The Public Representation of a Religion called Hinduism: Postcolonial Patterns in India, Britain and the US

这个网络项目旨在研究印度教在一系列当代背景下断言和维持公众存在的各种方式。它比较了印度教在印度作为一种宗教的公众代表与印度教在不同流散背景下的公众代表。该网络建立在最近的工作基础上，该工作将宗教的运作视为一种现代话语，并将印度教“构建”为一种离散的、可识别的思想、对象和实践体，在这种话语框架内（“一种称为印度教的宗教”）。它还建立在最近的工作基础上，这些工作集中在印度或世界上有大量印度人定居的地区的组织或机构上，这些组织或机构展示了印度教的“公众形象”。该网络旨在将对这些主题感兴趣的研究人员聚集在一起，以便对印度教在现代社会中作为宗教的各种表现方式进行细致入微的、上下文敏感的分析。我们的重点是印度教在印度、美国和英国这三个国家的一系列公共环境中的代表性。关注这些国家将使我们能够进行批判性的比较，突破通常在海外宗教研究和“国内”宗教研究之间建立的界限。

This network project aims to examine the various ways in which Hinduism has asserted and maintained a public presence in a range of contemporary contexts. It compares the public representation of Hinduism as a religion in India with that of Hinduism in different diasporic contexts. The network builds on recent work which recognises the operation of religion as a modern discourse, and the 'construction' of Hinduism as a discrete, identifiable body of ideas, objects and practices within this discursive framework ('a religion called Hinduism'). It also builds on recent work focused on organisations or institutions which project the 'public face' of Hinduism, either in India or in those areas of the world in which significant numbers of Indians have settled. The network seeks to bring together researchers who are interested in these themes in order to build a nuanced, context-sensitive analysis of the various ways in which Hinduism is represented as a religion in modern societies. Our focus will be on the representation of Hinduism in a range of public contexts, in three countries where it has a prominent role: India, the US and the UK. Focusing on these countries will enable us to make critical comparisons which cut through the boundaries normally established between studies of religion in diaspora and studies of religion 'at home'.