GURBANI KIRTAN RENAISSANCE: REVIVING MUSICAL MEMORY,REFORMING SIKH IDENTITY

This article examines the modes of revival within the contemporary renaissance of traditional Gurbani Kirtan (Sikh devotional music) in an effort to differentiate historically operative practices from modern products being sold as tradition. Modern reformist tendencies have attempted to institutionalize a normative Sikh musical identity into one homogeneous ‘Gurmat Sangeet’ genre through codifying Sikh raga forms and promoting a particular Sikh musical orthopraxy and history. The process of institutionalization privileges written sources as authoritative, erasing the memory of operative practices passed down orally since the time of the Sikh Gurus through the Gurbani Kirtan parampara (tradition). In questioning how Sikh musical knowledge has been propagated and authenticated since modernity, I propose a reassessment of what values and musical modes are indelible to the fabric of Gurbani Kirtan, what aspects are modern derivatives, and what aspects are negotiable. I believe such an approach will not limit Sikh musical expression to a past identity subsumed by orthodox rigidity. Instead it will move toward a phenomenological epistemology that recognizes how orality and embodied experience are intrinsic to the Gurbani Kirtan parampara that remembers, practices, and teaches a particular methodology to embody the Bani as Guru for newly creative Sikh subjectivities.     

Reforming Siki and re-devising the panth: The influence of the Singh Sabha movement on the Millenial Sikhs in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

The Sikh community in the UK consists of various ‘Jathebandia’, loosely translated as ‘units’ or ‘sects’. All of these groups have varied histories, practices, and theological beliefs. This paper examines the influence of the Singh Sabha movement on the millennial generation in some of the largest Sikh groups in the UK. Some of the groups claim orthopraxy and orthodoxy, but this essay argues the majority of these groups are an amalgamation of different influences that have adapted their practices according to the Singh Sabha movement and concludes with an analysis of how these influences play out via Sikh media and the internet.     

Sikh millennials of the ‘kirtan generation’ in the making of an ‘American Sikhism’

ABSTRACT

This essay focuses on the millennial generation of Sikhs in the United States. Based on extended ethnographic research in Sikh communities, the author explores the role of Sikh millennials in the making of an ‘American Sikhism’, the contours of which are taking shape having followed after the explosive growth of gurdwara communities – and the educational, social, and other resources they provide – which were largely made possible by the affluence of Sikh communities beginning with the previous ‘Brain Drain’ generation. In particular, the author discusses this ‘kirtan generation’ of Sikhs, educated in gurdwara schools, and their growing leadership of Sikh communities.     

Sikh American millennials at work: Institution building,activism, and a renaissance of cultural expression

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the contributions of Sikh American millennials in institution building, activism, and cultural expression in the post 9/11 period. The discussion is based on interviews and fieldwork conducted by the author. I describe the motivations and concerns of Sikh American millennial activists. I also discuss the digital fluencies they apply in their fight against discrimination and violence. They value innovative leadership, civil rights, gender equality, social justice, and youth programs. I conclude that millennial institution building is shaping the community by expanding civil society engagement, promoting youth leadership, and highlighting social problems within the community like sexism and classism.     

The millennial generation of Sikhs in North America

ABSTRACT

Millennial Sikhs are second- or in some cases third-generation children born in North America in the last two decades of twentieth century. They have been actively involved in the process of ‘renewal and re-definition’ of the Sikh tradition. Cross-cultural encounters heighten their sense of identity. They constantly draw from their Sikh inheritance the universal values of social justice and equality to reach out to their non-Sikh neighbors and to fight against discrimination and injustice. Their principal strategy has been to downplay the Punjabi cultural traditions of their parents and to highlight the universal aspects of their faith in their dealings. Although they have consciously stayed away from the ‘factional politics’ of gurdwaras, they have made incredible strides in Sikh activism and political arena.     

