Organizing Jainism in India and England (Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) [Hardcover]

Marcus Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 1992 | ISBN-10: 0198273886 | ISBN-13: 978-0198273882

This is one of the first book-length studies of the Jains as a migrant group overseas, where they are studied in their own right rather than simply as an ethnic minority. The author describes the religious and caste organizations of the Jains. He also examines the use and transformation of urban space by religious and other groups, and he concludes with comments on the definition of religion and religious identity. The study will be valuable both for its documentation of a small but influential population and for its direct comparison of aspects of communal and religious organization in India and elsewhere.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`While this book is a technical book aimed at scholars of religion and anthropologists, the clarity of Banks' prose expands his audience to other interested readers ... Banks' study will serve as an invaluable resource for those interested in religions of emigrd'es, lay religiosity, Jainism and religions of India.' The Religious Studies Review

`well-revised dissertation ... Although this is a technical book aimed at scholars of religion and anthropologists, the clarity of Banks's prose expands his audience to other interested readers. Banks's study will serve as an invaluable resource for persons interested in religions of emigres, lay religiosity, Jainism, and religions of India' Religious Studies Review

'a descriptive one, and the first of its kind written by a Western author about Jainism and the changes it has under gone ... Extensive field-work, covering a parallel study of the groups in Jamnagar in India and Leicester in England has gone into this work of research. The various dominant and smaller "Jatis" of Jainism are discussed vividly by the writer.' Girija Rao, Hindustan Times

`This volume is unique in providing a most interesting account of anthropological fieldwork in two Jain communities, not unrelated, but separated in time and space ... Adorned with attractive 20 black and white photographs, the study provides a fascinating account of Jainism in a traditional Gujarati city as well as a city in Britain where Jains, to use Richard Burghart's term, live in "an alien milieu" ... Banks provides a lucid and articulate account of his fieldwork.' Asian Affairs

`An anthropological study such as this provides an excellent tool both for introducing Jainism as a religious tradition and for looking at the transplantation of a religious tradition to the United Kingdom.' Theological Book Review

`a pioneering study of Jainism in three locales ... With remarkable details and sensitivity, Banks narrates contemporary Jain life in Saurashtra and Leicester ... this book provides significant information on the practical observance of contemporary Jainism' Jinamanjari

About the Author

Marcus Banks is a Lecturer at Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 19, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198273886
• ISBN-13: 978-0198273882
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,526,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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