Urban transitions and religion: An ethnography of subaltern urbanisation languages between Africa and India

  • Javier González Díez Università di Torino, Italy

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to explore the role of religion in the study of urban transition and of the social transformations that accompany it, as well as to better reinterpret the concepts of “urban” and “rural”. Using the idea of Subaltern Urbanization, the article compares two new suburbs originated by the incorporation of old villages into the city, in Libreville (Gabon) and Pondicherry (South India). The article points out that in both cases, although with significant differences, religious organizations are particularly important in the construction of the neighborhood and of its social networks. The article therefore concludes that in both the considered contexts, religious cults accompany and reflect the different ways of “making the city” from the bottom-up perspective.

Author Biography

Javier González Díez, Università di Torino, Italy

Javier González Díez received his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology in 2010 from the University of Turin, where he is now Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society. His research focuses on social and kinship networks in urban transition processes, in Gabon, India and Ecuador. Among his recent publications: (In)sicurezze. Sguardi sul mondo neoliberale fra antropologia, sociologia e studi politici (2014, co-edited with Stefano Pratesi and Ana Cristina Vargas), "Costruire templi per tessere reti. Una lettura socio-spaziale della transizione urbana a Pondicherry, India meridionale" (in Quaderni storici, 40, 2, 2015), "Les 'nouvelles formes de famille' en Italie: convergences morphologiques et persistances culturelles, (co-authored with P.P. Viazzo, in Ethnologie Française, 45, 2, 2016).

Published
2016-08-06
How to Cite
González Díez, J. (2016) “Urban transitions and religion: An ethnography of subaltern urbanisation languages between Africa and India”, Anuac, 5(1), pp. 151-169. doi: 10.7340/anuac2239-625X-2249.
Section
Thematic section: Religions and cities. Emerging approaches in urban anthropology