(THE IMAGE OF) GOD IN ALL OF US

This essay compares Sikh and Christian thought about and practices of hospitality in light of the global refugee crisis. It aims to show how both practices of hospitality, and religious ethical thought about hospitality, can be enhanced by dialogue between traditions. The refugee crisis arises out of a global failure of hospitality, and the type of hospitality refugees most fundamentally need is that which confers membership in a political community. Comparing Christian and Sikh ethics of hospitality provides guidance toward building rooted religious communities that welcome outsiders, including by incorporating them into political communities. In particular, Christians who hold social power and privilege can better fulfill ethical mandates of hospitality by looking to the example of Sikhs and other marginalized groups. Sikhs have often built communities through acts of hospitality and welcomed outsiders without fear, even in contexts where their own belonging is questioned and their own security is under threat.     

The Sikh ‘Political Prisoner’ Issue and Hunger Strikes

This article contributes to answering the question: What has happened to Sikh ethnonationalism? I argue that the decline of this phenomenon can best be explained by examining the changing interests, incentive structures, and patterns of dominance and legitimacy of various Sikh political actors in Punjab – that is, the institutional structures on which mass community mobilization occurs. More specifically, I argue that the sustained mass mobilization of Sikhs is not possible without the active encouragement of the components of the institutionalized ‘Sikh political system’ including the dominant Akali Dal, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, and Akal Takht. All of these are currently under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal, and remain committed to moderation and non-confrontation with the central state. This conceptual argument is illustrated through detailed empirical analysis of the trajectory and eventual failure of the 2013 and 2014–2015 hunger strikes by Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa for the release of Sikh ‘political prisoners’ in India.     

Sikh millennials engaging the earth: Sikhi,environmental activism,and eco-enchantment

ABSTRACT

Diaspora Sikhs of and at the millennium are involved in a broad range of causes. This paper examines two Sikh environmental organizations: KarmaGrow and EcoSikh. Drawing from three previously unrelated strands of the Sikh and Punjabi studies literature (millennial Sikh identities in diaspora; engagements with land and landscape among Punjabis; and the influence of Sikh ethics), I explore the millennial diaspora environmentalisms of these cases. I argue that they challenge Weber's proposition that modern society is disenchanted, as well as Western notions of development, by re-engaging Punjabi ecological traditions, recuperating sacred geography and landscape, and uniting householding and stewardship.     

The morning after: Trauma,memory and the Sikh predicament since 1984

This article examines the possibilities opened up by critical international theory for the articulation of a post-nationalist diasporic Sikh identity which seeks to go beyond Khalistan. Critical theories of international relations contest the hegemony of realism within international relations (IR) by examining the origins, development and potential transformation of the bounded territorial state and the Westphalian order of territorialized nation-states. It is argued that realism, based on a positivist methodology, ‘naturalizes’ the Westphalian order by recognizing the nation-state as the only significant actor in IR. This, consequently, serves to ‘territorialize’ Sikh identity and stimulates the demand for an independent Sikh homeland, Khalistan. However, the twin processes of globalization and fragmentation have made the notion of a bordered, self-contained community that is at the heart of international political theory difficult to sustain in the post-Cold War world. This has created space for the articulation of a deterritorialized Sikh identity which challenges the Westphalian order in its rejection of sovereign statehood and its assertion of the sovereignty of the Khalsa Panth.     

Promoting Sikhi among Malaysian youth: A case study of the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM)

ABSTRACT

The Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM) has been an important vehicle in keeping the tenets of the Sikh faith alive for the Malaysian Sikh community. It is primarily a Sikh youth organization, initiated with the blessings of the Malaysian Sikh community elders in the 1960s, who decided that starting the activity of prayer and contemplation on Sikhi was crucial from a young age. Over the decades, the SNSM has been adept in evolving its activities and organization to cater to the altering needs and self-conceptions of the various generations of Sikh youth. This paper documents the trajectory of SNSM activities and reinvention to cater to the generations of Sikhs post-Independence.     

South Asian American millennial marriages: Sikhs,Hindus, and Muslims

ABSTRACT

South Asian American millennial Sikhs, like millennial Hindus and Muslims, demonstrate a widening range of partner choices, marriage rituals, and celebratory practices. For young Sikh Americans, the roles of the bride and groom in planning their weddings are increasingly important, as are the cultural or secular aspects of the weddings. Furthermore, rather than considering community, the young people are emphasizing individual choice. These conclusions point to adaptation and cultural translations at the level of the couples, families, religious or regional diasporic communities, and diasporic communities more broadly defined (as Indian, Pakistani, South Asian), translations that reflect the changing context in America and the American cohorts of which these young people are members.     

