Landscapes of diasporic religious belonging in the edge-city: the Jain temple at Potters Bar, outer London

Abstract

This paper extends current debates about diaspora cities to the suburbs, arguing that new forms of diasporic religious architecture in suburban and edge-city locations are indicative of complex geographies of migration, settlement, mobility, transnational networks and diasporic material cultures. Drawing on a detailed analysis of the building of a new Jain Temple built in Potters' Bar, on the edge of London, by the Oshwal Community of Jains, we argue that the temple reflects the distinctive hybridities of new suburban faith spaces. The paper also illustrates some of the conflicts between diasporic faith groups and other suburbanites which are shaped by contested narratives of distinctively suburban landscapes and society.