Middle-Class Dharma - Women, Aspiration, and the Making of Contemporary Hinduism

Middle-Class Dharma is an ethnographic study of upwardly-mobile Hindu women in urban India. Jennifer D. Ortegren explores how women's shifting lifestyle choices in the middle classes are critical for shaping Hindu traditions and identity, and in doing so, argues for how we can understand class as religious.

List of contents

• List of Figures/Captions


• Acknowledgments


• Notes on Transliteration


• "A Cast of Characters"


• Introduction: Defining Middle-Class Dharma


• 1. Arranging Marriage, Negotiating Dharma


• 2. Solah Somwar and Conjugal Dharma


• 3. Karva Chauth and the Dharma of Neighbors


• 4. Ganesha Chaturthi and the Boundaries of Dharma


• 5. Dharma and Discomfort During Navaratri


• 6. New Neighborhood, New Dharma


• Conclusion: Drawing on Dharma to Expand our Research and Teaching


• Epilogue


• Notes


• Glossary


• Bibliography


• Index

About the author

Jennifer D. Ortegren is Assistant Professor of Religion at Middlebury College. She specializes in the ethnographic study of religions in contemporary South Asia, particularly Hinduism and Islam, with a focus on women, ritual, and class, as well as shifting relationships between Hindu and Muslim neighbors.

Summary

Middle-Class Dharma is an ethnographic study of upwardly-mobile Hindu women in urban India. Jennifer D. Ortegren explores how women's shifting lifestyle choices in the middle classes are critical for shaping Hindu traditions and identity, and in doing so, argues for how we can understand class as religious.

Additional text

This is an intriguing book that traverses diverse terrains that are often overlooked by scholars focusing on the areas of class and religion.

Product details

• Authors: Jennifer D. Ortegren, Jennifer D. (Assistant Professor of Reli Ortegren
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 07.06.2023
• EAN: 9780197530795
• ISBN: 978-0-19-753079-5
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Other world religions; Sociology, Cultural Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, Sociology: customs & traditions, RELIGION / Hinduism / General, RELIGION / Sexuality & Gender Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions, Hinduism, Cultural studies: customs and traditions, Religious aspects of sexuality, gender and relationships, Religious aspects of sexuality, gender & relationships