Precarious and model minorities: Sikh identities in the ‘new’ global politics of religion

ABSTRACT

In many parts of the world, Sikhs have come to be perceived as a ‘model' minority – so much so that some have critiqued the Sikh community for taking up positions that are perceived as assimilationist. Such critiques, however, gloss over the sense of precarity, and the litany of hardships, racial discrimination and legal battles in which Sikhs have been forced to be engage in a post-9/11 world. Ultimately, this discrimination is enabled and justified by historical western notions of the incommensurability of the sacred and secular. Engaging with recent critical debates over the on-going meanings of the sacred and the secular, this paper argues that the contemporary moment requires a cosmopolitan religious outlook. Such debates reveal the separation between the public and the private, and between the sacred and the secular, to be ‘zombie categories' that fail to capture contemporary realities. Hence, conceptualizing Sikh identities as precarious, vulnerable ‘model minorities' in a post-Brexit/Trump era allows us to explore a Sikh ethics underpinned by the universal message of SGGS Ji. This is so because such ethics have never been conceptualized as simply being ‘other-worldly’, but rather as precisely grounded in the world that has been entrusted to us.     

Social and political activism amongst British Sikhs: Responses to issues of equality and human rights – a new way forward?

ABSTRACT

This article discusses two key issues relating to activism amongst British Sikhs. The exploration focuses upon the mobilisation of Sikhs at rallies and protests surrounding human rights issues, as well as their overall objection to caste legislation in British Law. The revelations surrounding the British Government’s involvement in Operation Bluestar came as a huge shock not only to British Sikhs but also to Sikhs worldwide. This paper will discuss whether the British Sikh community has taken on a fresh approach when confronted with issues surrounding equality and human rights and will explore how youth led Sikh groups and organisations have responded to contemporary challenges by using Sikhi to encourage activism amongst British Sikhs.     

EXCLUSION AND REGULATED INCLUSION

This article examines the ways in which the Sikh kirpan has been imagined and re-imagined by the Canadian state, as a signifier of exclusion from the public sphere, and regulated inclusion within the public sphere. The focus on Sikh cultural and religious practices provides a way to examine recent cases of an ethno-racial group that has long-tested and challenged the boundaries of multicultural accommodation in Canada. Through a critical race lens, I examine the 2006 Multani v. Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys Supreme Court decision to permit kirpans in schools, and the 2011 ban of the kirpan by the Quebec legislature, in order to identify the function of kirpan debates for Canadian nation-building. In particular, I contend, kirpan debates in Canada serve to re-perform the myth of multiculturalism and the legitimacy of settler-colonialism, secure white hegemonies, and consolidate cultural and gender norms. To counter these hegemonies of power, I conclude by signaling a political praxis that can potentially complement the democratic impulse of inclusion while also countering the hegemonic effects of regulated inclusion, one that is grounded in a politics of disruption.     

‘Second generation’ Sikh autobiographies and authobiographical novels in European languages: Turning towards and away from traditions

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes autobiographies and autobiographical novels by Sikh authors who were born and grew up in Europe and North America as sources for understanding developments of Sikh religion. It uses the concepts panjabiat (Punjabi-ness), Sikh religion and modernity/Western society to understand the tensions and conflicts described in these books. The authors had to work out the differences between panjabiat, Sikh religion and modernity/Western society. They had to figure out what place the Sikh religion should have in their new identity and for this they were looking for similarities between the Sikh religion and Western society. In the autobiographies Sikh religion emerges as an ideology employed to criticize Punjabi culture and society and Sikh religion is reinterpreted and often comes to refer to some general principles that are compatible and supportive of Western modernity.     

