B-School Religion: Hindu Theology in the Neo-Liberal Cityscape

Abstract

In the industrial sector of Kolkata’s Salt Lake township, the spires, shikaras and domes of religious sites that are interspersed throughout the city proper are absent, and high-rise glass and metal buildings housing multinational corporations, hotels and shopping malls take their place. But religion is not absent there. Instead, management professors and business leaders transform those buildings into temples by framing the labour that takes place within them as a sacrificial act of worship. With this case study, I demonstrate that Hindu theologies are actively shaping and being reshaped by neo-liberal capitalism and its urban topologies.