The Elasticity Of Caste In The Sikh Diaspora: Jat Cool and Caste Masculinities in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the transnational dimensions of caste and gender in the Punjabi Sikh diaspora of the Pacific Northwest. I explore how Jats (a landowning caste from Punjab, India) have positioned themselves at times as superior to Chamars (Punjabi Dalits or caste oppressed peoples) in the US-Canada borderland diaspora. Though Sikhism is a religion founded on anti-caste origins, the simultaneous repudiation of caste and celebration of Jat pride paradoxically illustrates structures of caste within the religion. The article unsettles the ways in which Jat men in the diaspora can be implicated in Jat pride and Jat cool: a social currency intertwined with popular culture and social media that reveals a particular caste masculinity. While not all Jats engage with Jat pride, and in fact many are involved in anti-caste praxis, it is important to situate the pervasiveness of these hierarchical ideologies within intra-Sikh communities to understand the permutations and stickiness of caste within the diaspora. I build on Asian American approaches to theorizing caste, youth cultures, and notions of “cool” to ultimately reveal how caste, rather than fixed or natural, is an elastic concept that is contingent upon how it is deployed within Sikh diasporic geographies and temporalities.