Political accountability,public constitution of recent past and the collective memory of socio‐political events: A discursive analysis

This paper presents a discursive analysis of a political news interview as a site for the interactional organization of the public constitution of recent past. In a context of commemoration and finding out the truth about the past, the focus is on how the collective memory of socio‐political events and political accountability is managed and what discursive practices representatives of nation‐states draw upon to understand and construct ideological representations of socio‐political events, namely the Romanian ‘revolution’ of 1989. The analysis shows how the possibility versus the actuality of knowing the truth about the events, (political) accountability and stake for actions are discussed, framed and given significance by constituting the ‘events’ of 1989 as ‘revolution’. The analysis further reveals how this ascribed categorial meaning is used by the interviewee as background for delegitimizing critical voices and sidestepping responsibility for past actions and knowing the truth. Social and community psychologists can learn more about how individuals and communities construct ideological versions of socio‐political events by considering the interplay between questions of political accountability and arguments over the meaning of political categories, and engaging with the accounting practices in which the meaning of socio‐political events is being negotiated by members of society Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Educated millennial Sikhs: Higher education,social mobility and identity formation among British Sikh youth

ABSTRACT

Large scale Sikh male migration to Britain in the 1950s gave way to family re-unions, leading to the development of vibrant Sikh communities across major cities and emergence of a millennial second and third generation Sikh youth. This chapter specifically identifies and evaluates higher education and labour market experiences of these millennial Sikhs. It argues mass participation in higher education produced differential outcomes, with a small upper segment becoming high achievers but a large bottom segment unable to realise the full potential. Further, these experiences had varied effects on their identity formation, with some moving away from their parental religion whilst others (re)embracing their tradition and adopting Sikh articles of faith. Finally, these differential experiences have also contributed to the widening of socio-economic differentiation within the British Sikh community as a whole and on potential for upward social mobility.     

Going Rural and Urban at Once: Reflections from the Roman Sikh Context

This article highlights some considerations emerging from an ongoing ethnographic research I am carrying out at the local gurdwara of Fiumicino, in the outer edges of Rome, and in two ashrams owned by Italian converted Sikhs, which are also hosting some Sikh migrants. These sites seem to question the separation of urban from rural contexts, since they both act as community centres for Sikhs living in the town and neighbouring villages and as places of residence from where people commute for professional purposes. In this perspective, the ‘Sikh case’ is a good example to further reflect on the changing urban shape of Rome, which appears to have been constantly transforming itself over the last decades with the increasing expansion of the suburban areas; such restructuring has also influenced the way migrants choose where to work and live.     

White sage,bears, and territory: contemporary indigenous religion among the Chumash

ABSTRACT

Since the 1960s, indigenous revitalization has been widespread in Native North America. However, few systematic studies of contemporary indigenous religion exist. This article provides an in-depth analysis of revitalized beliefs and practices as they are lived among the Chumash of Southern California. Shaped by a colonial history that almost eradicated indigenous culture, Chumash tradition is reinterpreted through religious practices that ground it in local territory and anchor it in pre-Catholic traditions. Although postcolonial agendas are significant in indigenous Chumash religion has existential significance beyond ethnicity politics. Contemporary Paganism is employed as a comparative perspective to discuss how religion provides a way for individuals to define and explore their cultural specificities when they relate to and participate in globalized society. The practices of healing, cleansing, and divination as well as beliefs in the unity with animals, spirits, and ancestors form a framework not only for individuals’ search for meaning, but also for reestablishing community.     

Gadamer and Scholz on Solidarity: Disclosing,Avowing, and Performing Solidaristic Ties with Human and Natural Others

ABSTRACT

This essay is concerned with Gadamer’s reflections on solidarity and practice as found in several of his later writings. While Gadamer offers a robust explanation of practice, practical reason, and how both are operative in solidarities, his investigations of solidarity are in no way systematic. He does, however, distinguish two aspects of solidarity, viz. what one might call “natural solidarity” and “avowed solidarity”. In contrast to natural solidarities, avowed solidarities require an intentional decision and commitment to act with others for a common cause. Since Gadamer’s writings on solidarity are more sketches than detailed treatises, we will bring his work into dialogue with feminist and political philosopher Sally Scholz. Scholz has devoted significant research to the concept of political solidarity. Like Gadamer, Scholz too is concerned with how we engage natural others and how our present practices harm and exploit them. By bringing Scholz’s and Gadamer’s work into dialogue, we gain a better understanding of different facets and types of solidarity, how they interrelate and influence one other, and how their interrelations might help to effect positive social and political changes for all who inhabit this world.