Religion, Violence and Political Mobilisation in South Asia

This volume provide a multidisciplinary thematic exploration of religious violence in South Asia. The contributors examine the actual organization of violence, the role of governmental agencies and state authorities, the socio-economic conditions that contribute to violence, and the long-term consequences of such violence. Providing original ethnographic accounts from sites of violence in South Asia it: - map the contemporary discourse on Hindu-Muslim violence and focus on the causes of communal violence as well as its long-term consequences; - situate the nation-state within the incidents of violence-variously termed ethnic, communal and everyday violence - that simultaneously frame and challenge the authority of the state; - locate the current discussion on violence and the state in Pakistan, and provide a general thematic overview of religion and state institutions in Pakistan; - discuss the specific locality-based socio-economic conditions that contribute to violence; - expand various categories of violence to present a South Asian perspective in regard to the current western discourse on `global terrorism'.