When daughters teach their mothers: religious practices on the move. Case study: Muslims in Zanskar
The ongoing academic debate on the place of women within broader social dynamics has garnered increasing public attention in recent years, especially in terms of socioeconomic and sociopolitical research. This paper aims at addressing the specific impact that female migrants have had on the process...
Gorde:
| Argitaratua izan da: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/emscat, |
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| Egile nagusia: | |
| Formatua: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Hizkuntza: | Anglais |
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Études mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines
2026
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| Gaiak: | |
| Sarrera elektronikoa: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Gaia: | The ongoing academic debate on the place of women within broader social dynamics has garnered increasing public attention in recent years, especially in terms of socioeconomic and sociopolitical research. This paper aims at addressing the specific impact that female migrants have had on the process of religious revival, in this particular case based on anthropological research material gathered in the Zanskar Valley in India. Existing anthropological studies (P. Dollfus, I. Riaboff, K. I. Gutschow, H. Osmaston, V. Bhasin, J. Crook, L. Petech, F. Pirie, S. Day, D. Pinault, G. Emmer, Ghani Sheikh, N. Grist, etc.) have failed to adequately reflect the specific dynamics and mechanics involved in the transformation of community identity that result from internal movements within that same community. These studies have focused overwhelmingly on the acceptance of people from outside the community, ignoring the fact that a community’s true resilience comes from within. We now know how significantly gender dynamics impact the way in which a community identifies itself, and also how it behaves – increased gender equality can be considered an economic asset, for instance, where efforts to further women’s empowerment in restricted areas of India have freed women to make carpets which they can sell on the market themselves, and thus directly benefit from the money they generate. These studies have helped to unveil many aspects of Buddhist women’s impact on the local economy network. The mixed Buddhist and Muslim community which resides in the Zanskar Valley had until recently a collective, locality-based identity, as they considered themselves to be Zangskarpas above all else. However, in recent years religious affiliation has become the defining characteristic of community belonging. Understanding the influence of female migration on the identities of the younger generations is also essential. The present article therefore aims to provide an account of the place of women in the process of constructing the everyday practice of relating to religion. |
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