOE Press.
- Palriwala, R. & P. Uberoi, 2008. Marriage, Migration, and Gender. London: Sage Publishing.
- Salvadori, C., 1996. We Came in Dhows. Nairobi: Paperchase Kenya.
- Vertovec, S., 2000. The Hindu Diaspora. Comparative Patterns. London: Routledge.
Teaching method
Classes consist of a presentation of the key ideas of each module by the teacher; an interactive component with students (through questions and other interactive strategies), and a part involving debate on specific topics.
Evaluation method
Continuous assessment - Assessment consists of a written test and the carrying out small exercises for discussion in class. In the written assessment, students can opt for an assignment (literature review, or empirical study) or a test. Supervision of the assignments proposed by the students, whether individually or in small groups, takes place outside the classes.(100%)
Subject matter
I. Reconsidering Indian societies
Caste system and hierarchy, dominance and ritual centrality
Colonialism and its effects: the development of nationalism
Plural identities
II. Indian diasporas
Stages and types of migrations (1820 – present-day)
Reunion: a reinterpretation of Tamil Hinduism in tension with Brahamic Hinduism
Martinique and Guadalupe: minority familial Hinduisms.
Trinidad and Tobago, Guinea and Surinam: ethnic and political reinterpretations of Hinduism
Reconstructed Hinduisms in colonial British East Africa and Mozambique: a comparative analysis
Indian migrations to Europe: reconstructed Hinduisms in the United Kingdom and in Portugal