Book contents
- Tolerance, Secularization and Democratic Politics in South Asia
- Tolerance, Secularization and Democratic Politics in South Asia
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Languages of Secularity
- 3 Secularization of Politics: Muslim Nationalism and Sectarian Conflict in South Asia
- 4 Temple Building in Secularising Nepal: Materializing Religion and Ethnicity in a State of Transformation
- 5 Secularization and Constitutive Moments: Insights from Partition Diplomacy in South Asia
- 6 Tolerance in Bangladesh: Discourses of State and Society
- 7 In the Void of Faith: Sunnyata, Sovereignty, Minority
- 8 Pillayar and the Politicians: Secularization and Toleration at the End of Sri Lanka’s Civil War
- Index
- References
4 - Temple Building in Secularising Nepal: Materializing Religion and Ethnicity in a State of Transformation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2018
Book contents
- Tolerance, Secularization and Democratic Politics in South Asia
- Tolerance, Secularization and Democratic Politics in South Asia
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Languages of Secularity
- 3 Secularization of Politics: Muslim Nationalism and Sectarian Conflict in South Asia
- 4 Temple Building in Secularising Nepal: Materializing Religion and Ethnicity in a State of Transformation
- 5 Secularization and Constitutive Moments: Insights from Partition Diplomacy in South Asia
- 6 Tolerance in Bangladesh: Discourses of State and Society
- 7 In the Void of Faith: Sunnyata, Sovereignty, Minority
- 8 Pillayar and the Politicians: Secularization and Toleration at the End of Sri Lanka’s Civil War
- Index
- References
Summary
How does secularism materialize? Through an ethnographic exploration of several recent temple-building projects among the Thangmi (Thami) community of Dolakha district, I explore how Nepal’s ongoing transformation from a unitary Hindu monarchy to a secular federal democratic republic has prompted citizens to reconceptualize the relationships between the categories of “ethnicity” and “religion.” I suggest that many Nepalis have perceived the advent of secularism primarily through material changes in the state’s management of development resources, and adapted their own practices accordingly. Secularism works as an “engaged universal” (Tsing 2005) to reshape domains of subjectivity and practice at the local level, as well as provoking self-conscious attempts to create spaces of “tolerance” through shared religiosity in a polarized political environment.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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