The dangers of essentialism: South Asian communities in Britain and the ‘world religions’ approach to the study of religions

Abstract

Astract This article is the result of extensive fieldwork undertaken among various South Asian religious communities that originated primarily from East and West Punjab and are now established in a number of British cities, but are concentrated in the West Midlands and London. While the field studies were carried out as part of a wider exploration of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities in the British South Asian Diaspora, it was not long before the author realised that the diversity of belief and practice within each community and the degree of eclectic blurring of the usual categorisation of religions called into question the labelling of discrete traditions used in the ‘world religions’ paradigm. The article argues not only that is there a risk of academic distortion creating constructions of religions that do not conform to the etic reality, but also that the reliance of educators at all levels on an essentialised view of South Asian religious ideas and practices presents itself as a danger in terms of the implicit reinforcement of established power structures.