Abstract
In the past three decades, Jains living in diaspora have been instrumental in the digital boom of Jainism-related websites, social media accounts, and mobile applications. Arguably, the increased availability and pervasive use of different kinds of digital media impacts how individuals deal with their roots; for example, it allows for greater contact with family and friends, but also with religious figures, back in India. It also impacts upon routes—for example, it provides new ways for individual Jains to find each other, organize, coordinate, and put down roots in their current country of residence. Using extensive corpora of Jainism-related websites and mobile applications (2013–2018), as well as ethnographic data derived from participant observation, interviews, and focus groups conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, and Belgian Jain communities (2014–2017), this article examines patterns of use of digital media for social and religious purposes by Jain individuals and investigates media strategies adopted by Jain diasporic organizations. It attempts to explain commonalities and differences in digital engagement across different geographic locations by looking at differences in migration history and the layout of the local Jain communities.
Highlights
Using extensive corpora of Jainism-related websites and mobile applications (2013–2018), as well as ethnographic data derived from participant observation, interviews, and focus groups conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, and Belgian Jain communities (2014–2017), this article examines patterns of use of digital media for social and religious purposes by Jain individuals and investigates media strategies adopted by Jain diasporic organizations
This article, which draws from a broader research project1 incorporating the analysis of corpora of websites (2013 and 2017) and mobile applications (2018), as well as ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, and Belgium (2014–2018), seeks to address the impact the rise of digital media has had on the way Jains that have settled outside India experience and practice their religion
Whereas the population density around Harrow and Kingsbury is such that new arrivals will find it much easier to find out about the existence of the local Jain organizations by word of mouth, the right communication strategy will impact their choice from the cornucopia of organizations and activities
Summary
It will focus on the impact of digital media on the way Jains living outside India maintain their social, cultural, and religious link to India (their roots), as well as on their experience of settling abroad and establishing new ways of religious practice and community organization (their routes) Through their religious tradition, Jains seem to be inextricably linked to a South Asian homeland. The Belgium-, U.K.-, and U.S.-based Jain communities that were visited as part of the ethnographic fieldwork can all be said to be part of the ‘Western’ Jain diaspora, they are subtly different when it comes to aspects like their developmental trajectory, the religious and socio-economic diversity within the community, their migration history, the size and density of the community, the intensity of contact with family members in India, and so on. In the United Kingdom or Antwerp, such a central body has not emerged
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